World Mental Health Day
So as we all know, in theatre we all have to be open, relaxed, and able to display a huge range of emotions and feelings as our characters. We often have to share communal changing areas, That’s quite a vulnerable place to be.
It is ultra important that theatre and performance is a safe space, that does not compromise its ground rules for reliability, professionalism and quality as well as looking after the creatives involved in the work and making sure each one, regardless of experience, disability, ethnicity, gender, etc feel safe, accommodated and heard.
Occasionally you do sadly get people who are looking for something else; ego-trips, opportunities to bully, abuse or scam, or to put down others. Or who attack others for being different (in terms of age/ gender/ disability/ health/ ethnicity etc ) . And that will wreak havoc in such a delicately balanced atmosphere and can put people in serious mental health crisis.
It is up to everyone to look out for one another, be professional and pleasant, but also understanding and respectful of one another.
Lots of pages and sites are posting links to helplines which can be useful but what is even more important is addressing problems at the root cause so that they don’t grow to be an issue, and all organisations, workplaces, community groups etc can be a part of that by ensuring that their space is safe , respectful, and good.
And above all- don’t let this vanish into words and lip service. Practice what you preach.
So as we all know, in theatre we all have to be open, relaxed, and able to display a huge range of emotions and feelings as our characters. We often have to share communal changing areas, That’s quite a vulnerable place to be.
It is ultra important that theatre and performance is a safe space, that does not compromise its ground rules for reliability, professionalism and quality as well as looking after the creatives involved in the work and making sure each one, regardless of experience, disability, ethnicity, gender, etc feel safe, accommodated and heard.
Occasionally you do sadly get people who are looking for something else; ego-trips, opportunities to bully, abuse or scam, or to put down others. Or who attack others for being different (in terms of age/ gender/ disability/ health/ ethnicity etc ) . And that will wreak havoc in such a delicately balanced atmosphere and can put people in serious mental health crisis.
It is up to everyone to look out for one another, be professional and pleasant, but also understanding and respectful of one another.
Lots of pages and sites are posting links to helplines which can be useful but what is even more important is addressing problems at the root cause so that they don’t grow to be an issue, and all organisations, workplaces, community groups etc can be a part of that by ensuring that their space is safe , respectful, and good.
And above all- don’t let this vanish into words and lip service. Practice what you preach.
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