On finding out the theme for Perception Festival this year was Isolation, and knowing that I would be bringing a show for the 3-7 year olds, I felt as though it would be a missed opportunity if I didn’t use this as a chance to open up some conversations around mental health, hence the new interactive storytelling performance Ice Island was born.
Over the past few years an awareness of mental health has been creeping in to many circles of conversation, from parliament inviting the Time to Talk movement to discuss it in the House of Commons, to ad campaigns tackling the topic*, to work places showing more awareness around mental health issues.**
I’m never one to shy away from broaching what we may perceive as ‘difficult topics’ with kids, because having worked with children and young people for the past 12 years, whatever the topic is, there will always be a way for children to grasp a hold of it as long as it’s presented in a way that meets them on their level. For this show I wanted to dream big and imagine a generation that have the language to not only talk about mental health, but as a by product of that have also managed to dismantle the taboo and stigma that still surrounds it. I’m keen to create work that sparks an opportunity for parents to have a conversation with their kids around the topic matter – in this case, around mental health. Ice Island will aim to give children a language in which they can both access thinking around their own emotions and feelings and hopefully better express themselves regarding these, helping them to navigate the landscape of their mental health as they grow older.
Earlier this year I was very fortunate to start working with The Self Esteem Team, delivering talks in secondary schools on Body Image, Stress and Mental Health. As a freelancer, I often work many different jobs at any one time, but something that is important to me is to look at the ways in which those jobs may connect. Working with the Self Esteem Team and seeing the impact their talks have on young people inspired me to think of ways I could bring this work in to other areas of my career.
The Self Esteem Team, founded in 2013 by Grace Barrett and Nadia Mendoza now work across the country delivering classes on mental health in primary and secondary schools, speaking at conferences and on a range of media platforms as well as offering consultancy around mental health. I’ve seen their work in action and it’s not only incredible and uplifting, but vital and life saving – so I was absolutely thrilled when they agreed to partner on this project, offering content advice and being a place I could signpost towards, should people want to engage with further work around mental health following the performances.
Ice Island is performing at Omnibus Theatre during half term on the 24th October. It follows the story of Samantha, who after getting overtired and angry at Friday night dinner heads to her room where she finds herself sucked in to a strange wormhole and flung out on to the shores of Ice Island. A bizarre and mysterious place, she soon meets the monsters that inhabit the island and helps them get to grips with some of their emotions. Exploring themes of loneliness, anger, anxiety and depression, expect puppetry, exhilarating storytelling and a good sense of humour along the way.
As with all Shadow Makers performances, this is interactive, giving children the chance to get involved in creating the story, and is followed by a puppetry workshop.
Ice Island will premiere at Omnibus Theatre on the 24th October 2018, 11am and 2pm.
All tickets £5, book now→
To book the Self Esteem Team for your school or find out more visit: selfesteemteam.org
*Lynx Ad campaign around male mental health ** Lloyds TSB ‘Get the Inside Out’ campaign
