How to be Well in a World that is Sick

Jackdaw Theatre would like to invite you to join a sharing of the newest development phase of this work on Wednesday 19th May at either 1pm or 8pm.

A work in progress performance, discussion and Q& A for the latest stage of development of ‘How to be Well in a World that is Sick’ with Bethan Dear.

Exploring the impact of ‘social norms’, sexual and domestic violence, navigating trauma, mental health ‘breakdowns’, self image, body image, gender and cultural narratives.

Society. A patriarchal, image obsessed, capitalist, consumer machine. A global sickness. A worldwide epidemic.

How do we get away when the over culture conditioning has seeped into our very skin?

How do we recover and heal from sexual violence? Where is the space for us to be heard? Who do we take the dark reality of our experiences too? Who will believe us and who will listen?

What do we do when we are suffering? When nobody wants to know? When it’s all too much? When we are not coping? What happens then? Mental illness? Emotional instability? Breakdown?

Burnout? Madness? Social exclusion? Self harm?

How do we define ‘well or unwell’? And who is given the authority to decide which is which?

Join her for a journey from start to finish.

From the end, back to the beginning, and back again.

Many. Times. Over.

This latest phase of development, funded by Arts Council Wales and National Lottery, has involved Bethan working with a focus group from New Pathways, a rape and sexual abuse crisis centre. This is a group that has felt largely silenced by society. Through this event their voices will now be heard. Bethan will share some of what they shared with her, along with some of her own experiences, via her voice and body, on film. She will also share some short sections of the show, adapted via the medium of film, and discuss and describe her creative process, and where she is up to in developing the final work. Bethan has been working with skilled videographers Ashley Leung from Tiny House Creatives, Gwilmor Morus-Baird and Heledd Wynn to try to capture the essence of live performance.

The event is free to watch but we warmly welcome donations – the returns from which will be divided. Some will contribute to the funding target to fully realise the work and 20% will be given to New Pathways Charity. 

Find out more and book here.

If you would like to learn more about the show or Bethan’s process please do visit the Vlog on Jackdaw’s website: https://www.jackdawtheatre.com/blog