Back in May, we debuted our show of Hidden LIVE at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
The show was a co-production with Applied Research Collaboration Greater Manchester. Where young people with lived experience of mental health issues were recruited to inform and co-create this performance.
The show encourages audience members to walk in the shoes of a fictional character Adam, who is 18 years old and transitioning from children’s to adult mental health services. We challenged the audience to think about what a good life would look like for Adam and consider the barriers he might face.
Chris, Made by Mortals resident facilitator and actor, plays the role of Shaun, Adams Mental Health Support Worker. Shaun was inspired by the experiences of the parents and carers of young people with Mental Health Illness, to who we reached out specifically for this project.
The young participants were also offered the opportunity to help create the music for Hidden Live, which we showcase in the performance.
It was important to them that their eclectic mixture of heritage was reflected in the music. We used instruments associated with particular genres and regions worldwide, for example, tabla drums from south Indian classical music and acoustic guitar from western music.
The result is a beautiful piece of music that perfectly ties the performance together.
If you missed the performance, not to worry, as we are appearing again at the Not Another Co-production Festival.
This all-day festival event will be FREE to participants and co-created with the Science and Industry Museum and Ideas Alliance. We are especially excited to feature at a festival all about Co-production!
Paul Hine, Director at Made by Mortals, said:
“Co-production has been at the heart of this project. It’s a great example of what is possible when people with lived experience, health practitioners, research teams, and the participatory arts come together to support each other and bring about the shared change we want to see.”-