"Stories of Mental Health" - a public performance by True Story Theater, in honor of World Mental Health Day

Stories of Mental Health: Saturday, October 10 – in honor of World Mental Health Day

Join True Story Theater for an evening of Playback Theatre where real experiences guide the performance. Audience members are invited (never required) to share moments from their lives, and our ensemble brings those stories to the stage with care.

This show explores: What have those of us wrestling with mental health challenges discovered about how best to live our lives? What do we want others to know about our experience – and how we want to be treated?

It’s fine to just come to watch and listen. If you wish, you can volunteer to share your own experience. Your story, or your listening, helps build a space of empathy, honesty, and a more supportive community around mental health.

When: Saturday, October 10 from 7-8:30pm.
Where: Calvary Church: Fellowship Hall, 300 Mass. Ave, Arlington, MA. Free street parking. Accessible entry can be found to the right of the stairs on Linwood St.
Cost: $15-25 online or at the door. No one turned away for lack of funds. All are welcome.
Get tickets: If possible, get your tickets ahead of time online here: https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/stories-of-mental-health

What happens in a True Story Theater performance? Our events bring together the delight of improvisation with the courageous vulnerability of people sharing their personal truth.

The show’s emcee (called “the conductor”) facilitates brief, spontaneous conversations with volunteers from the audience who share their own feelings and experiences related to the show’s theme. After each conversation, the actors and musician immediately embody the key feelings and actions they heard, using movement, music, dialogue, and superb listening. All of it is improvised on the spot. During the course of a 75-minute show, True Story enacts about 6-8 stories.

From this simple interaction, audience members feel validated, laugh, cry, get insights about their lives, and feel an expanded sense of community. You can share a moment from your life and see it performed, or just come to watch. For more, see https://truestorytheater.com/about-us/how-a-show-works/

This form of improvisation, called Playback Theatre, was developed 50 years ago and is practiced by hundreds of companies in over 70 countries.