Libbie Gillard is one of the performers set to stage The Manic Monologues in Hamilton.
Libbie Gillard is one of the performers set to stage The Manic Monologues in Hamilton.
New Zealand performing arts group Carving in Ice Theatre is back in Waikato and has a special play in store for Mental Health Awareness Week: The Manic Monologues.
Compiled by former University of Stanford students Zachary Burton and Elisa Hofmeister, The Manic Monologues is an international theatric movement that works to smash the stigma around mental illness by sharing stories of those with first-hand experiences.
Audiences will hear true stories about struggle and pain but also triumph, joy and recovery.
Director and founder of Carving in Ice Theatre, Gaye Poole, says during her research for the group’s theatre project for Mental Health Awareness Week, she came across The Manic Monologues website and was “very taken” by Zachary’s story.
Zachary had a severe mental health crisis in 2017 while he was studying towards a PhD in geology at the University of Stanford in the US. He was then diagnosed with bipolar I disorder.
“It intrigued me that Zack and then partner Elisa decided to adopt the medium of theatre through which to widen the conversation and fight the stigma around mental illness, even though they had never been involved in theatre before,” Gaye says.
Janine Swainson, Julianne Boyle and Fiona Sneyd are part of the 19 performers set to stage The Manic Monologues in Hamilton.
The Manic Monologues was first performed at Stanford University, California, in 2019.
Gaye got in contact with Zachary about staging the performance last year and says he was very happy to give Carving in Ice permission to stage the first production of The Manic Monologues in Aotearoa New Zealand.
“It is just wonderful to hear from you, and fabulous to hear of your interest in bringing The Manic Monologues to life for Mental Health Awareness Week in Aotearoa,” Zachary replied back then.
Carving in Ice Theatre’s production of the performance is set to be staged at Hamilton’s The Meteor Theatre from September 19 to 23 and feature a cast of 19 local actors.
Gaye says: “I first imagined that I’d invite seven or eight actors and they might do two or three monologues each but as I reread the monologues I heard certain voices or actors telling those stories ... and that is how we’ve ended up with 19 wonderful actors in the cast.”
The Manic Monologues will be performed by Antony Aiono, Yurika Arai, Danny Bailey, Nick Bourchier, Julianne Boyle, Kathleen Christian, Mandy Faulkner, Libbie Gillard, Nick Hall, Liam Hinton, Simon Howie, Brad Jackson, David Lumsden, Conor Maxwell, Missy Mooney, Georgia Pollock, Fiona Sneyd, Janine Swainson and Sara Young.
