Written by by Charlotte Hailey-Watts, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Change, Act! Theatre
The Empty Chair is a participatory Forum Theatre play about Men’s Mental Health and the male suicide crisis initiated by one of our long-term members, It was conceived by Kim Mouzouros who wrote and directed the play with our mentoring and support. She was amazing and progressed so much as a Director over the 2 years we worked together on the production. She was so open to guidance from us and ideas from the cast who co-devised elements of it.
Image credit: visual scribe Sally Stott, The Empty Chair, early process co-creation workshop documentation in 2023
This is an issue that a huge amount of people have been affected by, I’ve lost several friends this way, and though not all male, most were. Most of the cast had lost someone this way so it was very resonant for all involved. It was so important to approach it sensitively, we provided break out space, extensive check-ins and outs and printed signposting resources as part of the show and rehearsals. For audiences, there were clear content warnings about the subject matter at the point of booking, onsite and clear signposting was available. We had strong turn outs and participation in the Forum at both the scratch and final performance. A lot of people fed back afterwards that it had genuinely led them to reconsider the way they’d approach friends who were experiencing depression or other mental health issues and how they support others in the community. One audience member wrote:
‘‘The best part was it got the audience involved and makes everyone go through it in their heads, so will be remembered better, which in theory could be the difference in saving someone’s life. So yeah, this was the unique selling point as I’d never heard of this type of thing before."
Another said:
"It made me reflect on the importance of flexibility - being available in those moments of need and being able to flex my plans.. when somebody might really need me."
The cast commented:
"It gave me a lot of confidence and taught me how to project and how to mirror and reflect back, loved the camaraderie. We are like one big family now."
Many also observed how much their performance technique had grown from the first performance.
The project took around 2 years to complete from start to finish from early co-creation sessions with a visual scribe, to castings and initial rehearsals leading to a first version of the script and scratch performance at Chats Palace in July 2024. Finally, this year we had a final phase of rehearsals, revised the script again, and added workshops in Health and Safety management for the stage and Aesthetics of the Oppressed* style prop making with recycled materials. We performed the finished version of the show at Chats Palace on March 16th of this year! Over its course, it was supported by Islington Council’s Make it Happen Fund, Islington Community Chest, Islington Giving via Cripplegate and The City Bridge Foundation. Change, Act! and Kim who wrote the concept for the play, are so grateful to them all.
Image credit: Charlotte Hailey-Watts, Aesthetics of the Oppressed propmaking workshop for The Empty Chair held at little Angel Theatre
We want to create a space for Theatre that is as inclusive as possible. We also occasionally provide training for other professionals and Theatre Makers or those interested in working more accessibly.
*Aesthetics of the oppressed is a larger than life, satirical visual style that can be in stark contrast to the serious nature of a Forum Theatre or Legislative Theatre play. They are utilised as part of Theatre of the Oppressed. Props are often made from everyday objects or junk and recycled materials. One of the intentions of Theatre of the Oppressed is to reclaim art from the elite.
What do you think will happen/is happening/has happened as a result of your work? (For example for participants, for you or your organisation, for the commissioning organisations, for the local community?)
A guest facilitator recently told us that something that really stood out to them in witnessing parts of one of our sessions, is that there truly wasn’t a hierarchy or divide created between us and our members. This is really core to our approach, a lack of “us and them” between us as Facilitators and Directors and our members, though we are there to hold the work and keep the space safe. It creates challenges occasionally, but generally leads to a very empowering experience for people involved in our programmes where people report improved wellbeing and confidence as well as new friendships and a sense of belonging and being listened to. Our safe space agreements are also co-created and reviewed regularly with our members.
Has the project led to any insights about how this might develop in the future? Or inspired different projects?
As an additional level of access, we’re really hoping to do some integrated audio description in future shows and live audio description for the live elements, such as the forum. One of our occasional members is visually impaired and we want to add this added level of inclusivity, as visually impaired people are excluded from so many events and shouldn’t only have to attend cultural events that are specifically designed for those audiences.
We’d also love to include sound and lighting workshops in future play-making projects: perhaps giving people the chance to assist on this during the actual performance.
We’re interested in this show having a further life, please write to us at [email protected] if you are interested in collaborating with us in any way, we welcome collaboration and partnerships.
We would like to dedicate this blog to the memory of John Lowe, a member of the company who was not part of The Empty Chair, but was leading his own seagull inspired drama workshops after completing our 2023 Inclusive and has sadly passed away recently. He will be missed.
Are there any key dates that you would like to highlight?
We have our ongoing monthly relaxed Creative Connections sessions at Chats Palace, Homerton, London funded by The City Bridge Foundation usually on the second Monday of each month from 2pm-5pm, our next session is on Monday 11th May.
We have the third and final workshop from a company member we are mentoring exploring the life of objects creatively through writing and Theatre on Wednesday 27th May from 3pm-5.30pm at Cardboard Citizens’s venue.
Change, Act! Theatre are a Disabled and neurodivergent-led organisation that co-create Theatre with communities facing health and social inequalities towards social change, especially using change-led Applied Theatre models like Forum and Legislative but also with our own little spins on things. We are both keen singers and I’m also a trained Inclusive Dance Practitioner so we’d love to do a Forum Theatre musical one of these days! We especially work with Disabled and neuordivergent adults, and those with long-term health conditions. This involves a lot of intersectionality, including people in recovery and experiencing homelessness.
Please email [email protected]g or visit our Instagram and Linkedin pages for more information.