I started rehearsals this week for a play called Good Enough. It’s being produced by Erasing the Distance, a really amazing company in Chicago. Erasing the Distance has this really great model. They interview people interested in sharing their story about mental health issues. After the interview, someone painstakingly writes down every word of the interview. And from those words, artists edit the interview into a theatrical monologue. Those monologues are then performed by professional actors for various groups — churches, schools, community centers, and, of course, for the general public too.
The show that I’m directing features five women and each of their stories about living with either bipolar disorder or depression. I’ve already spent some time with each of the actors and they are fabulous. Very moving.
Anyway, I wrote a blog post for Erasing the Distance about my process in preparing for this show. Head on over and read it if you’re interested.
By the way, a LOT of people, when they hear about ETD get really jazzed. Either because they have a story they’d really like to share or because they so appreciate the mission of the organization and want to get involved or because they think that a performance at their organization would be beneficial. It’s actually sort of uncanny how many people come out of the woodwork when I talk about ETD. It’s clear ETD is really filling a need in the community.
So, if you have any interest in learning more or getting involved, please don’t hesitate to contact me about it. I can hook you up with the right people. :)
