THE journey through mental health to recovery will be the focus of a production coming to Bathurst later in the year.
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This is My Brave Australia will bring its mental health community event, TIMBA: The Show to the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre on Tuesday, October 20.
TIMBA events are live storytelling events, billed as #StorytellingSavesLives, where people from the local community tell authentic stories through storytelling, poetry, dance, song and even comedy about their lived experience of mental health issues.
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TIMBA seeks to remove the stigma of mental illness, open a dialogue and create opportunities for people to thoughtfully engage around the topic of mental health through our event.
Auditions for local Bathurst region cast members will be held on Saturday and Sunday, July 18-19 at the Bathurst Neighborhood Centre from noon each day, with COVID-19 protocols in place.
Organisers will also hold a Meet The Producers day at the Neigbourhood Centre on Sunday, July 5 where the community can come along to find out more.
Fiona Peel, who is producing the event, said the idea behind TIMBA events came from Tim Daly who worked in the industry and developed mental health issues.
She said he wanted to draw on his own experience and share it to promote discussions of mental health issues.
This is about people's journey and their recovery and can be in the form of story, dance or poem.
- Producer Fiona Peel
"This [production] is about people's journey and their recovery and can be in the form of story, dance or poem," she said.
Ms Peel auditioned for an identical show earlier in the year which was postponed due to COVID-19. She was later speaking with Mr Daly and he asked, "why not Bathurst?".
"Out in the community, the conversations people are having is those with mental health are not getting the support they need," she said.
Ms Peel said she hopes the production inspires hope at a time mental health concerns have spiked and there is restricted access to mental health services
"Talking about stories of hope and recovery, the message is it is possible to recover," she said.
"If you develop mental health issues your life is not written off, with the right support available people recover.
"We want enough people to have the conversation so (the community) can start look at the under-resourcing and under-funding of mental health."
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