New play takes audiences inside Britain's mental health system

A new play which takes audiences inside Britain’s mental health system is touring the West Midlands – including performances in Wolverhampton and Birmingham.

Katie Hoare’s debut play, fully funded by Arts Council England, opened this week at the Kaleidoscope Plus Group before playing The Arena in Wolverhampton and MAC Birmingham.

At the heart of the production is what happens when the system built to protect people in crisis starts to fail them.

Drawn from real interviews and the writer's own experience, the play follows Elinor through her first admission to a psychiatric ward. It is honest about what's broken in British mental health care, and also, unexpectedly funny.

Directed by Kim Sykes (The Whip, RSC), Positive Risk opened with two performances at The Kaleidoscope Plus Group, including a relaxed performance. It then plays The Arena, Wolverhampton on 12 November and MAC Birmingham on 13 November.

On her first admission to a psychiatric ward, Elinor finds herself in an unfamiliar world of care, frustration and uncertainty. As she searches for support within an outdated system, she forms an unlikely friendship that brings humour into the hardest moments.

Writer Katie Hoare said: “I wrote Positive Risk as a way of processing an experience that, sadly, is far from uncommon. As a country, and rightly so, we have grown to rely on and value the NHS. Yet the system has its flaws, and some of those flaws can have devastating, even fatal, consequences.

“What happens when a mental health system is no longer fit for purpose? Where do we turn when a system designed to protect and care for us is failing the very people who come in contact with it? And, perhaps most importantly, what happens to those who don't survive that failure?

“It is a journey through heartbreak and humour, confronting difficult truths. My hope is that this story will make you think, make you feel and stay with you long after it ends.

“More than anything, I hope it leaves you questioning not just what needs to change, but what part we each have to play in making that change happen.”

Positive Risk will be performed on Thursday November 12 at The Arena in Wolverhampton and on Friday November 13 at MAC in Birmingham. Both shows start at 7.30pm.