Melbourne school students tackle the stigma of mental illness 

Private school students have collaborated with residents at a low-income rooming house to produce a powerful theatre performance that tackles the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Voices: The Carrical Project - a partnership project between Scotch College and Servants in Hawthorn Inc - will be performed for the last time at the 6th National Housing Conference, hosted by the Victorian Department of Human Services Housing division and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre this Thursday.

“We wanted to give our residents a voice and an opportunity to have their stories heard,” said Matt Maudlin, CEO of Servants in Hawthorn Inc.

“Four Scotch College boys were selected to spend an afternoon a week in term one, interviewing and listening to our resident’s stories. The residents talked to the students about their lives and relationships, hopes and dreams and their struggles with mental illness,” he said.

“The boys were incredibly sensitive and were occasionally shaken by what they heard. On the other hand, our residents found the experience therapeutic.”

The students then took their stories back to director Matt Hammond, who worked with a team of script-writing students from Scotch to create a 60-minute play based on residents’ experiences of living with illness.

“On the day of the final dress rehearsal, we took several of the residents to watch the performance. The actors were really concerned the residents might walk away and feel it hadn’t accurately captured their lives,” said Mr. Maudlin.

“However, the residents loved it and felt that the actors had realistically portrayed their lives. The students then knew they had created something authentic. During one of the performances, one of our residents whispered to me, ‘This is very profound’.

“The residents loved the fact that by sharing their stories they could see themselves in particular scenes and bring awareness of the issues they face.

“The actors told us the play has been the best thing they had ever performed. One student told me, ‘Millions of people play roles from Shakespeare, but we are portraying something fragile and real. To get inside that headspace is a real privilege.’

“The entire process worked seamlessly and the feedback from the students, their parents and the audience was overwhelming.

“I think this entire process has opened the student’s lives to something new. These young men are our future leaders, doctors, lawyers and politicians and we hope we’ve planted a seed that will bear fruit in the future.”