Boldly trauma-conscious and survivor-led theatre and participation arts for social change.
Written and directed by Nell Hardy from a co-created process with Alain English, Jezebel, Lona Lee, Ana Nagurnaja, Claire Reay, and others who have chosen to remain anonymous
Cast: Phil Bayes, Alain English, Lisa Harbron, Jezebel, Lona Lee, Yuxuan Liu, Ana Nagurnaja, Lata Nobes-Sinha, Claire Reay, and others who have chosen to remain anonymous
Scenography by Lona Lee
Additional lyric-writing support from Alain English
Co-produced by Nell Hardy and Claire Reay
In partnership with The PATHWAY Study: Developing and evaluating a new care pathway to improve outcomes for people with complex trauma, based at Kings College London - funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), co-led by Dr Angela Sweeney and Prof Steve Gillard, with a Lived Experience Advisory Group facilitated by survivor-led organisations Survivors Voices (headed by Jane Chevous) and Little Ro (headed by Roz Etwaria).
"Not them.
Me.
Tell me."
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Ilo thinks she's about to save lives. Oli thinks they're about to be saved. Two letters arrive on the same day, leading them both into a labyrinth that stretches even their overactive imaginations, and turns everything they thought they knew about themselves upsidedown - in all the wrong ways.COMPLEX unpacks the Kafkaesque phenomenon of being told you are “too complex” for complex trauma treatment.
Calling on sci-fi, nonsense poetry, melodrama and music where realism just isn't real enough, we might have to sing to you once or twice - but only when we really don't know what else to do.
RAT is thrilled to be sharing its first full-length co-created show with you all!
Inspired by recurring themes from our first year of core group sessions, as well as research findings from the PATHWAY study at Kings College London, this show is a celebration of what we all know from lived experience and academic evidence about the power of peer support in a culture where complex trauma just isn't acknowledged and all we can rely on is each other.
It is also a call to all those with power over mental health spending to invest in the survivors who are doing everything they can to keep themselves and each other going.
