01/11/16 - Political Protest Notes

A screenshot taken from
the mentioned BBC article

Our political protest was inspired by ‘Tomorrow I was Always a Lion’ by the Belarus Free Theatre, seen by some of our group members, about the aggressive face down restraint used to sedate patients that are seen as being ‘threatening’ to others and staff in mental health wards. Countless news stories have been published of the restraint being used on patients that are in no way a threat, highlighting the unhealthy methods used to treat mental health in the UK. In a BBC news article, (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-37417132) an ex patient details being ‘very distressed that there was this male nurse watching me use the bathroom’, and upon wanting to leave her room she ‘was forced to the ground, her underwear removed, and she was injected in the buttocks with medication.’ The face down restraint can cut off oxygen to the patient, and in the article given to audience members by the Belarus Free Theatre detailing the technique, there are an average of 183 restraints made every day.

Belarus Free Theatre article

We were all very passionate about this issue and in devising our protest we touched upon other aspects of ill treatment in mental health institutes that we have heard of happening, but as of yet lack the research that will give our protest conviction and credibility. These practices include the supply of anti-depressants and other drugs instead of the therapy that may be enough to alter behaviour instead of drugging patients. We heard a second hand story also of a woman with bipolar disorder being told that she is unable to receive unpaid support unless she physically harms herself, whereas before the cuts were made to NHS services, she was able to obtain help before and during a low point, regardless of ‘how dangerous’ her disorder appeared to be. Therefore, although our piece features reference to these issues, we must convene next week with the necessary research to solidify these points otherwise they must be cut from our protest.

The way we want to present our idea so far is to have a table covered in a white cloth, with four of us at each corner in lab coats. These lab coats will have statistics about the harmful effects of face down restraint or lack of therapy in bold black writing on the back. The other three members of the group will be dancing in the foreground, and seeming totally unthreatening. The moment that one of the dancers goes to touch or interact with an onlooker, the doctors will bring them to the table and restrain them face down, as they are seen as a threat. The other two dancers will then say in monotone at regular intervals as if to a beat ‘nothing to see’, to mirror the lack of public attention to what happens to patients under these conditions. On the table, we will create a physical theatre routine to illustrate the topics we wish to bring to light, which will finish with the patient slumping over a doctor, and being carried ‘fireman’ style back to their original dancing position. The doctor and patient will then switch characters by the patient taking the coat and returning to the table as a doctor. This way our protest can loop, and people passing can receive the message regardless of what point they are introduced. As a new patient starts to dance, the tablecloth will be smoothed over, this time with the doctors having blood on their hands. The idea is that as the protest loops, our white clothes and tablecloth will become more and more blood soaked.

The petition given out at 'Tomorrow I Was Always A Lion'

After talking to our head master, he suggested that pieces are most effective when they motivate people to take action. This can be done by presenting them with a petition to sign, or something that they can do afterwards so that our protest can make a difference. I think it’s imperative that we include something along the lines of this, and we can take inspiration from the postcards handed out at the end of ‘Tomorrow I was Always a Lion’, with a petition on the back that the audience could sign and then post to their local council, so that they become part of the resolution as well.