Hearing Things

Provocative drama affecting real change in mental health treatment Hearing Things explores the dilemmas of psychiatry from the points of view of patients, relatives and staff. Based on experiences of psychiatrists and patients, the ?healthy’ and the ?ill’, looking at how and if people heal and recover inside institutions. Created using a unique collaborative process between patients, psychiatrists and mental health staff, Playing ON have drawn together the stories of those receiving and providing mental health care. Hearing Things is the result of that work ? a process which has instigated real change in the lives of patients. Playing ON aimed to demonstrate to hospital staff how theatre-devising techniques can be used to build rapport and create empathy among service users. As part of the writing process, staff and patients at the Maudsley Hospital in south London took part in a drama programme in April 2014. Improvisations were used as material for the finished play, with clinicians and those receiving treatment swapping roles. As a direct result of these workshops, two patient’s progress was so great that doctors allowed their early discharge.