It is less than 24 hours after I have seen the Silent Uproar production of Super Happy Story at Slung Low the pay what’s right for you, theatre in Leeds, but it’s as if Jeremy Hunt the Health Secretary was in the audience as well, because I have woken to his statement that the NHS will recruit a huge number of mental health professionals.
They are undoubtedly needed, not least because we don’t as Super Happy Story amply demonstrates quite understand what mental illness is, or how to identify it in its early stages. It’s a challenge that is amplified by sufferers who instead of saying that they are not feeling well, put their energies into masking their symptoms and just carrying on.
I have written before after watching Debs Gatensby performance of A Place Called Happiness again at Slung Low about how our attitudes to mental health as the health issue of the decade are changing. This is because just as in the 1980’s with the AIDS epidemic we are starting to talk about it. The turning point in that fight for many people was the picture of Diana, Princess of Wales holding the hand of a man who was dying of AIDS in her un-gloved hand. If evidence of the change in attitudes towards mental health was needed we now have her sons openly discussing their own mental health challenges and being understood. How different this is to the way in which their Mother’s mental health was reported.
The taboo of mental health is slowly but surely being dismantled. But as Super Happy Story shows it still remains something that happens to other people, not in our family, not to our employees.
Super Happy Story (about feeling super sad) to give its complete title, works on many levels. It is great entertainment, but entertainment with a message that works because when I talk to the actors and production team before and after the show it is clear that, Silent Uproar have utilised not just their own experiences in its production, but also the expertise of charities like Mind and The Samaritans, interviews with people living with mental health problems and medical professionals, and authors like Matt Haig (Reasons to Stay Alive), as well as the academic work Ruby Wax has done on mindfulness.
This is a well-researched drama written in the style of a cabaret musical by Olivier award winner Jon Brittain (Rotterdam & Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho). The music is by Matthew Floyd Jones (Frisky and Mannish). There are scenes that will make you laugh and then you are brought back to the reality of mental illness by a depiction of attempted suicide by Madeline MachMahon that is so realistic you’ll forget you are watching something with a title that guarantees a happy ending and want to leap from your seat and rush to her aid.
It would be easy for the character played by MachMahon to dominate the performance were she not supported by equally captivating performances by Sophie Clay and Ed Yelland who switch between a cast of different characters without ever leaving you confused as to who you are watching. Sophie has got sales manager exactly right, and Ed is fantastic as Toby the friend who just won’t give up.
Super Happy Story (about feeling super sad) is sad in many ways, but I really did leave feeling super happy, with two great memories. One is a throw-away line from a minor character played by Sophie Clay, who enthuses that we should not treat mental health as a secret subject, and the other is that I must make sure that I identify who my Toby is. Because we all need a Toby.
If you would like to find out more about mental health services in your area please contact the NHS
During the day Michael Millward is a HR professional
You can see Super Happy Story at the Edinburgh Festival