‘So You Think I’m Crazy?’ is an emotive drama that explores the UK’s mental health system, told through the eyes of a young black man. It uses music, poetry, rap and dance to take audiences from the streets of London to the secure wing of a psychiatric hospital. The play highlights the issues surrounding mental ill-health in the black community and questions whether the mental health system in the UK is effective. The exploration of the issues raised in the play continues after each performance with a panel discussion made up of mental health professionals.
‘So You Think I’m Crazy?’ is written and directed by Ekanem Hines, the co-founder of Know My Mind which is a Croydon-based community group which aims to highlight mental health issues from the perspective of service users and carers.
The play was launched in 2014 and has featured in theatres and events across the UK and has been endorsed by the Mayor of Croydon, Mind and Royal College of Psychiatrists, and has also received excellent reviews.
Know My Mind started in 2013 when the co-founders decided to capture the stories of users for a report on the UK’s mental health system. This report entitled ‘Tell it like it is Mental Health in the Community: Opening Pandora’s Box?’ was published in 2014 and aimed to address the fact that the voice of service users tends to be lost in academic and professional jargon. Therefore the reality of the experience of mental health patients is not fully understood. The report addressed this by challenging the system and putting forward a set of recommendations to improve the system. Following the publication of this report Know My Mind put together the script for ‘So You Think I’m Crazy’ with assistance from consultants.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to see ‘So You Think I’m Crazy’, there will be performances on Saturday 8th October at 2:30pm and 8pm at The Broadway Theatre in Catford, tickets are £10.
