Discover more about Men's Talk, a performing arts group for men in Kirklees, and get an inside look into their latest performance and upcoming tour from performer and group attendee, Sohail Khan.
I had been working as a community arts practitioner for over 20 years before I became unwell. As things got worse, I lost my confidence and my motivation, before ultimately I was unable to work at all.
During this time a friend of mine suggested I get in touch with Men’s Talk, Community Links creative advocacy project for men.
Men’s Talk began in 2018 as a response to finding different ways of engaging with men and encouraging them to talk about their mental health. The project, which is facilitated by Stuart Hawkes, uses applied theatre to raise awareness, reduce stigma and signpost support from mental health services.
I had previously worked with Stuart and was invited to join the project – unfortunately because of Covid, we were unable to create theatre at that time – but that’s another story.
With Covid restrictions lifted, work began on the new Men’s Talk performance in July 22 when a dozen men came together to begin the process.
We started with a six-week programme of confidence and skills building, we played drama games, took part in trust exercises, stretched, breathed and sang.
Being with other men who have experienced mental ill health has been really good for me, during the next stage, we shared our stories and experiences of becoming unwell, the barriers we faced in getting help and coming to terms with living with mental health issues. As we shared our stories Stuart scribbled notes – and by December we had our scripts in our hands.
The words in the show that we speak are all drawn from our lived experiences, though we don’t perform our own stories. As we worked together we not only gained confidence in performing but also developed a deep sense of trust and comradery with each other. The show pulls no punches in speaking its truth concerning issues of men’s mental health; it is an honest reflection of the problems and issues that many men face today. For most of the men, this was their first experience of performing.
We rehearsed during January and February – before the show premiered in front of a full house in March. The responses from audience’s that have seen the show so far, both in terms of raising awareness and the stories we tell, has been overwhelmingly supportive.
In the feedback we have gathered people have spoken of how they are able to relate to the show’s messages in terms of their own lives and those they are close to. Below is some of the audience feedback that we’ve received so far:
“Amazing, professional, touching.. wonderful”
“Your messages of hope and recovery were inspiring”
“I couldn’t imagine how you were going to do it – but it was presented in such a fantastic form. I loved it.”
We’re really looking forward to our performances at Lawrence Batley Theatre during Mental Health Awareness week. We’ve visited the theatre and had a guided tour and have even held rehearsals there in preparation for our tour. For some of the men, this was their first visit to the theatre.
Following our stint at the Lawrence Batley Theatre we will be accompanying the West Yorkshire Bereavement Quilt as it tours Kirklees – with performances scheduled to take place at a range of venues including Fox’s Biscuits in Batley and at the Leeds Playhouse as part of the Northern Man Festival. We’ll take a break over the summer, but hope to get even further afield when we head out again in the autumn.
Being involved in Men’s Talk, I feel that I have accomplished something. When people ask me what I’m doing, I’ve got something to talk about. I tell people I’m part of this mental health group, that is forward facing - it gives me social worth, it gives me a sense of value and achievement.