Media Kit Contents:
PSA
Media Release
June Swadron – Photo (Click for higher resolution image)
Poster
Facebook Event
Link to Madness, Masks and Miracles Home Page
Media Inquiries:
Deb Morse, Media Manager
organicislands@gmail.com
250-658-8104 or 250-858-8100
PSA:
Dec. 11, 6:45, Premiere Screening of “Madness, Masks & Miracles.” Playwright, author, actor & psychotherapist June Swadron hosts a screening of the play she co-wrote with Victoria Maxwell to dispel stigmas about mental illness. Discussion following about a united vision for a downtown centre – Academy for Creative & Healing Arts for people with mental health challenges. Truth Centre, 1201 Fort St. By donation www.juneswadron.com
Media Release:
Creativity Transforms Mental Illness into Mental Health
Victoria Premiere Screening of Madness, Masks and Miracles
Sunday, December 11, 2011 6:45 p.m.
Truth Centre, 1201 Fort Street, Victoria, BC
Victoria – Join June Swadron, Victoria writer, actor, playwright, psychotherapist and author of Re-Write Your Life, in an evening exploring the link between creative expression and wellness for people living with mental illness.
Swadron will share the story behind the play “Madness, Masks and Miracles,” based on her own experience with bi-polar illness starting at age 19. The talk will be followed by a DVD screening of the play that Swadron cowrote with Victoria Maxwell and co-produced with Hub Productions and Lee Clarke.
“This play is about the types of madness or dark nights of the soul most people living with a mental illness experience,” says Swadron. “But it also includes the masks all of us wear to avoid being criticized, ostracized and marginalized. Ultimately, it’s about shared struggles, compassion and the miracles that let us shed our masks and be who we really are.”
“A must see for every Canadian,” said Dr. Michael Meyers, President of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. This is “what it’s like to have a mental illness, the anguish and confusion… and the denial in co-workers and family… But this production is not cynical or depressing. It is moving, inspiring and intensely evocative”, Meyers explained when the play was first performed and filmed at the World Assembly for Mental Health in Vancouver
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Following the screening, Swadron will share her vision for the establishment of a facility where people with mental health challenges can access creative and expressive arts and healing modalities: The Academy for Creative & Healing Arts. Swadron envisions a downtown Victoria centre, where people can “work and play” to unleash their creative potential.
“People’s lives can be transformed as they move from mental illness to mental health,” says Swadron. After deciding to step out of hiding, Swadron now sees how her illness has been her greatest teacher and most profound gift.
Attendees are invited to informally share their own experience and creative ideas, during a reception following the screening.
For more info: http://juneswadron.com/ or 250-592-5453
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