Spotlight on: Lisa Brickell
Lisa Brickell has been involved with Rākau Roroa from the beginning. As a Rākau Roroa facilitator, she's helped train and support the growing network of Tall Trees who share their Lived Experience of mental distress and recovery to inspire others. And in her own theatre work, Lisa brings generations of her family's Lived Experience to the stage, challenging assumptions and prejudices around mental health. Her stage show Shhh! has toured all around Aotearoa with Arts on Tour, and performed recently in Auckland to rave reviews before heading off to the Edinburgh Festival and the Festival d'Avignon.
As a writer and actor, Lisa sees theatre as having a pivotal part to play in shining a light on areas of society that are frequently hidden or covered up, like mental distress and well-being. "Not talking about an issue doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist," she says. "Bringing it out into the open is the first step towards understanding."
Lisa trained in comedy, mask work and physical theatre in Paris and Italy, and holds an MA in Drama from Auckland University. She has directed and performed in theatre, film and TV in New Zealand, Australia and around the world. Shhh! explores her family's inter-generational experiences of mental distress during pregnancy, birth and early parenting, in a way that is true to many women's lived experiences. Although the subject matter may seem dark, the humour in Lisa's story-telling keeps audiences feeling safe, and connects us deeply with her characters.
"For me," Lisa says, "the power of comedy is really profound. To make people laugh, and think, and take action—the arts in most cultures have traditionally always played this role. From storytelling around the campfire, to the early clowns in the South Pacific who were called in by the grandmothers to make fun of the chief when he got too wrapped up in his ego, to the court jesters making fun of royalty, Commedia dell'Arte in Italy, and right through to modern times."
One of the most challenging and also rewarding parts of the production, she says, has been the discussion that the show raises around mental health. Every show finishes with a Q & A session that includes not only cast and crew, but also local support groups. Lisa sees her Rākau Roroa training as a key part of her toolkit for facilitating these post-show kōrero. As she puts it, "The training opened up my way of seeing the world. It puts a spotlight on prejudices and belief systems - what underlies them, and how to counteract them."
This inclusion of local mental health organisations is a crucial part of Lisa's practice, giving every Shhh! audience the opportunity to meet and chat informally with people from the support services available in their local area. The importance of support, not isolation, is a key message in her play. "We are often so isolated nowadays, having children," she explains. "It works a lot better all round when the village brings up the baby. But if we don’t have a village, how can we create one?"
Lisa's theatre work brings her Lived Experience and Rākau Roroa training to that question, showing that the shared power of Lived Experience can build community by strengthening connections, empathy and understanding.
In partnership with Changing Minds, Lisa has also created a short film, Unlatched, and a VR 360 version of the Shhh! theatre show, Mockingbird. You can watch Mockingbird on our website here: