We collaborated with a group of eight young people who have experienced poor mental health, or have struggled to cope with trauma. The group’s shared lived experience gave them a level of empathic insight into the challenges faced by other young people. Given an opportunity to do something that might benefit others, they jumped at the chance.

Through a process of talking, listening, experimenting and playing, the group developed a narrative around the difficulty of not only finding the support that you need, but even understanding your own needs in the first place, and then communicating them. Together we created a live gallery performance that involved set-design, music, lighting, sound art and aerial performance.

Amidst a soundscape of confusion and conflicting thoughts, our performer takes a literal leap of faith from a two-metre high tower and, suspended from a zip-wire, hauls themselves through the space using any hand-hold they can grasp. Although their movement is “transfixing and intense” (audience feedback) we can see that their struggle is real. A telephone rings at the end of the room, but it is just beyond the outstretched fingers of the performer. As the ringing gives way to a haunting song with a beautifully fragile voice, the character slumps, exhausted, and is winched slowly back along the wire. As they return to their starting point, the music ends and stillness descends. The performer prepares for the next attempt… 

The participants experienced a boost to their confidence, wellbeing, and their ability to process and communicate emotions. They are better at collaborating, are happier, and more resilient.

40% of participants had poor school attendance records; but across all iterations of this project, 90% of them attended more than 80% of their sessions with Effervescent.

Only 18% of visitors were regular gallery-goers. For 21% of visitors, this was their first ever visit to a gallery. 41% were under the age of 25 compared to a national average of 17%.