Performance, conversation on mental health coming to University of Michigan campus

The Keene Theater. (University of Michigan)

ANN ARBOR – A series of events focusing on mental health is coming to the University of Michigan March 26-29.

A theatrical adaptation of a novelette from the 2019 Michigan Quarterly Review by James Munro Leaf titled “Why I Fight” will take place across four days. According to a release, the play “dramatizes the perils of being defined by a mental illness and being caught in the psychiatric system.”

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Led by U-M School of Music, Theatre & Dance faculty Gillian Eaton (creative director) and Malcolm Tulip (actor), the performance unwraps the complex dynamics of dehumanization, power and abuse in clinical settings.

Performances will take place March 26-29 at U-M Residential College’s Keene Theater and will be followed by a series of panel discussions with leaders of the U-M Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research program and other university units.

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The event is free and open to the public, and audience members are invited to participate in post-performance conversations that will feature U-M researchers, individuals and family members who live with mental illness and arts practitioners focused on healing.

Information tables highlighting community resources in mental health and the arts and a catered reception will follow each performance.

Dates and times:

  • Thursday, March 26: 7-9 p.m.
  • Friday, March 27: 7-9 p.m.
  • Saturday, March 28: 7-9 p.m.
  • Sunday, March 29: 2-4 p.m.

One hundred free tickets are available for each performance. To make a reservation, click here.

The Keene Theater is at 701 East University Ave.


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