The topic of mental health can perhaps feel distant to some, however it affects us all. Defined by the World Health Organisation, Mental health is  ‘as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community’. But what happens if you, or a member of your family struggles with the day to day stresses life can often throw at us? Writer and performer Isabelle Kabban explores this in her latest show, LOVE (Watching Madness). Drawing from her own personal experiences of her mother being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder, Isabelle speaks of the importance of discussing mental health, her approach towards creating the show and debuting the show at the John Thaw Mental Health Season at The Actors Centre in 2018.

We can all agree that parenting can be tough at times, but imagine raising a son who looks so different that everyone thinks you’ve kidnapped him. BAFTA nominated writer Gabriel Bisset-Smith has based Whitewash on his own experiences as the white passing son of a mixed race woman, and the complexities of race in the gritty London of the 1990s, through to the property obsessed 2010s.

We’re beginning to live in a time whereby the rights and experiences of women are truly being put into the foreground, and this is significant. We’ve witnessed recently, how laws passed can negatively impact on communities; the Alabama case recently in which they passed a bill banning abortion serving as a stark reminder as to how far we societally have to go in order for  women’s voices to be heard and rights prioritise. Drawing from her own personal experiences, writer and performer Claire Rammelkamp talks about her first full length show, A Womb of One’s Own. Showing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe from late July at the Pleasance Dome, we hear more about Claire’s creative process and being supported by the Charlie Harthill Theatre Reserve Fund.

In an ambitious new performance event from Stuart Laing and Pamela Carter, Them! explores questions of identity amidst the daunting landscape of the twenty-first century. The play comprises three stages beginning with a chat show like performance hosted by the spunky and energetic Kiruna Stammell.

Founded in 2007 by Daniel Goldman, CASA – meaning ‘home’ in Portuguese and Spanish is one of the UK’s biggest champions of cultural exchanges between Latin American and UK based artists. An arts organisation programming predominantly theatre, their well known and respected festival has enjoyed 9 editions, with its 10th taking place this July. Taking over the helm of both the organisation and festival this year is CASA contributer Cordelia Grierson, the newly appointed Artistic Director who has helped shape CASA’s journey behind the scenes within the past 8 years. Talking ahead of this year’s festival, Cordelia tells us more about what to expect as well as the event’s newly introduced multi-disciplinary element.

Rock of Ages comes to The Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury on the first leg of its UK tour. A musical packed full of classic rock anthems, Rock of Ages is a fun, toe-tapping show full of Rock ‘n’ Roll debauchery.

This stage adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg’s 2012 film The Hunt (Jagten) explores the false accusation of Lucas (played by Tobias Menzies) for sexual assault and paedophilia. Lucas, a schoolteacher is falsely accused by one of his pupils, Clara (played by Abbiegail Mills). As other children then come forward with more accusations, ambiguity settles in regarding Lucas’s conduct.

A life changing process, the process of pregnancy is something we hear and see very little spoken about; the biological process usually depicted by its last moment, giving birth. A process that can only truly be understood and experienced by those going through it, the emotional impact of pregnancy is an ever lasting one, rippling throughout families going through it. What also isn’t the discussed is the heartbreaking truth that ‘1 in 4 pregnancies end in loss during pregnancy or birth’, a taboo subject matter rarely discussed. Created in collaboration with UCL Neuroscience Professor Kate Jeffrey, Lecturer of Philosophy at the University of Kent Dr Graeme Forbes and charities Anyone Everymum and Aching Arms, director Guillaume Pigé discusses Theatre Re’s poignant theatre piece, BIRTH, showing at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

There isn’t much to fault in Nancy Medina’s production of Caryl Phillips’ Strange Fruit, currently running at the Bush Theatre. Part of the Passing the Baton initiative, the play details the lives of those that struggle to imagine their futures; people that are trapped by oppression, anger and cultural difference.

Courtesy of Helen Murray.