The Keeper

The seed of project originated from my experience of living with someone suffering from depression, as well as my own; observing its impact on everyday tasks and how physical and almost tangible it could feel at times. Hence, the idea of creating depression as a character; an entity in itself. 

From one conversation to another, testimonies started multiplying and I was stunned by the amount of people I knew who suffered from depression, anxiety and other mental health issues. What struck me the most was the number of men and their initial reluctance to talk about it, but also the immediate relief felt once they started opening up!

That’s how I started the original research for a show, reading stories, filling surveys, interviewing people, researching in the studio. We shared our findings and collated feedback which were extremely encouraging: people recognised themselves in the performance, felt understood and less alone, they thought dance was a very eloquent way of depicting depression. 

We were ready to take on the next stage of the research, when Covid-19 hit. 

Lockdown and the pandemic have been particularly tough on people and we saw mental health issues increase dramatically. Small businesses have been heavily affected and we’ve seen significant inequality in the way different communities have been impacted. 

During the previous stage of research, we had already identified our main character as a struggling independent business owner. Little did we know how prophetic it would be. 

Furthermore, I had been looking into intersectionality in mental health: how differently communities were affected, but also how their perception of the issue was, how opened or stigmatised it could be, making it sometimes difficult to reach out for help.

These are the reasons why I had to find a way to further the project within the restrictions imposed by the current context. That is why, we will be going into communities, interviewing small independent business owners and transforming their personal stories into a short film where everyone can recognise themselves, as well as offering movement-based workshops that in themselves contribute to better mental health.

The work is too relevant, too necessary, not to be happening.