Gecko Theatre Teams with Suffolk Mind to Launch New Project on World Mental Health Day

Welcome to Gecko's Institute. Set in a warped world of emotional compartmentalisation and treatment, where memories are filed and relationships scrutinised, patient becomes carer and vice versa. Four men undergo a series of extraordinary physical 'treatments' as they struggle to prepare themselves for the outside world.

Institute is driven by Gecko?s desire to explore complexities in human nature; our impulse to care and our complete reliance on one another. We are entering a time in which we are potentially more fractured and disconnected than ever before - when the time comes, will anyone really care? But a Gecko world is never as it first appears...

Institute is a spectacularly inventive and surprising journey which for the company started in 2014. It is a fast-paced visual theatre spectacle which is epic in scale but intimate in emotion and has wowed both national and international critics and audiences alike.

This autumn Gecko is developing a series of events and resources to allow audiences to further explore issues of mental well-being raised in the show as it tours in England. The company has teamed up with mental health charity Suffolk Mind as the lead partner on the project, and will also work with local mental health networks in each city that Institute is touring to. The project is supported by a Wellcome People Award.

The project has four strands:

1. Something to talk about: at each venue Gecko will hold a post-show discussion with a twist. Artistic Director Amit Lahav and one of Gecko's performers will be joined by local experts working in the field of mental health to discuss the show's themes, and answer questions from the audience.

2. Something to read: all audience members will receive a programme giving more information on the show and this project, as well as information on mental well-being and pathways to support locally.

3. Someone to talk to: after every performance there will be someone from a local mental health support network ready to talk to audience members in the foyer, answering any questions they may have.

4. Something to do: at each venue Gecko and Suffolk Mind will run a 3 hour free workshop for audience members eager to further explore the topics of the show taking as a starting point the four characters. The workshop has been created and will be led by Gecko's Artistic Director Amit Lahav and Ezra Hewing of Suffolk Mind alongside Gecko's performers.

Because the show features an all-male cast, Gecko and Suffolk Mind are particularly interested to engage men of working age with the project, especially those who may not already be engaged with local Mind networks and/or the cultural offering in their city.

Gecko and Suffolk Mind are working with the local venues to offer reduced rate tickets to key groups that may benefit from the project and be interested in the show. Please email for more information on this.

This ancillary programme launches on Monday, 10 October (World Mental Health Day) at Quay Place in Ipswich with screening of Institute at 2pm and a panel discussion at 3.30pm.

Following this, Wednesday 12 October will see a three-hour workshop take place at Quay Place. All events in Ipswich are free, booking information to follow on www.geckotheatre.com.

IF YOU GO:

HOME / Manchester / www.homemcr.org

Performances: 19 - 22 October at 7.30pm (also 2.30pm on Saturday, 22 October) / tickets

Ancillary programme: 20 October at 9pm - post show panel discussion (free with show ticket)

21 October at 2pm - 5pm - workshop (free with show ticket, registration information will be available on the venue website)

Nuffield / Southampton / www.nuffieldtheatre.co.uk

Performances: 2 - 5 November at 7.30pm / tickets

Ancillary programme: 2 November at 9pm - post show panel discussion (free with show ticket)

4 November at 2pm - 5pm - workshop (free with show ticket, registration information will be available on the venue website)

Playhouse / Liverpool / www.everymanplayhouse.com

Performances: 16 - 19 November at 7.30pm (except for: 5.30pm on 17 November) / tickets

Ancillary programme: 17 November at 7pm - post show panel discussion (free with show ticket)

17 November at 12pm-3pm - workshop (free with show ticket, registration information will be available on the venue website)

Gecko is an award-winning and internationally-acclaimed physical theatre company, led by Artistic Director Amit Lahav.

A Gecko show is visual, visceral, ambitious theatre crafted to inspire, move and entertain. Gecko strives to make their work wide open to interpretation and put their audience at the heart of the narrative.

Amit has created an organic devising process that oscillates between intense periods of experimentation, making brave leaps, learning and failing and including choreography, writing, storyboarding and reflection. Every stage includes sonic and technical development alongside the choreography.

With an expanding ensemble of international performers and makers, Gecko works across diverse age groups, nationalities and forms. The company tours nationally and internationally and continues to develop strong partnerships around the world.

Beyond the stage, Gecko aspires to open the doors on their process via every possible avenue, be it digital, in schools or through one-to-one relationships with their audience.

To learn more about Gecko's cast and creatives, click here. Gecko website / Twitter / Facebook.

Suffolk Mind wants to make the UK the best place in the world for talking about and taking care of mental wellbeing. All of us have mental health, just as we have physical health. Both are equally important and anyone can become mentally ill if they are unable to meet their emotional needs. Just as five-a-day, a little exercise and a balanced diet are part of keeping people physically healthy and ultimately out of hospital, so it is with mental health. Suffolk Mind believes its preventative approach, through educating people and raising awareness, will improve the lives of families, individuals and businesses. Suffolk Mind website / Facebook / Twitter.

Wellcome exists to improve health for everyone by helping great ideas to thrive. We're a global charitable foundation, both politically and financially independent. We support scientists and researchers, take on big problems, fuel imaginations and spark debate. Wellcome Trust website / Facebook / Twitter.

HOME, Manchester's centre for international contemporary art, theatre, film and books, opened its doors over the 2015 May Bank Holiday weekend. Designed by Dutch architects Mecanoo and featuring a 500-seat theatre, a 150-seat flexible theatre, a 500m2, 4m high gallery space, five cinema screens, digital production and broadcast facilities, a café bar and restaurant, HOME's theatres are a platform for questioning and ambitious artistic projects that involve audiences with new and extraordinary theatrical experiences. The international contemporary visual art programme is dedicated to presenting new commissions by emerging and established artists of regional, national and international significance, with a bold, proactive policy of visual, innovative storytelling with the ability to experiment and explore, probe and provoke, creating a distinct experience for both artists and audiences. HOME's five cinemas showcase the very best in contemporary and classic cinema, screening works by artists and filmmakers both established and new. HOME is a centre for co-production, talent development and artistic creation, dedicated to learning, for people of all ages. www.homemcr.org

The Everyman and Playhouse have been at the forefront of British theatre from their inception and are both inextricably linked to the history of the city they serve. Since 2000 they have been run together under one management: Liverpool and Merseyside Theatres Trust, a registered charity supported through Public Funding from Arts Council England and Liverpool City Council. Since 2003, under the leadership of Gemma Bodinetz (Artistic Director) and Deborah Aydon (Executive Director), the company has been transformed artistically and physically to become the celebrated e&P theatrical force it is today. We are two distinct theatres, almost a mile apart, which together make up a single artistic force.

For over ten years we have been driven by our passion for theatre, our love of our city and our unswerving belief that theatre at its best can transform lives. While our two buildings could hardly be more different, they are united by our commitment to brilliant, humane, forward-thinking theatre that responds to its time and place.

Our mission is to reflect the aspirations and concerns of our audiences, to dazzle and inspire them, welcome and connect with them, nurture the artists within them and fuel their civic pride. Wherever these connections happen - whether in our theatres, in the community, in schools, or outside Liverpool - we hope to ignite the imagination, explore what it is to be human and always to exceed expectation. www.everymanplayhouse.com

Nuffield is one of the country's leading producing theatre companies, creating bold, fresh and vital experiences through theatre. Nuffield was awarded Regional Theatre of the Year 2015 at The Stage Awards.

Nuffield is fundamentally repositioning itself within the regional and national landscape as a commissioner, developer and producer of high quality theatre. We aim to create bold, distinctive productions, attracting the highest calibre of artist and talent to work in Southampton. Nuffield has developed a profile and reputation for innovation and quality in Southampton and beyond the city, taking work to London and on tour nationally and internationally. Our produced programme is backed by a bespoke artist development programme and extensive outreach and community projects.

In March 2015, Nuffield announced that they will be the operating company of the North Building in Southampton's new arts venue in Guildhall Square, due to open in 2017, whilst continuing to run their current space on the Highfield campus of the University of Southampton. The new building will include a flexible 447 seat main house theatre, a 135 seat studio, screening facilities, rehearsal and workshop spaces, and a café bar and bistro. www.nuffieldtheatre.co.uk

To post a comment, you must register and login.