Assembly 02 - Carmarthen
This is the discussion strand for Assembly 2 - there will be pics, vids and all info. regarding the project taking place on Friday 4th May 2012.
Watch this space for more info....
National Theatre Wales new democratically elected Assembly project will be taking place in Carmarthen. The winning idea is to create a performance debate event in a former mental health hospital. By highlighting the history of the building and stories of it's former patients, current local NHS issues will be to brought to the fore. How does the community feel about changes to local NHS services?
How does the community feel about changes to local NHS services?
One in four people are affected by mental illness.
9 out of 10 people with mental illness face stigma and discrimination.
As a community, do we know enough about mental illness? Our aim is to tackle the issues surrounding this by exploring the history of St David’s Hospital, the former lunatic asylum in Carmarthen. Through theatre, we want to encourage discussion and debate about how views on mental health has changed and what could be done to further improve this for everyone. Do we know enough so that we could support family or friends if they were affected by mental health issues? Also, with the government currently making big changes to the NHS, we feel that awareness is needed to ensure that the NHS reforms make mental health services better, not worse. Do we know enough so that we can improve the stigma and discrimination that people with mental health problems face?
The question is not just ‘Do we know?’ but ‘Do we know enough?’
Views: 738
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by abdul shayek on
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Ideas and thoughts so far from Karl Williams:
1. Performing space - Church. This would be set in the past, 1800's? This section could take the form of a church service? With inmates, staff etc, and also as if the audience is attending? I see this section could be spoken a lot through the medium of Welsh (as that is what they mostly would have spoken back then) but obviously there would be English speaking, as patients came from further afield than Wales. One of the possible subjects could be the divide of language, as well as being termed as mentally ill, the English-speaking patients would not have a clue what the Welsh patients are saying. This could be something we could possibly explore? Along with how the inmates were treated and what conditions were like. This section could take inspiration /story from the 'Friends of Carmarthen Museum' extract that I've posted on the page, taking from local history.
http://www.carmarthenmuseum.org.uk/articles/parson.html (extract about the church)
2. Performing space - Disused room/ward etc. of the ex-hospital. Set in present day/90's etc. Now, this is something that I'm slightly confused about what we could do. What would be really good theatrically for us is taking the story of Darren Tannahill (read the article about him I've posted on our page). I also found a memorial page for the man and there is a guestbook where his mother and other relatives have posted about him. Some of the stuff they say is absolutely heartbreaking, I actually cried! However, I don't know whether this is too close to the knuckle, as they say, because obviously it is something that has happened quite recently (late 90's he died, inquest didn't happen until ten years later. Family very, very angry and upset about it.) and we would obviously have to get in contact with the family about it, and if we did do it, sensitivity and caution would be absolute key. I don't know if it would be possible to use this story because of the sensitivity and 'newness' of the subject.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7390308.stm (story about Darren Tannahill)
http://books.dreambook.com/thedemigod/memorial.html (memorial guestbook)
3. Performing space - Church? Incorporating the stage as well? Past meeting present. So characters from 1st section and 2nd section incorporated. This could be about what the NHS has done since incidents like Darren Tannahill's to improve the state of mental health and health services, and then saying how we need to take a stand to ensure that these NHS cuts don't affect our community etc.
I love LOVE LOVE the idea of possibly using the 1871 census of staff and patients as a focal point for our characters in the past section e.g names etc, as we could then embellish characters ourselves theatrically etc.
http://web.archive.org/web/20060104235739/http://www.angelfire.com/... (1871 census of staff and patients)
Interesting ideas - nice one Karl.
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Permalink Reply by Angharad Evans on
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Really excited to be working on this project. Fantastic ideas proposed by Karl WIlliams. The buildings, church, and the sad history echoing from the past, reflecting on the present. Very exciting
Just having a quick glance on the web, came across some images of the building with patient graffiti some dating from 1800's link: http://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/main/showthread.php?t=20179
Also reflecting on the disturbing images "The Prinzhorn Collection. Lines on the magic notepad presented a selection of more than two hundred drawings and notebooks produced by psychiatric patients between 1890 and 1920."http://www.macba.cat/en/exhibition-prinzhorn-collection.
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Permalink Reply by Karl Joseph Williams on
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Hi Catrin,
Thanks for the positive comments, it is very exciting! Am very much forward to meeting you and working with you. Thanks for the links, I had seen the patient graffitti but hadn't seen the other link. It looks so interesting!
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The group have created a FB page follow for info.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/326132997454582/?notif_t=group_added...
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Hello everyone,
Just to give you an update. Myself and some of the other team went to see the location that we initially could perform in which is quite exciting! We also took some images that really created a thirst of inspiration! We also went to the local library and accessed their research about the history of the former hospital, we found a wealth of research! I will post all about this tommorow after we go back there to do some further research.
This could be a main performance space, with the old versus the new. For example, using the pews and the pulpit (which you can just about see and you will see further on) as part of the first section to do with religion and the church. I think this would then contrast nicely using the makeshift stage (which you can see before the curtains, putting hospital beds there and making it quite modern, clinical and quite absurd. I think visually, this would make such an impact!
This is the pulpit, as I was talking about earlier.
These are rooms on either side as you walk through the entrance door of the church. These could be used quite effectively, in terms of audience walking past and something is going on etc.
We think this would be an absolutely fantastic theatrical opportunity for the community, to find out more its history and to create thoughts and discussions about what the conditions, treatment and the 'taboo' of mental health was like then and how much better, and widely accepted it is today.
And below are a few miscellaneous images we took, of the doors and the outside of the church.
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Great venue and space, looking forward to hearing more about your historical research. Keep up the good work towards what will be an amazing event that will allow people to reflect on the past and discuss the present. :)
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Permalink Reply by Laura Jeffs on
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Wow, this all looks great - a fantastic amount of research gone in already, cheers guys. Really looking forward to getting over there and seeing it for myself, and getting started on this project! xox
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Day 2 of the research days and some great ideas & thoughts so far regarding structure, content and debate.
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The old versus the new. Times have changed but people suffering with mental illness still feel the same.
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We had a great finish to the project on Friday- there was performances, debates and interesting feedback with a varied audience. We had nurses who had trained at the old hospital, local people who had some connection with mental health and people who had come along not knowing what to expect. Here is some of their feedback:
Paper chain NHS feedback
- More time for front line staff to be able to care
- Less business management
- It needs to focus on the care and life of the patient not money issues
- We often don’t understand the pressure they are under as a service
- Gran is in hospital, broke her leg after a fall- doctors didn’t realise she’d had a stroke whilst in hospital. Understaffed
- It’s free
- They care about a person as a person- not a number
- The NHS makes me better
- They work long hard hours and the ones on the front line often take the blame
- The NHS are striving for something’s that are unachievable- purely due to resources
- Impersonal
- Slow
- Achieving aims and targets rather than always thinking of the people
- Trying to make people more comfortable
- They take care of my mum
- The NHS have been supportive with my mental health issues
- I know embarrassingly little about the NHS
- NHS staff are underpaid, underappreciated and overworked
- They didn’t provide good health care for me
- It’s scary because I hate hospitals
- The NHS cancelled my operation at the last minute- the machine broke
- Lots of people moan about it
- Helpful
- They kept me alive
- Do not include eye tests
- They help people
- NHS has been unhelpful to me recently but I don’t want it to go
- Underfunded, poorly prioritised funding
- I have good and bad experiences of the NHS. They use the resources they have nut not necessarily to the best of their ability
- The NHS saved two of my brother’s lives. I wouldn’t have them without it
- The NHS was an amazing idea but I think has been watered down and become something that isn’t what it was meant to be
- Good help given
- Bevan
- Sometimes rushing
- Found out I was allergic to Morphine, Spelt my name wrong every time and nearly gave me Morphine every time
- Not very helpful, only want to be lazy! Bad experiences with nurses
- Been able to get medicine and prescriptions I need easily and quick- takes a while to be seen at times and they are not always thorough in diagnoses
- The NHS saved my mum
- The NHS is free-ish
- The NHS needs more funding. Free healthcare is one of the best most productive things about this country and by cutting funding we risk falling behind and more importantly putting millions of lives at risk
- The NHS, although arrived to meet the needs of every citizen, fails to do so. This is due to lack of funds
- I’m lucky to have the NHS for free- I had treatment for 10 weeks- the nurses were lovely and they cured me for sometime!
- I don’t think we could afford to live without it after seeing conditions in New Mexico. They’re hard working and don’t deserve the criticisms they sometimes get
- I think it’s a really good system, that is criticised too much, a credit to this country
- The emergency call line is not helpful! Too long on hold when in pain
- Its what is great about Britain and even though it must change it must remain
- NHS was the first contact I had with this earth
- NHS means National Health Service. That’s all I know
- A little community of pain
- Medication
- People too stretched to see anyone quicker
- Often fantastic- often disappointing
- A friend of mine was diagnosed much later than the family had hoped through the department not being interested in solving her problems
- Angles as seen through circles
- Essential
- I signed the 38 degree petition to stop the government destroying the NHS
- It looks after people and provides healthcare. My sister has had 5 operations it may not have been possible without it(Expensive)
- Good if you break a bone. Bad if you have a mental illness
- Very good on accidents
- The best thing Britain has which is available to everyone regardless of wealth or background
- Should be preserved not terminated
- Since nurses have to have degrees, empathy has gone down in the profession as lots of caring people cant write essays
- Too many managers not enough front line staff
- ECT can cause long term memory loss
- Underfunded, GP’s not very good, overworked nurses and long waiting lists
- Under pressure. Top heavy structure, too many mangers, doctors and nurses overworked and GP’s too busy. A service which shouldn’t be privatised, too eager to prescribe medication
- NHS is not working well in this part of Wales. I used to work in it and I don’t understand what kind of care is being given now. I fear very little is being given. Where can people be given rest and respect?
- Never followed up with a complaint my family left
- Their care of both my grandparents has always been wonderful
- Helpful and willing
- Easily accessible
- Accessible, free, needed
- The NHS is the best healthcare system in the world. Much criticised and far from perfect but still, the principle of free health care is far better than we see elsewhere. I have seen the best and worst as both a healthcare professional and patient relative
- Understaffed and underpaid
- Staff are not able to give the care they want to give
- NHS I wish you would listen to me and my symptoms
- The NHS saved my nephews life
- I have had very good experiences, every time I have been unfortunate to have to be seen on the NHS
- The NHS try to help
- A good idea if executed correctly
- Think about mainstreaming mental health in all economic and social aspects of communities
- I’m sure they try their best
- Improve the care of the elderly
- The NHS is top heavy with mangers who are not doctors
- From both my experiences with the doctor on call they don’t seem bothered. I had appendicitis but was sent home with food poisoning. My gran had bowel cancer, they didn’t check and she was sent home with constipation
- Not all NHS hospitals are clean and patients are catching MRSA because of unhygienic hospitals
- Welfare of patient and patient care and wellbeing
- Waiting time in outpatients
- A box of paracetamol = 30p +£10 prescription GP+£2 Pharmacy and Admin= £16.38 How did this happen?
- It could be something wonderful
- A suggestion that money will buy your health. ‘Cut your waiting time by going private’
- The whole of the NHS needs topping and tailing
- Even though it gets a lot of stick I am glad we have it
- I recently had an operation and received excellent care
- The NHS need to begin to think of individuals as individual human beings, with individual problems. Generalisation is not the same as a case study
- Everyone is entitled to treatment regardless of who they are
- Sometimes lacking in service, patients can feel rushed but not always
- I am proud of the NHS
- No hate sent
- Hospitals skint
- It needs a shake up to get it working to its full potential
- The NHS has been allowed to deteriorate due to being starved of funds. I believe that this is to give those who would see it privatised and excellent case for privatisation
- The provision for mental health is woeful- to prevent cases of major depression (which costs money!) and many of the suicide cases, we should have access to many forms of physchotherapy immediately, for someone who needs it for as long as they need it!
- Mental health is not just Monday to Friday 9- 5
Performance Feedback- Prescriptions
- Excellent! Noise of other areas good for discordance but was too distracting at times. After finding it hard to hear I suggest being able to go to different rooms
- Amazing flow and pace
- Very thought provoking
- Charmingly good, very well put together
- Thank you for a lovely evening, very informative
- We found this production powerful and provocative! We need more of this ‘grass roots’ theatre
- Absorbing event- excellent use of space
- Very good. Makes me aware of others and their illnesses
- An excellent production. Hopefully students will use this to present to a wider audience
- Really excellent- I enjoyed it very much! Was thought provoking and successful at promoting discussion
- Only problem was the noise
- Educational project would be a very useful tool to educate the public in the village/town halls- Congratulations!
- It’s not about doing more for people with mental health issues but working with them so they can live the lives they choose. Excellent thought provoking work
- Very well done, It’s got me thinking
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Nice event on Friday, here's the feedback from a great audience:
Performance Feedback- Prescriptions
- Excellent! Noise of other areas good for discordance but was too distracting at times. After finding it hard to hear I suggest being able to go to different rooms
- Amazing flow and pace
- Very thought provoking
- Charmingly good, very well put together
- Thank you for a lovely evening, very informative
- We found this production powerful and provocative! We need more of this ‘grass roots’ theatre
- Absorbing event- excellent use of space
- Very good. Makes me aware of others and their illnesses
- An excellent production. Hopefully students will use this to present to a wider audience
- Really excellent- I enjoyed it very much! Was thought provoking and successful at promoting discussion
- Only problem was the noise
- Educational project would be a very useful tool to educate the public in the village/town halls- Congratulations!
- It’s not about doing more for people with mental health issues but working with them so they can live the lives they choose. Excellent thought provoking work
- Very well done, It’s got me thinking
Paper chain NHS feedback
- More time for front line staff to be able to care
- Less business management
- It needs to focus on the care and life of the patient not money issues
- We often don’t understand the pressure they are under as a service
- Gran is in hospital, broke her leg after a fall- doctors didn’t realise she’d had a stroke whilst in hospital. Understaffed
- It’s free
- They care about a person as a person- not a number
- The NHS makes me better
- They work long hard hours and the ones on the front line often take the blame
- The NHS are striving for something’s that are unachievable- purely due to resources
- Impersonal
- Slow
- Achieving aims and targets rather than always thinking of the people
- Trying to make people more comfortable
- They take care of my mum
- The NHS have been supportive with my mental health issues
- I know embarrassingly little about the NHS
- NHS staff are underpaid, underappreciated and overworked
- They didn’t provide good health care for me
- It’s scary because I hate hospitals
- The NHS cancelled my operation at the last minute- the machine broke
- Lots of people moan about it
- Helpful
- They kept me alive
- Do not include eye tests
- They help people
- NHS has been unhelpful to me recently but I don’t want it to go
- Underfunded, poorly prioritised funding
- I have good and bad experiences of the NHS. They use the resources they have nut not necessarily to the best of their ability
- The NHS saved two of my brother’s lives. I wouldn’t have them without it
- The NHS was an amazing idea but I think has been watered down and become something that isn’t what it was meant to be
- Good help given
- Bevan
- Sometimes rushing
- Found out I was allergic to Morphine, Spelt my name wrong every time and nearly gave me Morphine every time
- Not very helpful, only want to be lazy! Bad experiences with nurses
- Been able to get medicine and prescriptions I need easily and quick- takes a while to be seen at times and they are not always thorough in diagnoses
- The NHS saved my mum
- The NHS is free-ish
- The NHS needs more funding. Free healthcare is one of the best most productive things about this country and by cutting funding we risk falling behind and more importantly putting millions of lives at risk
- The NHS, although arrived to meet the needs of every citizen, fails to do so. This is due to lack of funds
- I’m lucky to have the NHS for free- I had treatment for 10 weeks- the nurses were lovely and they cured me for sometime!
- I don’t think we could afford to live without it after seeing conditions in New Mexico. They’re hard working and don’t deserve the criticisms they sometimes get
- I think it’s a really good system, that is criticised too much, a credit to this country
- The emergency call line is not helpful! Too long on hold when in pain
- Its what is great about Britain and even though it must change it must remain
- NHS was the first contact I had with this earth
- NHS means National Health Service. That’s all I know
- A little community of pain
- Medication
- People too stretched to see anyone quicker
- Often fantastic- often disappointing
- A friend of mine was diagnosed much later than the family had hoped through the department not being interested in solving her problems
- Angles as seen through circles
- Essential
- I signed the 38 degree petition to stop the government destroying the NHS
- It looks after people and provides healthcare. My sister has had 5 operations it may not have been possible without it(Expensive)
- Good if you break a bone. Bad if you have a mental illness
- Very good on accidents
- The best thing Britain has which is available to everyone regardless of wealth or background
- Should be preserved not terminated
- Since nurses have to have degrees, empathy has gone down in the profession as lots of caring people cant write essays
- Too many managers not enough front line staff
- ECT can cause long term memory loss
- Underfunded, GP’s not very good, overworked nurses and long waiting lists
- Under pressure. Top heavy structure, too many mangers, doctors and nurses overworked and GP’s too busy. A service which shouldn’t be privatised, too eager to prescribe medication
- NHS is not working well in this part of Wales. I used to work in it and I don’t understand what kind of care is being given now. I fear very little is being given. Where can people be given rest and respect?
- Never followed up with a complaint my family left
- Their care of both my grandparents has always been wonderful
- Helpful and willing
- Easily accessible
- Accessible, free, needed
- The NHS is the best healthcare system in the world. Much criticised and far from perfect but still, the principle of free health care is far better than we see elsewhere. I have seen the best and worst as both a healthcare professional and patient relative
- Understaffed and underpaid
- Staff are not able to give the care they want to give
- NHS I wish you would listen to me and my symptoms
- The NHS saved my nephews life
- I have had very good experiences, every time I have been unfortunate to have to be seen on the NHS
- The NHS try to help
- A good idea if executed correctly
- Think about mainstreaming mental health in all economic and social aspects of communities
- I’m sure they try their best
- Improve the care of the elderly
- The NHS is top heavy with mangers who are not doctors
- From both my experiences with the doctor on call they don’t seem bothered. I had appendicitis but was sent home with food poisoning. My gran had bowel cancer, they didn’t check and she was sent home with constipation
- Not all NHS hospitals are clean and patients are catching MRSA because of unhygienic hospitals
- Welfare of patient and patient care and wellbeing
- Waiting time in outpatients
- A box of paracetamol = 30p +£10 prescription GP+£2 Pharmacy and Admin= £16.38 How did this happen?
- It could be something wonderful
- A suggestion that money will buy your health. ‘Cut your waiting time by going private’
- The whole of the NHS needs topping and tailing
- Even though it gets a lot of stick I am glad we have it
- I recently had an operation and received excellent care
- The NHS need to begin to think of individuals as individual human beings, with individual problems. Generalisation is not the same as a case study
- Everyone is entitled to treatment regardless of who they are
- Sometimes lacking in service, patients can feel rushed but not always
- I am proud of the NHS
- No hate sent
- Hospitals skint
- It needs a shake up to get it working to its full potential
- The NHS has been allowed to deteriate due to being starved of funds. I believe that this is to give those who would see it privatised and excellent case for privatisation
- The provision for mental health is woeful- to prevent cases of major depression (which costs money!) and many of the suicide cases, we should have access to many forms of physchotherapy immediately, for someone who needs it for as long as they need it!
- Mental health is not just Monday to Friday 9- 5
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