Submissions are invited for Shout London 2024, the third annual mental health and arts festival from Ashford Place which will take place 23 and 24 November.
Shout London launched for the first time in 2022 with the two day festival taking place at the Crown in Cricklewood and The Kiln in Kilburn with Michelle Collins and Gail Porter two of the big names taking part.
The festival would return to those venues last year and has since spread to Liverpool with the inaugural Shout Liverpool festival taking place in April this year. The Irish World was there at the Bluecoat for the two days of performances, screenings and discussions.
Shout London 2024 will be held at the prestigious Wac Arts, Belsize Park and will take place over a weekend for the first time.
Around 1 in 4 people experience a mental health problem of some kind each year in England.
The festival brings together artists from across the country to perform and share their experiences living with various mental health challenges, neurological conditions and learning disabilities.
Shout is looking for original artistic content across film (features and shorts), theatre, dance, spoken word, music and other art forms that can offer insight into these experiences.
Applications are welcome from across the UK and should be sent to [email protected] by 30 September 2024.
Festival Director Carey Fitzgerald said: “The aim of SHOUT is to give a voice to artists and celebrate the creative achievements of those with experience of mental health conditions. Besides being a beautiful building and performance space, Wac Art’s support for its community- championing both the arts and people with disabilities- fits perfectly with SHOUT’s ethos. We’re looking forward to working with Wac to challenge the stigma around these experiences and use the arts as a catalyst to start these difficult but important conversations.”
Festival patrons include EastEnders actor Michelle Collins and award-winning writer Maria McAteer, the first black world champion Irish dancer.
Maria will be performing an extract from her play The Guinness Girl, a true story based on her experience growing up in Newcastle in 1974 as a young black girl with an Irish mother.
At a time when racism was rife, putting on her Irish dance shoes was her only escape and a way to cope with Depersonalisation Disorder (DPD), a mental health condition where one feels disconnected from reality. The play is being adapted into a feature film.
Maria said: “Attending SHOUT’s festival in Liverpool was the first time in my life I had met other people with DPD. Sharing your most personal experiences with other people who understand what you’ve been through is empowering. It makes you feel less alone”.
Feedback from other participants and attendees was equally inspiring.
One said: “SHOUT provides an invaluable platform for artists and advocates to engage in conversations that matter.”
Another added: “Fascinating discussions of mental health experiences and creative, entertaining, thought-provoking poetry, music, dancing and acting. Highly recommended.”
“SHOUT LONDON has been remarkable stage for me to contribute to the dialogue on neurodiversity and mental health,” said another.
Another person commented: “I’ve never spoken in public before about my condition. Being able to discuss this in a safe space was so empowering.”
This ticketed, free-to-attend event for over 18’s is sponsored by Ashford Place, i2i Media & Silver Mountain Productions in partnership with Wac Arts.
