As part of their social work in Tameside, Olivia, at 42^nd Street has been working alongside Made By Mortals to develop the production of ‘Hidden – Adam’s Story’ before the new version of the show, comes to Tameside.

‘Hidden – Adam’s Story’ is an immersive podcast that challenges audiences to walk in the shoes of a young person struggling with mental health.

The podcast was co-produced with young people who have lived experience of mental health illness. Through ‘Adam’s hidden story’ they aim to help increase awareness of health and social inequalities, increase understanding and empathy to reduce surrounding stigma, and improve health and wellbeing.

The original version of the show, at The Royal Northern College of Music and the Lowry, was very impactful and Ashgan, one of the co-producers, shares how this is probably due to the fact that Adam’s story is not just one person’s story, but a shared story combining the lived experiences of the whole group’ making it so ‘relatable’ and ‘realistic’. Ashgan also shares how taking part in the production of the show also benefited their own wellbeing which you can read more about here.

After feedback from the original show, it was decided that they would expand on Adam’s story and include the perspective of Adam’s mother and siblings before the next showing.

El (the Relationship Manager from Made By Mortals) got in touch with Olivia to share the show details and to see if they had anyone that might want to be involved in a consultation about the show.

Olivia facilitated by gathering feedback from the original show and the HOPE coproduction group of young people. They wanted to again make sure the characters were as realistic and authentic as possible and captured the experiences of each family member so people can also better understand the experiences of the wider family, when one of the family members is struggling with their mental health. This consisted of workshops where family members shared their experiences and gave feedback on the monologues for the show.

Olivia shared with us how “The young people from the HOPE coproduction group also gave feedback on the after-show discussion and helped to reshape the questions that would be used to facilitate this with the audience.

This experience was great to be a part of; seeing families’ and young people’s views and perspectives be valued and utilised to shape the progression of the show has been inspiring. The whole point of the piece was for it to be coproduced by people with real lived experience of how mental health impacts them and their families. Therefore, by taking on this feedback it has stayed true to the process of coproduction and demonstrated the value of this.

This production gives a raw and powerful insight into the differing perspectives of health workers, young people and adults as they struggle to deal with their own mental health as well as supporting others with theirs. It is a great opportunity to see what it is like through their eyes and to get involved in the wider discussion around mental health and how services can be improved in the future.”

If you would like to hear more about ‘Adam’s story’, his family and the health workers surrounding him and explore through an immersive experience how you could support ‘Adam’ you can book your free ticket here for 15th March.