Last night I had the privilege of being in the audience for the play, “My Fretty Friend”. The entire performance was conducted by two actors and was absolutely hilarious while at the same time packing a punch about mental health. So why is it that this so was so special for me?
For a start, the two actors were my son Timothy and his wife Ruth. They wrote, acted, directed and produced the entire production. They backed themselves with their hard-earned cash, took the risk and decided to make the performing passion of their lives come to life on stage. I was so proud of them at multiple levels…..what I didn’t expect was just how impactful the show would be.
The play focused on a teenager named Amy who had severe anxiety problems. The character of Anxiety was brilliantly portrayed as Amy’s thoughts and this sense of getting an insight into how Amy was thinking was further enhanced by a rope linking both the characters.
I found the play helped me get a much deeper insight into what it means to suffer from anxiety. A surprise occurred when the character of depression was introduced after a school team sports star suffered a debilitating injury. This further opened what is often seen as the “taboo” subject of mental health.
During the performance the audience was laughing one minute, and the next I could see tears trickling down their face as the aspects of “anxiety” and “depression” took shape on the stage. The ninety minutes seemed to fly by as we became wrapped up in Amy’s journey of wrestling with her “Fretty Friend”.
For years, both Tim and Ruth have been performing around Australia and overseas to one of the most difficult audiences that can be imagined, school kids. This experience allowed them to tap into what it means to be a teenager with a mental condition and then take the audience on an emotional ride for the length of the play.
I found as an audience participant that the show was entertaining while at its core had a moral that gave it a sense of meaning and depth. Even though the play was produced by my son and his wife I wouldn’t hesitate to attend a Babble Productions performance in the future.
I have only just heard that a professional theatre reviewer was in the audience and he is going to give the play a 4.5 out of 5-star rating. This is normally unheard of and a real feather in Tim and Ruth’s cap. The full review will be posted later this week so I can’t wait to read it.
Tim and Ruth have been on the classic entrepreneurial journey from first conceiving the play, right through to the end of the performance last night. There were emotional highs and lows but ultimately after a lot of work they touched the heart of an audience that loved their work and would stomp up more money to see another of their productions.
The question I have for you is, "What’s holding you back on your entrepreneurial journey?" Maybe it’s time to take that big step forward and embark on an exciting exploit of your own? I would encourage you to take some time out and just maybe you’ll do something no one thought you could do.
Have a great weekend,
Michael