Bristol theatre seeks participants for play on history of self-harm

Ms Skuse said self harming is "not a disease of modernity"

People who have experienced self-harm are creating a play to "break the stigma" around it and raise awareness.

Bristol Acta Community Theatre and Self Injury Support Charity are behind the Self Injury Through Time project.

Its lead and researcher Alanna Skuse will help participants write, act and perform the historically focused piece over six months.

She said nobody is "immune to it" so it is "important to share perspectives so people know they are not alone".

"It's often thought to be something that sprung up in the 1990s which is not true," she said.

"We think that people have been self-harming for as long as there's been people. You find examples of self- harming even in Shakespeare plays, we just haven't thought about then in those terms.

Ms Skuse said there is scene in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar which includes a character called Portia who self-harms

"In Julius Caesar there's a woman who cuts her own leg to prove her own fortitude to her husband.

"It confirms that it's something that's affected people for a long time, its not a disease of modernity."

Hannah Wood, who is a theatre facilitator in the project, said the project will "elevate voices that may usually go unheard".

"This project is a collaborative process of using historic research, ideas and/or personal experience to create unique performance, with the aim of challenging certain narratives and attitudes towards self-injury," she said.

Mr Jones said the project will help people process "shared histories" on self-harm

Self Injury Support support worker Murphy Pickard said the project will help discussions around the topic "become safer in the wider world".

ACTA Community Theatre director Oliver Jones said he wants to nurture the participants' "creativity and help them process their shared histories".

"The opportunity for people to use their imaginations, express themselves and tell their own stories in a supportive environment is at the heart of our approach," he said.