“If you live a long life and get to the end of it without ever once having felt crushingly depressed, then you probably haven’t been paying attention” – The Representation of Mental Health in Theatre & Performance Keynote, Robert Icke.

The Northern School of Art is preparing for it’s second international research conference Re-Staging 2025 and invites proposals for 15-minute papers to be presented. Hosted by staff aligned to the Stage & Screen Faculty at The Northern School of Art, this event will take place in person on Friday 11th April 2025. The theme for this year’s conference will explore the representation of mental health in theatre & performance.

The CFP will broadly look at three key strands:

• The contextual impact of mental health representation in theatre and performance

• Performative approaches to mental health in theatre and film

• Re-contextualizing mental health in theatrical texts

This conference seeks to align theatre-makers and academics to create a working dialogue across the industry. This year’s themes will shed light on mental health areas in theatre and performance and how audiences respond to these texts. The conference will aim to develop our understanding of artistic, social and psychological attitudes to mental health representation.

This will be an in-person conference, but we will consider some online papers as part of specific panels if appropriate. This will be kept to a minimum however as in-person discussion and debate is at the forefront of this conference. There will also be a strong student presence at the conference both organisationally and as part of the audience at the events, a forward move to de-mystify both academic and professional artistic discussions.

The event will also include a curated exhibition of work from various departments at The Northern School of Art including Fine Art, Costume, Illustration and Film. Animation degree students will create idents for the day and full technical support will be provided for all those presenting.

Keynote Speaker & Guests

This years keynote speaker will be award-winning writer and director Robert Icke.

Robert Icke has been referred to as the ‘great hope of British theatre’ and is the youngest ever recipient of the Olivier award for Best Director. His current play, an adaptation of Oedipus is a five-star sell-out in the West End and his next play, Manhunt, is the leading production in the Royal Court’s first season of 2025. He is currently in pre-production for Tess, his first feature film.

The evening event will also see actor Ian Puleston-Davis present his award-winning film Dirty Filthy Love starring Michael Sheen. Ian openly discusses his obsessive-compulsive disorder, feeding into his acting, charity, and screenwriting work. Ian’s career includes a long-standing role on Coronation Street and roles in Pennyworth, The Teacher, and Four Lives. This will be followed by a live Q&A conducted by journalist Bob Fischer.

The event will end with a drinks reception where the winners of the Re-Staging ’25 Illustration Prize will be announced.

Please note these guests are confirmed but are also subject to change. If there are variations, these will be communicated to all registered attendees before the conference.

Proposal Information

We would particularly welcome contributions on the following (although proposals in other areas will be considered too):

• The legacy of mental health representation in theatre and performance

• Madness or Sanity: Specific case studies

• The Politics of the Abject Body

• Re-contextualizing theatrical texts using contemporary approaches to mental health research

• “That horrible feeling when something is broken and can’t ever be fixed” – Performative approaches to mental health on stage and screen

• Theatre and performance as therapeutic ‘other’

The deadline for proposals is Friday February 21st 2025

When submitting your abstract, please: Include ‘ReStaging25’ in the title of your email Submit abstracts in .docx format with the title ‘ReStaging25 – [Surname]’

Please state if you will attend in person or if this will be an online proposal (again, in-person is preferable but online will be considered if appropriate). Submit abstracts (300 words maximum) and biography (100 words maximum) on the same document. Please include name, the title of the paper and institutional affiliation (independent scholars are welcomed). Please direct any formal enquiries to the conference convener David Edwards at david.edwards@northernart.ac.uk

All proposals should be emailed to David Edwards (david.edwards@northernart.ac.uk), Alyson Agar (alyson.agar@northernart.ac.uk), and Olivia Burton (olivia.burton@northernart.ac.uk)

Notification of acceptance will be sent by Friday 28th February. Registration details will be sent out to presenters, and to others wishing to attend, in early March. Conference fee will be £30.