Mental health care, Drama Therapy, and Mutual Aid. These are the cornerstones of how I hope to offer care and services to those who have been marginalized and oppressed by the power dynamics of our current society. I am currently pursuing a master's degree in Drama Therapy, building my toolbox and my well of knowledge around how to offer care whilst simultaneously and consistently bringing awareness to my own biases and checking the internalized messaging I have absorbed throughout my life. I believe in the power of the collective and the strengths that come with keeping a community based on exchange, support, and co-creation. I hope to bring my whole self to the work of being in service to others, particularly families affected by the Prison Industrial Complex. I believe the unique lens that Drama Therapy offers in partnership with mental health care allows for a more inclusive, anti-ableist, and anti-racist framework that speaks to the truth that we each are different and deserve personalized care.

When I moved to Brooklyn, I was twenty-six, freshly kicked off my parent’s health insurance, and temping at a tech start-up. Trying to survive in a new city had overtaken my passion to work as an artist, to tell stories. Finally, I came across the opportunity to teach theatre to young humans. It was a pairing of my skills and techniques in theatre but also my delight in children. I quickly learned the responsibility I held in planning curriculum, offering a creative and safe environment, pushing collaboration and community. I built relationships with my students and gained their trust. Now, in my fourth year, I have a greater understanding of my role as a theatre teacher, especially in the context of our education system and the failings of it. More than that, finding an educator within myself has also meant continuing in my own education. In beginning to research drama therapy, I came across voices whose sentiments I echo. Diving into “The Rainbow of Desire”, Boal has bridged qualities of theatre and storytelling, particularly his practice of forum theatre, with techniques used in drama therapy such as the rainbow of desire, the carousel of oppressions, and the circuit of rituals and masks. Caoimhe McAvinchey, though not technically a drama therapist, opened my eyes to how theatre can be used to amplify voices and stories in prison, which is the primary community I hope to serve with a Drama Therapy degree. Nicole Fleetwood’s art exhibition entitled, “Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration” thrust me into action. The voices I heard and saw through art inspired me. Humanizing the voices of the incarcerated struck in me a deep desire to aid in this work. Since then, it has been a whirlwind of discoveries that have moved me deeper and farther into a career in drama therapy, with abolition, healing, and rehabilitation at the forefront. In viewing, “Ken Burns: College Behind Bars” I was angered at the lack of opportunities available to people who are meant to be rehabilitated. “Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Davis shook in me an understanding of how the PIC works and that like any other institution, can be dismantled and re-envisioned. And Gowanus Mutual Aid has been for me a truthful way into my community. Being able to organize donations, chat with fellow community members, offer people what they need in solidarity. With a degree in Drama Therapy, I want to offer services to post-incarcerated humans navigating reentry into society. These humans deserve so much more than they are receiving. There are so many hurdles, especially in coping with mental health issues from their trauma in prison and before. I want to create workshops for people in prison that focus on finding your voice, telling your story, seeing yourself in others- workshops that can be offered as a way for healing and rehabilitation but also a way to make visible the PIC and the importance of forging a new way in our society. I want to help people hone their inner storyteller and artist and amplify their educator and activist. The culmination of all this and in this moment in time has signaled a new path. One that feels untried but still so familiar. In many ways, my experiences in storytelling, acting, witnessing, creating, collaborating, educating, loving, protesting, and serving have swept me to the start of a career in Drama Therapy. It feels like time to take all the things I am and fine tune them to be all I can for others.

My dream life looks like service to my community. My dream life looks like a more just and equitable world. I am continuing my educational journey this fall to receive a master's degree in Drama Therapy. With the tools and insight gained, I hope to create spaces where marginalized folx can gather to heal and repair. Using theatre techniques, I will offer therapy and workshops that center voices of people who might feel unheard. In the pursuit of representation, justice, and healing, my dream life feels and looks like a welcoming community of people who support each other and trust each other. My dream life also includes amplifying the voices of those who have felt abandoned by society, particularly those affected by the Prison Industrial Complex. I would like to provide resources and opportunities to people going through reentry and healing from their trauma as well as children who have experienced having a parent or guardian in prison. My dream looks like hope. It looks like kindness and compassion, for all people. It looks like becoming all I can be for others.

Any theatre piece that blurs the lines between audience and performers. Both acting and witnessing these kinds of theatre pieces affirms my strong belief that theatre is a medium that brings people closer together, both physically and metaphorically. I once was in a production about a magical cafe. We performed in an actual restaurant and collaborated with the chef to create a menu the audience could enjoy whilst watching the performance. When the magical cafe suddenly produced blueberry muffins, out came the muffins from the actual kitchen. Sometimes, the actors would sit at tables with the audience and watch, emphasizing the shifting of roles throughout the show. The theatre experiences where there is a strong thread between the audience and actors makes for a tight community. Even if just for a couple of hours, strangers and friends become intertwined. They are bonded by one singular experience. This is the kind of theatre I hope to create and facilitate as I pursue a master's degree in Drama Therapy.