1 minute read
HELP AND SUPPORT
from Next to Normal
Some of the content in Next to Normal may be confronting. If you need to talk with someone regarding any of the topics raised by this show, the following organisations can offer help and advice:
• Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
• Lifeline 0800 543 354 or free text 4357 (HELP)
• Suicide Prevention Helpline 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)
• Youthline 0800 376 633 or free text 234
• Samaritans 0800 726 666
• Mental Health Foundation - Information, advice, resources, campaigns, advocacy. mentalhealth.org.nz
• Balance NZ - Online support groups for people with experience of bipolar disorder, depression and other forms of mental distress. balance.org.nz
• Mental Health Advocacy and Peer Support (MHAPS) - Peer-led and peer-delivered mental health and addictions service. mhaps.org.nz
• Yellow Brick Road - Support for whānau who have a loved one experiencing mental health challenges. yellowbrickroad.org.nz
• Alcohol & Drug Helpline 0800 787 797. alcoholdrughelp.org.nz
Next to Normal began life with electricity. In 1998, writers and college friends Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt were required to create a 10-minute musical sketch for a theatre workshop project. Inspired by a news piece, they created Feeling Electric, which focussed on a woman receiving Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) for depression.
Despite being a perhaps unconventional musical subject, Kitt and Yorkey believed a full-scale musical on the topic was possible and would find an audience. However, it wasn’t until 2005 that the writers found the time and space to return to the concept, workshopping it further. As they did, they realised that this musical needed to evolve into something a little different than the original concept of Feeling Electric - “something that was much more grounded and much more about this family"* (Tom Kitt).
Debuting off-Broadway in 2008, Next to Normal sold well but garnered mixed reviews, leading Yorkey and Kitt to decide that more work to refine the show was necessary. That work saw the writers focus more on the intimate impact of mental illness on members of the family.
The emphasis on personal connection resonated, and audiences and critics responded enthusiastically. Next to Normal as we know it now was finally born, and it has been entertaining, educating and opening hearts and minds ever since.
*Quoted in Better Than Before: The Making of NEXT TO NORMAL (writerstheatre.org)
