Theatre Without Walls

presents

Retail Therapy

A play by Kathy Coudle-King

Part theatre event. Part theatre installation. Totally immersive.

Come time travel with us through 700 years of mental health "care." You'll journey to 15th century France and meet Joan of Arc, visit the asylums and hear presentations from doctors who invented various treatments over 300 years.

Listen to literary figures such as Virginia Woolf, Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. Learn about the dark days when eugenics was promoted by such notable figures as John D. Rockefeller and even Hellen Keller.

Finally, you'll discover The Yellow Wallpaper Room where you can listen to recordings based on the writings of historical women, like Florence Nightingale and women who were "disappeared" into institutions in North Dakota.

The audience is invited to engage in a facilitated discussion with area mental health care professionals at the end the event, as well as contribute an oral history of a family member who is deceased who, too, was disappeared.

Say their names. Remember their story. Reduce the stigma.

This production is made possible by grants from the ND Council on the Arts (Special Projects) and America Recovery Program, as well as the support of local businesses, and the Empire Arts Center.

Content Warning: Sensitive subject matter, including topics such as electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and other topics which may be disturbing to some. Not recommended for those under 14.