Dialogues from Babel is based on research by Durham University into auditory verbal hallucinations and features personal stories from voice hearers across the North East, including TEWV service users – as well as those of literary writers.
The play aims to challenge the stigma of hearing voices and Stephanie Common, clinical lead in the early intervention for psychosis service at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, said:
The research-collaboration that informed the play is part of a wider programme of work with Durham University, to improve the way we understand and provide intervention for distressing voice-hearing experiences.
Statistics show that up to one in ten people hear voices others don’t. It is an experience commonly associated with distress, mental health issues and shame linked to social stigma.
But many writers also report vivid experiences of “hearing” the voices of the characters they create and having characters talk back to them, rebel, and “do their own thing”.
The new play is therefore the result of a unique collaboration between Edinburgh International Book Festival and TEWV, as well as Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear (CNTW) NHS Foundation Trust and Durham University’s Hearing the Voice – an interdisciplinary study of voice-hearing.
Drawn from interviews with novelists and people who hear voices, Babel weaves together personal stories to highlight the experience of hearing voices when no one else can.
It is hoped the play will increase public understanding of the condition, challenge stigma and highlight the help and support available for those struggling to cope.
Dr Ben Alderson-Day, associate professor of Psychology at Durham University, said: “Voices, visions and other unusual experiences are highly stigmatised, rarely talked about and often hidden from public view.
“We’ve been working with CNTW and TEWV for more than a decade now, trying to get a better understanding of these experiences and help people find ways to live well with them.
“Bringing the voices of local mental health service users to the stage so they can be publicly heard is one of the most exciting aspects of this collaboration so far.”
- The performance of Dialogues from Babel will take place at Northern Stage, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RH on Monday 7 March at 7pm. Tickets cost £5 and are available by contacting the theatre on 0191 230 5151.
