Heroine handles a number of deep, complex issues. And yet, it manages to do so with a sensitivity and care that feels respectful and fitting to those it portrays, directly or indirectly. The care and attention put into this production by every member of the team shows in the performance, and beyond the stage."
Rachel F Goldberg, Broadway World, Kennedy Center Debut, 2020
Being Trauma Informed
Telling a real person’s traumatic story whilst they are still living it is a big one. With Heroine, we have a responsibility for being an exemplar of trauma-informed and survivor-centred thinking.
Handling this is something I took advice on at the very start. I said to the soldier in question “I don’t want you to ever regret talking to me. I know that talking about this is a big part of your healing process, but at some point, this and the artistic focus are going to divide. It’s also going to be a story you might want to leave behind you.”
It was my hope that the making of this story would be healing for her and that its cathartic power would be trammelled into the play in way that was also profoundly artistically available, and perhaps add to a wider conversation about MST. So far, we have worked together very slowly and closely. We have a lot of trust, sarcasm and honesty between us, which is the only way it can be.
So far, the process has been a healing one, in ways we could never have imagined. Imagined scenarios for the future that I wrote into the creative fabric of the play when we first began talking 8 years ago are manifesting now in real life, because of the way she is facing her past. The play’s final scenes are set in a cafe, and in real life this has opened, as a centre for Military Sexual Trauma (MST) survivors and female veterans in California.
Her sense of safety and anonymity is paramount. I believe that the person comes first and not the art, which sounds professionally precarious for anyone who gets involved with the play. However, in taking things slowly and getting the right expertise and support, we have a great balance. The right kind of boundaries are in place to protect her, whilst retaining my freedom to tell her story in the right way. It’s a strong working relationship, and one she feels that she can invite other core members of the team into now.
Our great responsibility to take care of our audience wherever we go is something we take very seriously. We have specific trigger warnings that accompany our marketing, a relaxed policy on audience members leaving during the show to get a breath of air if they need to, a private corner of the foyer to disclose, and partnership with a local, hand-picked therapy team - both military and civilian - to make sure that if anyone is triggered, or needs support before, during and after watching they are guiding towards access to immediate and specific counsel, and also for some time after the show has left town.
Woven deep into the fabric of Heroine is this idea:
Handling this is something I took advice on at the very start. I said to the soldier in question “I don’t want you to ever regret talking to me. I know that talking about this is a big part of your healing process, but at some point, this and the artistic focus are going to divide. It’s also going to be a story you might want to leave behind you.”
It was my hope that the making of this story would be healing for her and that its cathartic power would be trammelled into the play in way that was also profoundly artistically available, and perhaps add to a wider conversation about MST. So far, we have worked together very slowly and closely. We have a lot of trust, sarcasm and honesty between us, which is the only way it can be.
So far, the process has been a healing one, in ways we could never have imagined. Imagined scenarios for the future that I wrote into the creative fabric of the play when we first began talking 8 years ago are manifesting now in real life, because of the way she is facing her past. The play’s final scenes are set in a cafe, and in real life this has opened, as a centre for Military Sexual Trauma (MST) survivors and female veterans in California.
Her sense of safety and anonymity is paramount. I believe that the person comes first and not the art, which sounds professionally precarious for anyone who gets involved with the play. However, in taking things slowly and getting the right expertise and support, we have a great balance. The right kind of boundaries are in place to protect her, whilst retaining my freedom to tell her story in the right way. It’s a strong working relationship, and one she feels that she can invite other core members of the team into now.
Our great responsibility to take care of our audience wherever we go is something we take very seriously. We have specific trigger warnings that accompany our marketing, a relaxed policy on audience members leaving during the show to get a breath of air if they need to, a private corner of the foyer to disclose, and partnership with a local, hand-picked therapy team - both military and civilian - to make sure that if anyone is triggered, or needs support before, during and after watching they are guiding towards access to immediate and specific counsel, and also for some time after the show has left town.
Woven deep into the fabric of Heroine is this idea:
It is not the event that has the power to define your life,
but the story you choose to tell about it.