WITH the Mindscapes Mental Health Music and Arts Festival, the idea is to have fun while also improving the well being of people living with a mental illness and the understanding of what is really quite a common issue in today’s Canberra.

One of the items on the program that caught my eye was “Dramatic Recovery”.

On the surface, it’s a series of original short plays created by the Mental Health Foundation ACT’s Imperfectly Sane Productions and an opportunity for actors and audience members to stand up and take part in a mutual-recovery process.

All the actors have experienced mental illness and, together, they’ve woven their stories together into works of fiction based on real-life.

The unusual part of “Dramatic Recovery” is that audience members can take to the stage, replacing one of the actors for the moment.

Director Robin Davidson, assisted by Ali Clinch, says they’re using a technique called “forum theatre”, “because the cast really understand the issue, and no-one, including the cast-members, knows what will happen next.”

It is the fourth play he’s directed with the Mental Health Foundation ACT, and he assures “CityNews” that nobody will be forced to stand up.

“It’s a form practised all around the world, but rarely seen in Canberra,” he says.

Theatre is not the only art form highlighted in this unusual festival. This year “Mindscapes” also features an art and photography competition at “gallery@belconnen” Belconnen Community Centre October 3-18; a poetry evening at Smiths Book Shop, 6pm on October 8; the Short Film Festival, at the National Film and Sound Archive’s Arc Cinema, 6.30pm, October 10 and a stand-up comedy night at the Pot Belly in Weedon Close, Belconnen at October 12.

“Dramatic Recovery,” Canberra Museum and Gallery, 12.30pm, October 11 and at the QL2 Theatre, Gorman House, 7.30pm, October 13. Bookings to 6282 6658 or info@mhf.org.au

More information on the Mindscapes Festival at mhccact.org.au/cms/index.php?page=Mindscapes