NO STRINGS ATTACHED THEATRE OF DISABILITY

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (15:39): I wish to say a few brief words in praise and support of No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability. No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability (or No Strings) was founded in 1993 by Helen Flinter Leach who fell ill under the strain of caring for two children while completing a drama degree. Given the stigma often attached to mental illness, the arts community is indeed blessed to have someone like Helen with the insight to see disability as something to be embraced, publicised and celebrated through the arts.

I suppose the biggest hallmark of Helen's time at No Strings has been the foundation of the Mad Women workshop, which is a group of women with lived experience in the mental health system. Helen's bio on the No Strings website currently and clearly states that she remains a mad woman at heart, as do we all, deep down.

I came to No Strings in 2004, at a time when Dr P.J. Rose was, as she still is, artistic director of the company. PJ is an American born woman and is currently a nominee for the 2010 Pride of Australia Fair Go medal, which is a medal for foreign born members of our community who have donated their time and energy and so enriched our state with their presence. I will be very proud to nominate Dr Rose for this medal, as I am sure anyone who has met her will.

In 2004, at the age of 16, I completed my work experience in high school with No Strings and went on to become involved on and off with the company to this day. Workshops that No Strings Attached runs include: the Men's Ensemble, which is, ironically, an ensemble of men; Mixed Doubles, which is both genders coming together for recreational theatre; Mad Women, as I said before, comprising survivors of the mental health system; Tracking Culture for Indigenous and Aboriginal members of our community; and the Northlink day options program.

I am a big advocate for the social and professional benefits of recreational theatre. No Strings has, since February 2009, been moving towards a more professional performance ensemble, forming that through the foundation of a workshop called Preparing the Garden, which is for young and emerging artists with serious theatre career aspirations. I was a member of this workshop for several months and was, in fact, preparing to write a script for that group in my role as a playwright before this career so rudely interrupted—I jest, of course.

The work of all of these workshops culminates in an event called Connect, usually held in November or December every year, at which every member of No Strings is given the opportunity to exercise their skills, either onstage or backstage. In 2007, Connect was awarded Community Event of the Year by the City of Norwood Payneham & St Peters. This year, Connect will happen on 1 December, from 11am to 2pm at Dunstan Grove, Stepney, and I highly recommend that members try to attend that event and see for themselves the wonders of No Strings and the benefits of community art. I figure that, if they can produce me, they are doing all right for themselves.

No Strings has had great successes in the past few years, particularly with a show called Tom the loneliest, which came out of a project that I was part of, called Tempted, in which a theatre emerging artist was paired with a theatre professional to create a short piece under the common theme of temptation. Tom the loneliest explored mental health and its effect on the general lives of mental illness sufferers. It was awarded two awards in the Ruby Awards 2009, including best actor for emerging disabled actor Duncan Luke, which is in itself, I think, a big kudos for the power and potential of community art.

As I said before, I strongly urge all members to come along to Connect on 1 December this year and see for themselves what community art has to offer.