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The complex issues of mental wellbeing, suicide prevention and aftercare when someone has taken their life will be addressed in a theatre show/seminar at the Warkworth Town Hall on June 28.
Shot Bro – Confessions Of A Depressed Bullet will be presented by Rob Mokaraka, an actor/writer who had a public mental and spiritual breakdown in Point Chevalier, Auckland in 2009. In his own words, he says he provoked the police to shoot him dead on the street, outside his house. He ignored the warning from police and took another step, which resulted in him being shot in the chest at close range. After multiple surgeries, multiple court cases and multiple therapies, he created a tool for healing and educating communities and organisations.
“We need to illuminate this problem, because it grows in the shadows and the silence. We need to put heaps of aroha and light on it so we can educate ourselves,” he says.
The Warkworth event is free and is being hosted by the Healing Through Arts Trust. It is billed as being suitable for all ages, mental health practitioners, counsellors and community groups.
A trust spokesperson says that the performance will showcase Mokaraka’s personal experience on how to handle depression while creating awareness regarding suicide prevention.
“He uses humour and love to give participants tools to normalise and cope during these crazy, unsettling times,” she says.
Children can attend with a parent or caregiver.
People are asked to RSVPs to htatrust@gmail.com by Monday June 26. Koha welcome.
