A play telling the story of 1 man’s battle with weight problems, MANikin, will return to the stage in August – with an opportunity for MAN v FAT members to take pleasure in discounted tickets!
Set within the small city of Ellon and delivered with basic Scottish humour, Fraser Patterson wrestles along with his thoughts and physique in his wrestle with taking part in the bit-part-role of The Massive Man.
Brutal playground initiation evolves into real-world tribulation in a society riddled with stigma and prejudice.
MANikin is an unflinching portrait of a person’s wrestle with weight problems and physique picture within the modern-day, elevating consciousness in regards to the points and impression surrounding male weight problems, physique picture and psychological well being, providing audiences a novel and compelling perspective on a subject that impacts hundreds of thousands worldwide however is commonly neglected.
Particulars of the play’s performances
Fri seventh Aug – Sat fifteenth August (Excl. Tues eleventh )
6pm (Doorways 5:30pm / Period: 60 Minutes)
Hibernian Supporters Membership – 11 Sunnyside, EH7 5RA
Ticket Hyperlink: https://manikin.eventbrite.co.uk
Promo code: MANVSFAT
We caught up with Co-Inventive Director of Saltire Sky and Author of MANikin, Nathan Scott-Dunn to search out out extra.
1) Inform us a bit extra in regards to the play and the way it got here to be?
MANikin began from conversations throughout the firm about weight problems, masculinity and the experiences that many people, or folks near us, had lived by. We wished to create one thing trustworthy that explored these points by a Scottish working-class lens, whereas nonetheless being entertaining, filled with humour and coronary heart.
The event course of concerned workshops, Studying & Improvement periods and conversations with organisations together with Weight problems UK earlier than later working alongside the British Weight problems Society. Making a secure and supportive surroundings within the room was extremely vital to us as a result of the fabric is private and delicate for everybody concerned.
We didn’t wish to merely retell experiences or create one thing rooted in judgement. The purpose was to strategy the topic with curiosity, empathy and honesty, permitting audiences to mirror on their very own attitudes and experiences.
We additionally wished the present to behave as a dialog starter, notably round males’s psychological well being and physique picture, that are topics many individuals nonetheless wrestle to talk brazenly about.
From that got here a one-man play about rising up greater in Scotland, and about looking for self-worth, connection and hope in a world that may typically really feel isolating. Alongside the efficiency, we additionally present audiences with entry to help and aftercare sources by the organisations concerned within the venture.
2) How large a problem do you’re feeling the matters within the play are for males at present?
The truth that we’re nonetheless having these conversations exhibits simply how vital these points stay.
Whereas matters reminiscent of psychological well being, physique picture and weight problems are receiving extra consideration than they did a decade in the past, many males nonetheless wrestle to talk brazenly about their experiences.
As artists, we really feel a duty to problem stigma and provides area to voices which can be typically neglected. The themes in MANikin have an effect on way more folks than we typically realise, notably when you think about the overlap between physique picture, poverty, psychological well being and social isolation.
Social media has amplified a few of these pressures. Younger males are more and more uncovered to unrealistic expectations round look, health and success, whereas tendencies reminiscent of “looksmaxxing” can reinforce the concept self value is tied to the way you look.
On the identical time, conversations round weight reduction medicines have highlighted how folks dwelling with weight problems can face judgement whatever the selections they make of their well being journey.
What us when creating MANikin was exploring the human expertise behind the statistics. Weight problems is never nearly meals or train. It’s typically linked to confidence, psychological well being, household circumstances, poverty and alternative. These are the conversations we felt wanted to be explored by the play.
3) How has the play been acquired by the lads who’ve seen it and have you learnt of anybody that it’s supplied a optimistic end result for?
The response from males has been extremely shifting. Some of the rewarding features of the manufacturing has been the conversations that occur after the efficiency.
Many viewers members have shared deeply private experiences regarding physique picture, bullying, psychological well being and their relationship with meals, typically telling us that they’d by no means spoken about this stuff publicly earlier than.
What has been notably putting is that the play has resonated past the folks we initially anticipated. We’ve heard from fathers, sons and companions, but additionally from moms who recognised parts of Fraser’s story within the experiences of their very own kids.
I feel the rationale the play connects is as a result of Fraser is an everyman. His story is particular, however the emotions of disgrace, isolation, frustration and hope are common. Audiences recognise themselves, or somebody they love, in him.
Essentially the most optimistic end result has merely been creating area for conversations that may not in any other case occur. By way of our partnership with weight problems organisations, audiences additionally go away with data and help sources, serving to to make sure that the dialog continues lengthy after the efficiency has ended.
4) How large a task can sport and the facility of neighborhood connection play in fixing lots of the points going through males right this moment?
For me personally, sport and health utterly modified my life. I went from 113kg to 70kg by changing into energetic, going to the health club and constructing more healthy routines. However extra importantly than the bodily transformation, it modified my mindset and confidence. It opened my eyes to health in a very completely different approach.
One of many largest issues I realised is that motion, sport and neighborhood may give folks function, routine and connection, particularly males who could wrestle to speak brazenly about how they’re feeling. Usually the toughest half is just discovering an surroundings the place you’re feeling welcome and never judged.
That’s why organisations and neighborhood teams that create secure, supportive areas are so vital. They permit folks to start or maintain a well being journey with out disgrace. Confidence grows from feeling included and inspired.
On the identical time, I feel entry to well being and health data needs to be way more open and accessible to everybody. For many individuals, particularly working-class communities, it could nonetheless really feel intimidating, costly or complicated to know the place to start.
Neighborhood-led areas and conversations may help take away a few of these boundaries and remind people who enhancing your well being just isn’t about perfection, it’s about help, consistency and connection.
5) Males’s well being is rising to the highest of the information agenda on the again of the English authorities’s Males’s Well being Technique. In case you may prioritise three areas of males’s well being to be tackled, what would they be and why?
The primary could be prevention by training. We have to transfer past fast fixes and assist folks perceive well being in a extra holistic approach from an early age. Higher training round diet, train, psychological wellbeing and physique picture would enable folks to make knowledgeable choices earlier than issues develop into extra severe.
The second could be psychological well being. Whereas progress has been made, too many males nonetheless really feel unable to ask for assist or discuss brazenly about what they’re experiencing. We have to create extra areas the place these conversations can occur with out disgrace or judgement. You can’t deal with an issue that individuals really feel unable to talk about.
The third could be entry to health and bodily exercise. My very own well being journey confirmed me how transformative motion could be for each bodily and psychological wellbeing. Nonetheless, entry stays a problem for many individuals resulting from value, confidence or lack of native alternatives. Neighborhood initiatives reminiscent of MAN v FAT exhibit what can occur when individuals are given help, encouragement and a way of belonging.
MANikin was nominated on the Scottish Theatre Awards 2023 for Finest Scottish Manufacturing and the Shiny Spark Award for Rising Expertise alongside runner-up at that years Sit-Up Awards for social impression and gained Finest Drama from social media staff, The Derek Awards in its 2024 return season.
Neighborhood bonds have been ever-present with MANikin; collaborating with Thrive Arts to carry out and communicate at occasions relating to system change and the position of the humanities alongside working with representatives from NHS Lothian, Edinburgh Well being and Social Care Partnership, EVOC and talking on the Psychological Well being Discussion board bringing the problems Saltire Sky productions sort out to mild.