UBC Player's Club will be tackling eating disorders in their next production Her Name was Mary.
The group will be performing a stage reading of the play on March 24. Written by UBC student Tai Grauman, it tells the true story of two friends, Amy and Mary, who are battling anorexia.
The performance, which is co-directed by Grauman and Soo Min Park, will focus on the power of the words being spoken, rather than elements of design. It will be followed by a talk back discussion with an executive from the Looking Glass, an eating disorder rehabilitation centre in Vancouver.
“Our goal is to start a conversation," said Grauman. “We want people to come and ask questions because the people on the panel know what they’re talking about.”
“Tai and I are talking about a lot of things that might take other people a little longer to bring up in their conversations,” said Min Park.
Different facets of eating disorders are explored in the play. People who suffer from the disease often have names, or labels, for their disorder and speak to it like they would a friend. In the script, the main character’s disorders are personified into real people, called EDG and EDB.
“We are talking about a vulnerability which made people bring up their own vulnerabilities,’ said Min Park. “The process brought everyone involved a lot closer.”
The subject matter sparked conversations between cast members during rehearsals. Many of them had experienced struggles with their own body image and could easily relate to feeling either “too skinny” or “too fat.”
For Grauman, it was incredible to see how the disorder had affected so many people in the cast. “It’s an untraceable disease, yet at the same time it seems to spread like a cold,” said Grauman. “You having it could affect the people around you.”
“Somebody around you has experienced a form or part of an eating disorder,” said Min Park. “This will open their eyes up and be able to see that around them.”
The reading of Her Name was Mary will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Dorothy Somerset Studio. Admission by donation.