“There has been a glaring lack of help”: can the theater clean up its act on mental health? | Theater

IIt was in the winter of 2017 when Raffaella Covino realized she was in the midst of an emotional breakdown. Although she lived her childhood dream as a professional theater actress – appearing in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s In the Heights at Southwark Playhouse and On the Town at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theater – Covino had reached a point where she was unable to function. “There was no real reason for what I was feeling,” she recalls. “I was very lucky and had always had the heartache to play. In many ways, it didn’t make sense.

Overwhelmed, Covino decided to take a one-year hiatus from the theater. She underwent therapy and was diagnosed with a dual mental health disorder. Six months after her recovery, she began to wonder why she had had such limited access to mental health supports while working in the arts. Born in Worthing, Covino earned a scholarship to the Tring Park School for the Performing Arts at age 14 before training at the London School of Musical Theater. She describes the four years of working as an actress as “lucky, from a work standpoint,” but remembers having very little conversation about her mental well-being. “There was a glaring lack of tailored help in a career that has very unique pressures,” she says. “So I decided to create a platform that could be a hub for people going through things similar to me. “

Covino established Applause for Thought in February 2019. Providing free and low cost support, lectures and workshops, as well as training and advice, the Covino company was founded with the belief that proper education on mental health “can equal prevention”.

“Equipping people with the right knowledge both breaks the stigma and helps prevent the development of more serious diseases,” she says.

Starting with a one-time mental health awareness event at the Other Palace in London, Applause for Thought was not something Covino had initially hoped for in the long term. But two years later, the company has trained more than 900 people in the arts and entertainment industry as mental health first aiders; he is currently working with seven West End productions and two UK tours, including Hamilton and Mary Poppins, to improve cast and crew support.

“The aim is to create safer working environments,” explains Covino. “We want the mental health rescuers to always be in the rehearsal room – we train the show business manager, stage managers and voice coaches. We have created wellness questionnaires so that we can assess people’s mental health throughout their contract. We write non-discrimination policies for every production, so there is no difference in how we treat mental and physical health. “

In a career that can take a toll on self-esteem at times, Covino believes this is essential. Many actors face insecurities, which she attributes to the tendency to glamorize working in the theater, combined with financial instability, regular rejection, competitive training, and an emphasis on aesthetics. The potential, she says, is “incredibly damaging.”

With fewer jobs available, Covino fears it will be a long time before the theater recovers properly. “Some people may have been out of work before the pandemic and are still out of work now, which can be very harmful to their sense of purpose,” she says. Even for those who have managed to find a job, Covino worries about the process of readjusting to a busy schedule after almost 18 months on hiatus. “This change, coupled with the feeling of needing to be grateful for actually being at work, is a huge pressure,” she says. There is additional stress associated with job cuts due to the coronavirus and ‘pingemia’.

Covino is quick to say that real change needs to happen at a systemic level. She wants mental health classes to be part of drama schools’ curricula, and everyone who works behind the scenes on a show has access to the right support and guidance.

“I firmly believe that trauma is passed on,” she says. “We have to change from within. We also owe a duty of care to producers, casting directors and line managers. If someone has taken care of themselves, they are more likely to take care of the people they work with.