She’s Crazy:
Mental Health & Other Myths
About
Our main offering is "She's Crazy: Mental Health & Other Myths," a musical theatre edutainment show that educates, uplifts, and inspires audiences to rethink the stigma surrounding mental illness and addiction. Topics addressed include depression, bipolar disorder, addiction, PTSD, and suicide.
She’s Crazy takes a very unique approach to this very relevant topic. Through humor, personal stories and songs, the three performers of She’s Crazy have brought healing and hope to audiences since 2015. We have performed our show for people ages 10-80 at high schools, churches, universities, recovery conferences, fundraisers, a basketball court, a VA hospital, and theaters throughout Ohio, Kentucky and Pennsylvania.
And now, we also offer our show, workshops and Q&A virtually through Zoom and other platforms.
It was a very conscious decision when we were writing She's Crazy that we would tell our own personal stories, and not use made-up characters. Because of stigma, it takes courage to stand in front of a group of strangers and tell your own story of mental illness and addiction, and your own journey to treatment, recovery, and a productive life. But, we feel strongly that if we ask people to open up about these topics to reduce stigma, we need to model that openness ourselves by owning and telling our stories.
Written & Performed by:
Sherry McCamley, Cathy Springfield, and Erin McCamley
Learning Goals
Working with professors at the University of Cincinnati who have seen our show, we developed these learning goals for people who attend a She's Crazy performance. The audience will:
Examine and evaluate mental health issues of people close to them – relatives, friends, themselves – related to the personal issues presented in the show.
Understand the link between mental illness and addiction.
Recognize that PTSD can result from sexual assault, or witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event.
Realize that the stigma surrounding mental illness can impact a person’s willingness to seek treatment or talk openly about their experience.
Comprehend the many reasons why people do not seek treatment
History
"She's Crazy: Mental Health & Other Myths" was written in 2014 through a grant from the Cincinnati Arts Ambassador Fellowship Program. Our first performance was January, 2015. Originally intended as a show for theatre audiences, we were consistently encouraged to take our show out into the community because of the importance of the subject matter.
We have performed at 4 Recovery Conferences around the state, including the statewide Ohio Recovery Conference in Columbus in 2017 and 2019, to audiences of 700 to 800 people. At our Recovery event in Zanesville, OH we received a 3.98 out of 4.0 rating, the highest ever for any Recovery event.
We have done our show 25 times at the University of Cincinnati (so far). They bring us back to do our show for students in Academic Health majors each semester, with discussion groups after the performance led by our performers. Our cumulative rating from students for "She's Crazy" is 4.75 out of 5. We have also done 2 Orientation sessions, an Equity & Inclusion conference, and a Mental Health Action Summit for UC and Cincinnati area community leaders at UC.
We have done 4 events for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI SW Ohio has reviewed and approved our script. We performed for a Cincinnati Association of Professional Psychiatrists event where attendees received continuing education credit. Add ADAMH Virtual event with CEUs from 2 groups
Stop The Stigma Productions was incorporated as an Ohio nonprofit corporation in July, 2019. We had our first Board meeting in September, 2019. We then applied for IRS 501(c)(3) status, which was granted in December, 2019. We registered with Ohio in January, 2020. By forming Stop The Stigma Productions, we intend to expand the reach and impact of "She's Crazy" and create more shows. Our next show will be about trauma and its long term impacts.
How popular is our show “She’s Crazy?” 60% of She’s Crazy shows are repeat bookings, where a group or organization that books our show brings us back for a repeat performance or performances.
Watch Show Clips
Testimonials
“So impressed with your talent and your willingness to share and draw people into your lives. By doing do you are leaving a lasting message with every member of the audience, breaking down barriers, and chipping away at the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Thanks for the message and the inspiration!”
— Al V.
“Looking back over Recovery Summit evaluations since 2003, I see that the 3.98 you earned out of 4.0 at Recovery Summit ‘18 is the highest rating given any component of any Recovery Summit EVER. You truly made a beautiful day for lots of people!”
— Miriam K.
"Everyone needs to see this show! It's so educational, but it also means so much for people who have the disorders you're talking about. It means so much to know we aren't alone, we aren't weak or lazy, and there are ways to get help."
— Tori A.
"She's Crazy is excellent because it connects our mental health experience with real life. When you can laugh and sing about mental illness it takes away the hard lines of experiencing it, and makes you realize that your mental illness is part of your experience as a human being living in a community with other people, many who also have their own mental illness. It was a really good way to connect, and the whole experience felt refreshingly intimate. The actors were thoughtful and personable even though they were obviously professionals.”
— Chelie R.
"Thank you for bringing your show to our community. I laughed, I cried, I was challenged and entertained. You told us your stories in your own way with rawness, authenticity, boldness, courage and grace, always aware of the potential effect of your sensitive material on your audience. You found a new way to start an age old conversation. A conversation that is no longer behind doors but right on center stage where it needs to be.”
— Kim L.
"As someone with mental health issues, this show impacted me greatly, knowing I'm not the only one who feels the way I constantly do. I knew I wasn't alone, but it's nice to hear someone else talk about it. I give this play a 12 on a 10 point scale and highly recommend it!"
— Katie G.
