BRIDGES: A Performance Showcase About Neurodiversity & Mental Health
Bridges is an interdisciplinary performance showcase and community gathering that centers stories of neurodiversity, mental health, disability, and lived experience through original artistic work. Bringing together a cohort of artists across mediums—including theater, dance, spoken word, music, and visual art—Bridges creates a space for connection, witnessing, and collective reflection. Rooted in the belief that diverse ways of thinking and being offer essential wisdom and perspective, the project invites audiences into more nuanced, humanizing narratives that challenge stigma and expand understanding.
More than a performance, Bridges is a community-centered experience designed to foster belonging, dialogue, and access to care. Through elements like community circles, interactive engagement, and resource partnerships with local organizations, the showcase serves as a bridge between art, advocacy, and support systems. The event culminates in a public performance in May 2026, while also laying the foundation for a longer-term vision of ongoing creative residencies and community-rooted programming for neurodivergent and mentally impacted artists.
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There are many ways to get involved in and support Bridges as we bring this work to life. You can join us for our first performance on June 7th at 5pm at Oran Mor Meadery in Milwaukee, partner with us as a sponsor or community organization, contribute resources or in-kind support, or help amplify this project within your networks. We are especially excited to collaborate with organizations, care providers, and advocates aligned with neurodiversity, mental health, and disability justice, as well as individuals who want to support artists and community-centered work. Whether you attend, partner, volunteer, or share this project, your support helps make Bridges an accessible, resourced, and meaningful gathering for all involved.
What is Theater of the Oppressed?
Theater of the Oppressed (T.O.) is a form of applied theater that is used to explore social and political issues. Founded by Augusto Boal, it was developed in the 1970's San Palo, Brazil, as a form of resistance to an oppressive government. It is now practiced around the world. Theater of the Oppressed is a rehearsal for change, allowing participants to explore their own experiences, engage in community dialogue about social and political issues and practice responding to oppression. The goal of Theater of the Oppressed is to empower individuals to take an active role in their own lives, and bring about meaningful transformation in their communities.
How Does It Work?
T.O. is an exciting and powerful way to explore the senses, enhance the mind-body connection, and to observe and learn in the context of relationships and community. Participants are invited to explore feelings of safety and discomfort by invitation and to engage in community dialogue and creative problem-solving focused on a topic.
In today's world many of us have become come disconnected from the natural world; including our own bodies and emotions. This cuts us off from accessing valuable information and wisdom - and can leave us feeling disconnected in our relationships and under resourced in times of crisis, conflict, and when facing day to day challenges. T.O. helps to re-establish and strengthen these connections through embodied practices, interactive theater exercises, and play.
Through participation in theatrical exercises, story-telling, and witnessing participants gain a better understanding of the issues their communities are facing - and their own power and potential to create change. This work engages our minds, bodies, and hearts in the learning process. Bringing our whole selves into this process - we reclaim the exiled parts of ourselves that will support us and examine our shadows (and any subconscious behaviors that no longer serve our highest potential) so that we can come into greater awareness of ourselves and our impact on others.
One of the things that makes T.O. so transformative is that it creates a space where we can explore and observe both our personal and collective consciousness and our subconscious behaviors. As we role-play scenarios that we might encounter in real life it allows us to see how we (and others) might re-act based on default and learned survival and coping mechanisms - and then to practice responding to those situations in ways that are more aligned with out values and that lead to healthier and more positive outcomes for ourselves and others.
We play together and get to know each other. We tell stories and we listen to each other. We create imagery that resonates with our core emotions. We examine our biases and we practice disrupting patterns of behavior and structures that create and/or perpetuate oppression and dysfunction in our communities. We explore our edges and discover new possibilities. We make mistakes, we learn, we laugh, and we grow together.