'The 2015 release of the Working in the Entertainment Industry report (Julie van den Eynde, Adrian Fisher and Christopher Sonn) and the Australian Actor's Wellbeing Study (Equity Foundation and Sydney University), the 2018 Platform Paper by Mark Williams, and a series of articles in Arts Hub have generated increasing discussion on the topic. Some of the contributing factors to poor mental health identified by this research include: actors feeling disposable because of the saturated performing arts market; the financial strain that results from a low annual income, no sick pay, no holiday pay and decreased super; the irregular hours, including night work which leads to disruption in sleep patterns; the isolation that occurs when on tour and the resultant strain on relationships; and the fact that actors are under constant scrutiny (by producers, the general public and the media). How did this move lead to your interest in artist mental health and wellbeing? MBA: Because I was studying largely Method acting, although Stella Adler was actually passing the actor s process through the imagination, it primarily focused on the emotions of the actor. [...]the sort of therapy that you come to me for is a very performative therapy, and it's also very arts-based.' (Publication abstract)
