Screening for youth theatre mental health film

Crosby-based youth theatre group Stage Door Theatre Trust is preparing for a special screening of its new film tackling stigmas in mental health.The company’s film, Baggage (One in Ten), began life on stage at the Lantern last year. A free charity screening takes place next Monday (June 20) at the Plaza cinema in Crosby.Baggage aims to get teenagers talking about their mental health, and demonstrates how easily problems can escalate without proper treatment. The title comes from a statistic from the charity Young Minds, that states one in ten children and young people between the ages of five and 16 suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder.The young people of Stage Door say there is not enough education or support for people in their age group experiencing problems with mental health. With Baggage, they hope to connect with others and help to show that nobody needs to face their problems alone.One of the young actors said: “Some of us have witnessed friends go through depression and anxiety and have different experiences which we wanted to highlight. There can be a lot of pressure put on teenagers. As individuals we found help by talking to each other and feel that we need to encourage others to look out for friends and family who may show symptoms of mental illness but may not know what to look for.”The piece originated with a sell-out performance of Baggage at the Lantern Theatre last December - all proceeds were donated to Wirral Mind.The project has been funded by the Big Lottery Fund and Awards for All.Catch the Plaza screening by emailing director Emma Vardy at emmavaudrey@hotmail.com, or keep up to date with the progress of Stage Door via their Twitter and Facebook.