guest post by Louise Dickinson, Founder and Artistic Director of Alchemise Theatre
www.alchemisetheatre.co.uk/ louise@alchemisetheatre.co.uk
Alchemise Theatre are an arts and health charity creating projects that seek to improve wellbeing for all. We believe in the power of daring to hope. We believe that making art can bring light to difficult times, transforming them into something luminous. Louise, our Founder and Artistic Director formed the charity as she emerged from her (now) six year long battle with Long Covid. Having experienced first hand the isolating impact of this gruelling illness Louise wanted to offer some respite, and a place to connect for the young people in the Long Covid community. Long Covid Superheroes is our debut project, funded by Arts Council England and Voiceability and supported by Long Covid Kids.
Long Covid Superheroes was a drama and comics project for young people living with Long Covid run by artists with Long Covid from Alchemise Theatre. Our Heroes were invited to think of a quality that was helping them survive their Long Covid and turn it into a sci-fi superpower. They then built a superhero alter-ego around this and co-designed a real life costume with our designer Kelli Des Jarlais, which they got to keep!
We then created two comics:
A Day in the Life of Long Covid: The Game, illustrated by Zhenyi Zheng
A gamified version of a day in the life of Long Covid with the struggles of managing energy, mood and symptoms turned into fun games where each superhero’s power gets to shine. Long Covid ultimately shows itself as an almighty force to contend with, but the young people’s resilience shines through with the power of community and hope ultimately saving the day. Zhenyi’s unique style and colour palette brings it to life with vibrancy.
The Dreamweavers, illustrated by Alice Urbino
A dreamy, action packed call to arms highlighting both the strength our Heroes possess in accepting their condition and the ableism those with Long Covid face. Our Heroes make a demand for greater understanding whilst showing themselves and each other a remarkably mature sense of care. Alice’s level of detail, care, and faithfulness to the individual character styles makes for a zingy, engaging comic that falls somewhere between Graphic Medicine, Anime, Disney and Pop Art.
To order a copy of our comic (UK only) or watch our comic video, or donate to Alchemise Theatre, or Sign up for future versions of the project (we are UK based but accept international participants) go here.
To purchase a PDF download of the comics, go here. (All regions)
Follow us:
Insta: @alchemise_theatre
Facebook: Alchemise Theatre
Team Credits:
Illustrators: Alice Urbino and Zhenyi Zheng
Costume Designer: Kelli Des Jarlais
Rest Break Leads: Jo Sadler- Lovett and Lucy Clark
Wellbeing Officer: Kate Lawrence-Lunniss
Artistic Director: Louise Dickinson
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