Ex-soldier Zach has withdrawn into a cardboard box in a kitchen in West Wales. His friend Ieuan arrives offering recovery – in the form of a capsule containing 3,4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine.

Parachuted into their recently fractured pasts, Zach and Ieuan swing enter a head warping exchange on patriotism, conflict and supermarket shopping that will tickle, move and appal you in equal measure.

Exploring post-traumatic stress disorder and the therapeutic effects of MDMA, Give Me Your Love is the second instalment of Ridiculusmus’s three-pronged investigation into innovative approaches to mental health. Informed by the latest scientific research, it explores the healing potential in altered states of consciousness.

Since 2014 Ridiculusmus has been forging a reputation as a theatre company specialising in transforming complex mental health issues into warm, witty and accessible performance. 

Give Me Your Love Post Show Talk – 1 November

Scientists believe the illegal drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, possibly offers an untapped potential to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). But plans to test the drug on war veterans in Australia have been stifled by ‘academic conservatism.’

Clinical studies with MDMA are already underway in the United States and Great Britain with success rates of 75% for chronic treatment resistant post-traumatic stress. This discussion explores the question, if it is so effective in treating PTSD, shouldn’t MDMA be a prescription drug?

Doctor and artist Renee Lim and Psychiatric Nurse Rosie Gallagher join David Woods and Jon Haynes of Ridiculusmus and an ex-soldier to nut out the pros and cons of the psychedelic realm when it comes to contemporary mental health.

Youtube link of Ridiculusmus video

On 3 November (6pm) and 4 November (3.30pm), take the opportunity to see the FREE performance UNLOAD. Book UNLOAD online here.

Trigger Warnings: Strobe Lighting, Strong Language, Nudity, Loud Noise, Explosions.

Shortlisted for 2017 Total Theatre Awards,  highlighting the best talent at the Edinburgh Festival. 

“masters of the absurd…with enormous talent…Give Me Your Love, though inspired by the testimonies of war veterans and informed by medical research, manages to be ridiculously funny… a unique theatrical experience laced with black humour”.

EdinburghGuide.com, Festival 2017 Reviews.

This project for The Big Anxiety has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Department of Communication and the Arts’ Catalyst-Arts and Culture Fund.

Give Me Your Love is commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre and Arts House, Melbourne and supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England; the Wellcome Trust; Royal Victoria Hall Foundation; the Australia Council for the Arts; Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University and the City of Melbourne through Arts House and its Culture Lab programme.

Presented with Seymour Centre as part of the Great Ideas Performance Series 2017.

Image credit: Sarah Walker

Creative Team:

Jon Haynes – Writer, Performer, Co Artistic Director, Producer

David Woods – Writer, Performer, Co Artistic Director, Producer

Richard Vabre – Lighting Designer

Marco Cher-Gibard – Sound Design and Composition

Jacob Williams – Set and Costume Design

Dr. Ben Sessa – Biomedical Consultant

Ridiculusmus

Ridiculusmus is a multi award winning theatre company that has been producing seriously funny theatre for over 20 years. The company’s co-artistic directors, Jon Haynes and David Woods, have established an international reputation for the company with works passionately wrought from minimal resources that achieve the oxymoronic aim of being both serious and funny.

Since creating The Eradication of Schizophrenia in Western Lapland in 2014 Ridiculusmus has been forging a reputation for transforming complex mental health issues into warm, witty and accessible performance.