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Australian play Inside Out, which tells the story of one family's experiences with schizophrenia, will play at Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre Saturday 2nd October. The Civic Theatre performance is part of an Australian tour running from August ‐ October this year with a new cast including Valerie Bader (East of Everything, Wharf Revue). The winner of the prestigious 2008 Rodney Seaborn Playwright's Award, Inside Out has attracted acclaim from critics, audiences and the mental health sector, including Professors Vaughan Carr (CEO Schizophrenia Research Institute) and Ian Hickey of the Brain and Mind Research Institute at Sydney University.

Written by Sydney playwright Mary Rachel Brown, Inside Out takes an honest, surprisingly funny and compassionate journey into one young man's mind and a mother's struggle to understand.

Sue and Simon have always been close. 19 year old Simon is talented, smart and loving - the perfect son. But creeping up on Sue is the realisation that something is wrong. What do you do when life turns you upside down, grabs your heart and squeezes it tight? When you need to find more love, strength and resilience than you ever thought you had?

"From the moment it came across my desk, I knew that Inside Out was a vitally important work", says producer Christine Dunstan. "One in five Australians one in five! will directly experience a mental illness in their lifetime, and it's so often misunderstood. This beautiful play is such a positive way reach out to mental health consumers, carers and the community and make a difference."

Inside Out's 2009 Sydney premiere attracted acclaim from a diverse range of figures, including NSW Governor Marie Bashir AC CVO, a psychiatrist, who said "...projects such as Inside Out, through an honest and meticulously researched depiction of mental illness, can assist in effecting change in attitude towards those with serious mental health problems."

Critical response was also very strong, with the Sydney Morning Herald calling it "palpably honest drama...the play's vein of gentle humour is expertly tapped", while Stagenoise praised this "...pocket entertaining rocket of meaningful, gutsy, important theatre... Inspiring, illuminating, ."

Industry veteran Valerie Bader is joined by newcomer Benn Welford. Inside Out will be presented by Wagga Wagga Civic Theatre Saturday 2nd October 8.00pm.

For more information, please contact Tracey Bell on 6926 9592 or bell.tracey@wagga.nsw.gov.au