Behind the scenes with Francesca Waite
Along with the Made By Mortals team, I’ve been creating a brand new audio story with a group of lovely people from Blackburn who are part of the Early Break support services. They’ve shared their lived experience of addiction and recovery to co-create a new audio story called Why Can’t You Be Normal. The group are experts by experience and we’ve worked together to create an authentic story that will enable listeners to walk in the shoes of a central character.
The three facts that we began with were:
1. She is a woman in early recovery from addiction
2. A year ago her children were removed from her to live with her parents
3. She is in the process of seeing her children again and gaining custody
From there, we would build the rest of the story together.
Watch a trailer for Why Can’t You Be Normal on YouTube here:
Workshops & Discussions
During the first session, we agreed details about who the character is, beginning with easy decisions such as her name, age, where she lives, her family background. She is called Hayley and is 36. The conversation opened up a bit more then, with the group sharing their experiences of the stigma felt by people in recovery and considering what circumstances and pressures might have led Hayley to use substances in the first place. We decided to keep it vague, which substance Hayley is addicted to, so that it might be more relatable to people with different addictions. We explored Hayley’s interests, her enemies and ambitions, to build a broad picture of her character and experiences.
When writing audio stories, it’s often helpful to find creative metaphors to help add to the sound design, or to express the character’s emotions. In the second session, we considered what addiction would be if it were a colour, an animal, a feeling, or a sound. The group offered loads of ideas of how addiction could be represented and we spent time discussing how the disease feels like being stalked by a wolf who is lurking, looking for opportunities, waiting to pounce. The wolf became a significant symbol that would recur throughout the story, present as a sound effect whenever Hayley feels vulnerable or could relapse. By the end of the workshop, a question kept repeating that the participants suggested would be asked of Hayley by her partner, children and parents, “Why can’t you be normal?”. We had our story title.
Music & Recording
A couple of months later, we returned to the group with a draft of the script, which they read aloud. They said if any of the script didn’t ring true, or if there was anything missing that should be included, that was significant, or represented their experiences. Following this, the group had a music session with our Artistic Director, Andy Smith, and musician, James Dee, where they gave suggestions about what style or sound they wanted the music to have, that would accompany the audio. The music’s role was important, to represent the movement of time between Hayley’s present recovery and the past, when she was in the grip of addiction.
When the music and final draft were ready, we invited the group to record the audio in Blueprint Studios, Salford. They would collectively voice Hayley’s experiences, alongside actors who played the additional characters. While we had a lot to do, the day also felt really celebratory, because together we’d come up with the ideas and made an audio story from scratch about the experience of addiction and recovery! The group felt really proud of what they’d made and I was so grateful for everything that they gave to make it happen.
Listening Together & Impact
To celebrate the end of the project, we all got together for a listening party back in Blackburn, where the group heard the audio for the first time. It was such a moving and powerful day. The group were happy that the story represented their own experiences and were really hopeful that it would connect with others who had been, or were going through, the same thing. They also hoped the audio story will reach people in addiction and encourage them to reach out for help, and that it’ll be listened to by people who can make a difference, so that people in recovery – particularly women with children – are able to access the help they need. While we were there, the group recorded some audio insights, which will help researchers understand how to include parents like Hayley in their work, reflecting the realities of addiction and recovery.
“It’s made us feel like we’ve got a voice and that people are interested in what we’re going through, that people will have a greater understanding of our situation, and loss of that stigma, the shame, and the guilt that we all feel, to normalise asking for help.”
Why Can’t You Be Normal is a Made By Mortals production with funding and support from the National Institute of Health Research Applied Research Collaboration North West Coast.
Thank you to the participants from Early Break for their involvement with the piece’s development.
Why Can’t You Be Normal: A Story of Addiction and Recovery is out now! Listen to the full story here.
Listen also to the addtional audio insights and discover how important it is to include lived experience voices in research, training, and policy around addiction and recovery. Listen here.
