An Evening with David Harewood
When David Harewood MBE was twenty-three, only two years out of drama school with a career starting to take flight, he had what he now understands to be a psychotic breakdown and ended up being sectioned under the Mental Health Act.
Now, the Homeland and Supergirl actor is celebrating the publication of his breathtakingly honest memoir, Maybe I Don't Belong Here – a ground-breaking account of the effects of everyday racism on the identity and mental health of Black British men.
Join David for this exclusive live event, as he reveals how investigating his own experience of psychosis and exploring stigma around mental health has given him the freedom to look at his life from a new perspective – one that throughout his illustrious acting career he had been unable to process until now, thirty years after the event. In conversation, David will share details from his own experience and unpick the statistics around mental health in the UK, examining how adversely the numbers are stacked against Black people – who are four times more likely to be detained under the Mental Health Act than white people – and other people of colour.
‘As a Black British man I believe it is vital that I tell this story. It may be just one account from the perspective of a person of colour who has experienced this system, but it may be enough to potentially change an opinion or, more importantly, stop someone else from spinning completely out of control.’
This event promises to be not only a powerful and provocative account of a life lived after psychosis, but also a rallying cry to examine the systems and biases that continue to shape our society.
Age guidance: 16+. Show running time: 110 minutes including 20 min interval