The Anxiety Project – Beside Myself

SESSION OVERVIEW

Beside Myself is a work for theatre devised by international students from RMIT UP. Developed over a period of ten weeks, in a series of 90-minute guided, weekly workshops, the resulting performance was a collaborative, creative response to the theme of ‘Anxiety.’ Beside Myself was performed to an audience of staff and students at RMIT’s Kaleide Theatre on Thursday 12 October 2023.

A curated representation of students’ personal and collective experiences, Beside Myself aimed to speak to the escalating presentations for anxiety to counsellors from the RMIT UP Wellbeing team. In a process founded on deep listening and great trust, together we explored international student understandings and observations around this topic. Throughout this project students were supported by a counsellor-led introductory information session about anxiety, the ongoing opportunity to debrief with counsellors as required, and the early establishment of agreed respectful behaviours and safe workshop practices.

The project was initiated by Elise Fraser, Director Wellbeing and Student Experience and led by Student Experience ‘Special Projects Coordinator,’ Dr Elizabeth Walley, whose experience as a professional actor/director/playwright enabled a unique opportunity for international students to engage creatively with these themes. Students contributed as performers, and in other key creative roles such as writing, design, stage management and backstage assistance.

The development of this devised, verbatim work required great trust within a safe, supportive environment. The making process itself was central, for in reclaiming their own experience, students were able to find agency and opportunity for growth and healing. Connections made within the group and the opportunity for individual students to give expression to their lived experience, in a respectful environment, are extremely valuable outcomes. Although in this model, we honoured the making, and moved away from attachment to any prescribed or expected end-product, the final production was a joyous celebration of shared experience received with great respect from the whole RMIT UP community. Participating students reported the process as exhilarating. They were still smiling in the days and weeks that followed, and all spoke of the personal empowerment they had experienced, presenting their testimony in dramatic form, before an audience of their
peers.

Beside Myself is a Finalist in the 2024 SEN Awards in the Best Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative.

Session Outcomes

Beside Myself aimed to privilege the student voice in the discussion around the common experience of anxiety and to contribute international students’ insights into critical understandings of anxiety. By engaging students directly in this conversation, the project also hoped to raise awareness and open discussion amongst students, de-stigmatise this common mental health and fact-of-life condition and encourage help-seeking. The session aims to share key insights into the development of this unique project, the challenges along the way, and the importance of both privileging the student voice and providing opportunities for co-creation in the student experience/wellbeing space.

PRESENTERS

Elise Fraser (she/her) is the Director of Wellbeing & Student Experience at RMIT UP.  She holds a Masters Degree in Counselling & Psychotherapy, as well as qualifications in Fine Art (Painting) and Education. Elise’s career spans many roles in the Education and Arts sectors in Australia and the UK, however, her last 20 years have focused exclusively on International student support. Her dedication to student engagement, wellbeing and belonging has culminated in a series of signature projects including: Beside Myself, a work of theatre exploring international students’ experiences of anxiety, Rainbow Connection (a social program for queer and questioning international students) We The Women of RMIT Training (30 portraits and statements from staff and students for International Women’s Day), Superpower’d (a program to build resilience through knowledge of Character Strengths); Plan C (Supporting the community’s return to campus post lockdown through focusing on Culture, Connection Care, Choices & Courage) , Project Hope and the Kindness Project – both of which interrogated the science behind these concepts to support the emotional wellbeing of staff and students during the recent lockdown period. Elise heads up a team of highly creative individuals across Wellbeing & Counselling, Academic Support and Student Experience, whose work has been called out for its innovation, impact and ability to engage and extend the international student experience. All credit goes to this amazing team. 

Dr Elizabeth Walley (she/her) is a Naarm based actor, writer, director, dramaturge with a PhD (Playwriting) from RMIT University, a Master of Arts (Creative Writing) and a Bachelor of Applied Science (Speech Pathology). Her original work The Trauma Project premiered at Melbourne’s fortyfivedownstairs in March 2021 and accompanied her thesis, Performing Personal Trauma: towards an autoethnographic theatre in the age of #metoo. Elizabeth’s research interests and creative work explore autoethnographic methodologies, patriarchal violence and a theatre of lived experience. In her current position as Student Experience Special Projects Officer at RMIT UP, Elizabeth works with international students as a member of the Well Being and Student Experience team. In this role, she draws upon practices including verbatim theatre, devising and personal narrative to explore themes of anxiety, place, belonging and wellbeing.