hearing
voices
(speaking in tongues)
Michael Mack was a little boy when his mother suffered her first psychotic break -- becoming convinced that she was the Virgin Mary.
One in every five families faces a major mental illness, and the stunning transformation of a loved one can strike a family mute.
But Michael Mack found his voice through poetry, and shares it with others in his feature-length solo show "Hearing Voices (Speaking in Tongues)."
Over a decade in creation, Mack's multi-character one-man play is both a memoir and a lyric portrait of one family navigating a life-changing reality.
Mack charts his mother's odyssey through state hospitals, halfway houses, jails, and homelessness until she finds recovery through an unexpected grace.
Exploring the shadowy landscape between psychosis and religious illumination, "Hearing Voices (Speaking in Tongues)" is one family's journey of deliverance.
credit: megan sheble
raves
“Mack’s
breathtaking performance casts vivid poetic light on one of life’s
most inexpressible and commonplace sorrows.”
—Minneapolis
Star Tribune
“Transcendent
art that reaches out with unblinking honesty."
—Boston
Sunday Globe
“Exquisite...heartbreaking...will
truly resonate with those who know that awful place where insanity and
love collide.”
—National
Public Radio
"A
work of devastating clarity that uses simple language and rich metaphor
to create a powerful evocation of his and his mother’s life.”
—Boston
Globe
“Moments
of great warmth come through his family chronicle. It is a work of redemption.”
—Philadelphia
Weekly
"Redemption
comes in well-defined characters and Mack's ability to flow through renditions
of his mother and family members. He knows his subject matter well.”
—Village
Voice
“Has
the power to entertain, transport, and transform...a vivid snapshot of
one family’s journey.”
—Showcase
Magazine
“It
is art for the sake of art and memory and healing.”
—Washington
Post
“Mack's
poetry is more than cathartic. It is remarkable.”
—Baltimore
Sun
credit: fotobytimo
press kit
Press Release. Updated Spring 2008.
Press Kit. Feature articles, reviews, endorsements (pdf, 675 kb).
Selected Poems. Text from the play (pdf, 28 kb).
Double Click on any Image to download a high-resolution JPG file (300 dpi).
Artist's Resume. Full list of performances, publications, awards, etc.
Open
PDF files with Adobe Reader
Download free Adobe Reader
press links
Latest Feature (May 5, 2008; courtesy of Worcester Telegram & Gazette).
Professional Feature (courtesy of APA and Psychiatric News).
Online Review (courtesy of reintegration.com).
Online Interview (courtesy of schizophrenia.com).
NPR Interview (WHYY) Iinterview with Dave Davies of the Philadelphia Daily News (realplayer, 51:56).
credit: fotobytimo
about
After serving in the US Air Force as an aircraft crew chief, Michael Mack worked a variety of factory and labor jobs before returning to school and graduating from the Writing Program at MIT.
Mack has performed at the US Library of Congress, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, the Columbia Festival of the Arts, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, the Austin International Poetry Festival, and Off-Off-Broadway at the Times Square Arts Center.
His work has aired on NPR, and has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), America, the Beloit Poetry Journal, Cumberland Poetry Review, and is featured in Best Catholic Writing 2005.
Mack has also performed at scores of venues for consumers and providers of mental health services, including McLean Psychiatric Hospital, the national conference of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), and for faculty and students of the Harvard Medical School.
Awards include an Artist’s Grant for new theater works from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and an Eloranta Fellowship, which funded a residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre for the Arts in Ireland.
See artist's resume for full list of performances, publications, awards, etc.
credit: megan sheble
contact
Michael Mack has performed "Hearing Voices (Speaking in Tongues)" for audiences of all ages, at venues including:
For more information about bringing "Hearing Voices" to your community:
credit: fotobytimo
links
The sites below are tremendously helpful for people needing sound information about schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
nami.org
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the nation’s largest
grassroots mental health organization dedicated to improving the lives
of persons with serious mental illness and their families. Established
in 1979, NAMI has support and advocacy groups in every state and in over
1100 local communities nationwide.
schizophrenia.com
Founded in 1995, schizophrenia.com is a non-profit web
community dedicated to providing high quality, science-based information,
support, and education to the family members, caregivers, and individuals
whose lives have been impacted by schizophrenia.
intervoiceonline.org
In the spirit of the
Hearing Voices Movement, this community is dedicated to better understanding
the voice hearing experience, removing stigma, and helping those who hear
voices to reclaim their lives and accept voices as part of themselves.
nmha.org
Established in 1909
by former psychiatric patient Clifford W. Beers, Mental Health America
(formerly the National Mental Health Association) is America's oldest
and largest nonprofit organization addressing all aspects of mental health,
with more than 340 affiliates nationwide.
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