Melissa Bangs will return to Bozeman for two encore storytelling performances of “Playing Monopoly with God & Other True Stories,” Thursday, January 28th at 7pm and Sunday, January 31st at 2pm on the stage of the Verge Theater in Bozeman. Doors to both shows open one hour prior to the show with cash bar and mingling.
For tickets, trailer, reviews, and more, visit playingmonopolywithgod.com. It is hard to imagine that a true story about post partum psychosis could be anything other than heart-breaking. Nearly 300 Bozemanites experienced Playing Monopoly with God & Other True Stories this fall and experienced first-hand deep belly laughs, cheeks full of tears, often in tandem. After ten sold-out performances in Western Montana, Melissa Bangs returns to Bozeman in January for encore performances. Elke Govertsen of Mamalode Magazine wrote, “Tears ran down my face, I laughed loudly…I sat in the dark and watched Melissa in the spotlight tell her story and I marveled at the sheer guts and immense talent it took to do this right. When it was over I felt changed…Melissa Bangs is a force and this show is a window into one of the Great Stories.” Bangs is very clear. “This story is not about me. My story matters because people see themselves reflected in it.” Montana’s State Director of Public Health and Human Services, Richard Opper, reflected, “If we have a public health crisis, it is mental health. We don’t have a support system. There is a stigma associated with mental health. The best way to get over that is to tell a deeply moving, personal story. People can relate to that. It’s what we need.” Opper also suggested that many who experience Melissa’s story may be more likely seek treatment whether that be talk therapy, psychiatric services or the care of a naturopathic physician. Dr. Christine White, the naturopathic physician that accompanied Melissa back to whole health, shares “This journey with Melissa has allowed me to funnel my passion into helping a group of women that are so fierce and powerful and yet so vulnerable.” In Bozeman, lead providers at the heart of the birth community, as well as the naturopathic community, are partnering with Bangs. Bangs shares “I could not tour Montana and reach so many without the generous support of the many sponsors of the show. These are the very same people that are providing essential services to mamas during this tender period.” These vital organizations and practitioners not only make it possible, they help get the right people to the performance, they volunteer on the house crew and they are at the heart of the direct services and creation of new services desperately needed in order for a community to truly hold women and their families through the post partum period. Nationally, in terms of post partum moods disorders, the time for real change, innovation and the shattering of silence is now. Across the country, women and their families are standing up and telling the truth about this vastly shared experience. New programs–from hospital based to parent-driven–are being born. Books are being written, Ted Talks presented. According to Teresa Twomey, the author of Understanding Psychosis: A Temporary Madness, Bangs’ story is the first theatrical performance based in a personal journey with post partum psychosis in the United States. Her contribution is among hundreds of lead voices lending themselves to a national conversation that brings the promise of life-saving change. Bangs shares, in reflecting upon the return to Bozeman “If my story does nothing else, I hope that it inspires others’ brave and brutal, true and transformative stories. Our collective truths have the power to move mountains. Our stories engender compassion for one another, for experiences that are not our own and–when they land in the right laps–concrete change.” By the end of the Western Montana Tour in Whitefish on March 12th, well over 2,000 Montanans will have heard Melissa’s story. It is her hope that the laughter, tears and conversations that are sparked by the performance reverberate for years to come and lead to individual, familial and community-wide healing. From here, she and her family will tour the West Coast of the United States in 2016, taking her story to nine cities.
To be a part of this story traveling far beyond Montana, check out Melissa’s tour website. In addition to the two performances, Bangs will also lead an afternoon storytelling workshop for moms on Saturday the 30th at the Emerson. Visit playingmonopolywithgod.com for more information. •
