Jessica McKerlie

People Piss in Here is a surreal comedy about mental illness that takes place in a windowless women's toilets on the third floor of an office block. Jo is having a panic attack, and they've run out of toilet paper.

The play tackles the rarely discussed subject of mental illness, and approaches the taboo topic as a comedy. Jo and Sam (bipolar and schizophrenic are both able to see and embrace the humerous side to their illnesses whilst acknowledging the deep seated fears that threaten to engulf them at any moment. It veers from the mundane to the surreal and possibly divine, all the while laughing the sheer insanity that is mental illness.

Crowtown is passionate about inclusivity and the discussion of marginalisation within society. We want this show to shine a light on mental illness and get people talking about that time they spend with two girls in a toilet. And also mental illness. 

This is our biggest project to date and our first one on home turf. Help us make it the best it can possibly be.

The budget will primarily be used for festival participation fees, flights, accommodation and rehearsal space. Additional costs include set dressing and costumes, promotional materials such as posters and flyers and insurance. We're also taking into consideration a food budget, due to the fact that we will be taking time off work to perform and the cast and crew are working on a volunteer basis. 

The first festival we will be performing in is Anywhere Festival 2015. We are performing in Brisbane and Parramatta in April, and potentially Frankston in September.

Additionally, we also intend to perform in a variety of Fringe and Independent Arts Festivals across Australia throughout 2015 and 2016. Each of these festivals have participation fees, and require travel and accommodation costs. 

Our biggest obstacle is working around the cast's personal schedules, due to day job commitments. We have a very thorough scheduling system which we use to best optimise our time.

Another obstacle we face is performing in cities where we have never been and therefore do not have an existing support network. We plan on dealing with this by running a strong online campaign to drum up as much interstate interest as we can.

Another obstacle is the ongoing mental health of our cast members! Which we will handle with a policy of openness, supportiveness and understanding.