The Tommy Douglas Performing Arts Centre is setting the stage for the upcoming "I Have No Idea" play on October 5th and 6th. Presented by the Listen to Dis’ Community Arts Organization, the play shines light on adult ADHD in an intriguing and entertaining way helping open the door for more conversations regarding ADHD. Nathan Coppins is the playwright and co-star in the play and was inspired by his own journey of learning.
“When I was 34, I was working with a friend touring another show, and she had just been diagnosed. And she said, hey, I think you might have this, this explains a lot with you. This was something that I was kind of going down the rabbit hole anyway, and I knew a lot of people that were going through the same thing, late diagnosis or people not understanding or not believing them. So, in the early phases of phases of the (COVID) pandemic, I had the time to sit there and come up with the initial drafts, pitch it to people, get some help and it took off from there."
Coppins has had an outpour of positive reviews since the inception of this play back in 2020, and how they we’re able to take a tricky topic such as ADHD and present it in an entertaining way for people to enjoy. Taking inspirations from real stories of real people with ADHD, Coppins was able to shed light on a disease that most people can’t see.
“If you have a broken arm you can go into the hospital, and they'll be like we need to fix that. But if you go in there with a mental disorder or however you want to call it going on, then they can't just visually look at you and see what's wrong.”
Coppins hopes the play opens the door for more conversations regarding ADHD and mental health and has had many attendees reach out to them, either after the show or through e-mail, thanking them for hosting this play and possibly inspiring them to seek their own diagnosis.
“You know my partner wasn't understanding. My friends weren't understanding, whoever it was, and now we're having a conversation about it. We've gotten so many messages like that, it's been pretty fantastic.”
There are two plays happening, one on Saturday, October 5th at 7:00 p.m. and another on Sunday, October 6th at 2:00 p.m. For more information and how to buy tickets, visit their Eventbrite website or check out their event on Facebook.