The Creative Wales Award will assist Steve Davis in the exploration of new territory, enabling him to re-evaluate his practice as an artist.
Steve’s proposal is to immerse himself in an artistic form, new to him, to gain understanding about the nature of creativity and specifically how conditions like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) affect the artistic process.
He has in recent years become aware that he has a condition, which stems from is childhood, similar to ADHD. Steve has begun to unravel what it is that drives his behavior, that which is controllable and that which is not. He wants to understand the highs and lows of this condition, furthermore what part it plays in his and others’ artistic process.
Steve recognises this condition in the young people and communities that he creates theatre for, in particular amongst males in the criminal justice system, yet he has never seen or heard of this condition represented in drama. Is it possible for conditions like ADHD to be represented in drama?
The Creative Wales Award will enable the undertaking of this artistic exploration and to share this experience with other artists.
During July 2013 the following story (Circa 1960) was the starting point for a short theatre piece created by Steve Davis working with Eddie Ladd, Carys Parry and Gerwyn Jones. During the rehearsal of the short movement piece, the artists discussed the impact of conditions and mental health illness on creativity. The recording of this work will shortly be available on this site.
Download more details here.