Long Covid Superheroes is a project for young people with Long Covid run by facilitators with Long Covid. It is supported by Long Covid Kids, and funded by Arts Council England and Voiceability. This theatre and comic book project celebrates the resilience of young people with Long Covid, asking them, “What’s your Superpower?"
Watch and order the comics below.
The Dreamweavers
A Day in the Life of Long Covid; The Game
To purchase a physical copy of the comic complete with extra add-ins (Character Intros/Our Process/Costume Pictures) click here
We are a small non-for-profit charity, dependant on funding and donations. We run high quality, accessible arts projects for underserved groups. Our projects are always free for participants, making them accessible to everyone. If you would like to make a small (or large!) donation to support Alchemise Theatre please click here
If you wish to be contacted about future versions of this project please fill in this Expression of Interest Form
This free, year long project invited young people living with Long Covid to connect, create and have fun. Participants joined online groups once a week to socialise with their peers, engage with health supporting rest breaks and create the comics. They were invited to consider a personal strength, that’s helping them with their illness, and transform that into a sci-fi superpower. For example, The Joy Explorer whose Joy Vision goggles can zone in on the small joys that are helping them survive this gruelling illness. The groups then worked with our costume designer, Kelli Des Jarlais, to co-create a costume for their superhero, before collectively working together to dream up these comics. The comics were illustrated by Zhenyi Zheng and Alice Urbino.
Our sessions are trauma informed, and always involve 3x active rest breaks within the hour where participants can choose to either switch off and rest, or engage with our breathwork, mindfulness and gentle movement breaks. Our facilitators are acutely aware of the limitations of Long Covid, living with chronic illness themselves, and therefore always offer adaptations and keep the movement accessible. Examples of our active rest breaks can be found on our instagram page. Participants know they can participate with cameras off using only the chatbox if energy is limited, and we allow them to participate from wherever is most comfortable at home.
**N.B. We are aware that the ‘superhero’ trope can often be used in a patronising and ableist way to pose achievements from the disabled community as ‘inspirational’ and to suggest we can simply ‘overcome’ our disability without the need for external support and adaptations. Our aim is to invert the usual superhero tropes, and to highlight the strength in the stillness, the quiet, the pause; the ability to accept and to ask for help; the ability to listen to our bodies and say no to the demands made by an ableist society; the ability to advocate for ourselves and the disabled community. We invite the young people to celebrate their resilience, and to find ways to cope with the struggles and find the peace. After all, rest is radical.
Artistic Director/Lead Facilitator: Louise Dickinson
Wellbeing Officer: Kate Lawrence-Lunniss
Support Facilitator and Movement Lead: Lucy Clark and Jo Sadler-Lovett
Costume Designer: Kelli Des Jarlais
Illustrators: Zhenyi Zheng and Alice Urbino
Our staff are Enhanced DBS checked and are experienced in making accessible theatre and art with young people professionally.
Louise Dickinson (she/they)
Lead Facilitator and Artistic Director
Louise is passionate about the impact the arts can have on wellbeing. She has 15yrs of experience working as a youth and applied theatre facilitator. She has an MA in Applied Theatre from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has five years experience as the Blue Elephant Young People’s Theatre Director & Participation Manager. She currently facilitates for the Old Vic and Clowns Without Borders. Louise has been living with Long Covid since 2020 and spent two years bed bound and using a wheelchair. She will be bringing her understanding of the illness into the design of the project. She has training in Trauma Sensitive Performance and Theatre Making, and Professional Training in the Applied use of Mindfulness for Young People from the British Mindfulness Institute. Louise is also an Associate Artist at Mouths of Lions where she devises and performs in story-based character clown shows for children and adults.
Testimonial:
“Louise is a mindful and warm facilitator who confidently facilitated a safespace from the moment the participants entered the room and effortlessly drew total strangers together to work as a team. Louise is a fun and energetic facilitator, who can make the most anxious of participants feel at ease.”
Georgia Bowers, Programme Leader in Applied & Contemporary Theatre at the Guilford School of Acting
Kate Lawrence-Lunniss (they/them)
Wellbeing Officer
Kate is our Safeguarding, First Aid and Mental Health First Aid Lead. They are passionate about accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the arts and currently work as a Freelance Access Support Worker for artists with ADHD and Autism. They have five years experience as Community Manager at The Old Vic running and creating programmes to support mental health and wellbeing, including the Long Covid Wellness Project.
Testimonial:
“Kate’s understanding of the condition is brilliant. For us all to feel welcomed enough to get there and then be brought together. They were the only point that we all knew so Kate being in the room every day, that presence was a really helpful facet for us all to be able to be here. They’re our point of bonding. A very gentle way and calming force, that allowed us to feel safe to be able to say we are actually not doing very well, really, because that’s the ultimate of this, isn’t it? Admitting where we’re at.”
Participant from Old Vic Long Covid Project
Lucy Clark (she/her)
Support Facilitator and Movement Lead
Lucy Clark is a disabled dance artist and choreographer driven to champion disabled voices through producing accessible and meaningful dance theatre works which effortlessly interweave science, social issues and movement. She has experience of supporting young people from diverse backgrounds with additional needs with Vincent Dance Theatre and South East Dance. She has trained with Stopgap Dance Company in 'Delivery Adaptation' and 'Creating Accessible Events' and Ferus Animi//Terra Nova learning how to combine mindfulness and breathing techniques with movement. Lucy is an advocate for those with hidden disabilities and continues to use her work to initiate conversations that usually remain unspoken.
Testimonial:
Lucy diligently and sensitively assists Propel participants with varying learning styles and support needs. Lucy works predominantly 1:1 with an autistic young person to support them in fully engaging with the class, finding approaches and communication that best suits their needs. She is aware of when the young person needs time out to self-regulate.
Sarah Kearney, South East Dance
Jo Sadler-Lovett (she/her)
Support Facilitator and Movement Lead
Jo passionately believes that theatre and all forms of creative arts is a powerful tool to help people unlock their potential. As Co-Artistic Director & Participation Director of Blue Elephant Theatre and Director/ CEO of The Play House B'ham, Jo has worked with people of all ages, in many different spaces, to create joy, passion and perpose through creative expression. Alongside 18 years of working in the arts, Jo is a yoga teacher and loves the opportunity to stop, find a pause and reset. With those two passions combined, Jo advocates for people to find their own way to be both creative and kind to themselves.
Testimonial:
"Jo is a fantastic facilitator, able to adapt to any situation and bring out participants' creativity. She meets participants 'where they are' and approaches her work with a trauma-informed, genuine and caring ethos. Participants of all ages comment on how much they enjoy her workshops, and there is often discernible impact on participants' confidence, communication skills and emotional well-being."
Niamh de Valera
