Struggle is real: Anxieties focus of stage production

MIXED METAPHOR PRODUCTIONS

Kyra Bell, Nasha Shandri and Teresa Long are the cast in “It Be Like That Sometimes,” a collaboration between Mixed Metaphor Productions and QC Family Tree that premiers July 25 at Big Blue House, 2916 Parkway Ave.

Life is hard.

“It Be Like That Sometimes,” a Mixed Metaphor Productions and QC Family Tree collaboration that premiers July 24 at QC Family Tree’s Big Blue House, 2916 Parkway Ave., is an immersive experience play that showcases themes of mental health as depression rates rise in Mecklenburg County.

The play runs through Aug. 3. Tickets are $28 and available at events.humanitix.com/it-be-like-that-sometimes.

Showtimes are:

• July 24-25: 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

• July 26: 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

• July 27: 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

• July 31-Aug. 1: 7:30 pm and 8:30 p.m.

• Aug. 2: 2 p.m., 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.

• Aug. 3: 2 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The play follows a family of three women (Kyra Bell, Nasha Shandri and Teresa Long) who are figuring out the ups and downs of when life hits. The audience will see the characters figure out struggles that are relatable, such as financial issues, societal and familial pressures, and finding joy when life gets hard.

“We knew that we wanted to talk about mental health, but we specifically wanted to talk about the way that systemic narratives impact our mental health,” artistic director Kathren Martin said.

An audience of 10 people will get to walk through the characters’ home, where a piece of theatre will take place in each room. The goal is to give a look behind the curtain for what life looks like for each character. 

Mixed Metaphor Productions creates pieces with the intent to make sure that the audience feels heard and seen. All productions are put together by getting the community involved in the creating stages. 

“It's always a blank sheet of paper and we really are about Charlotte for Charlotte by Charlotte, and that is very central to how Mixed Metaphors makes work and how I view the world as an artist so that's definitely a really big part of how we move the way we move and why,” Martin said.

Voices from around Charlotte can piece together ideas, art, and emotions to ensure that the audience can feel the production is “for Charlotte.” 

“The ensemble includes people that didn't really identify themselves as an artist, and they started coming to play with us. It's kind of like making a soup,” Martin said. “Everybody kind of brings in some ingredients and then we like stir it all up and taste it and add a little bit more of this and add a little bit more of that. We really do start completely from scratch.” 

The play’s title is a phrase that captures the feeling of when things are out of your control. The production conveys that no one should face life alone and sometimes the issue is systemic.

“We really feel like that kind of shrug that you almost have to do when you say the phrase ‘it be like that sometimes,’ points to the institutional component of you’re not a failure,” Martin said. “If you can’t make ends meet it's really freaking hard to make ends meet. You're not a failure if you’re tired and you feel like you don’t get to spend enough time with your kids it's because you're probably working 50 hours a week. So, really pointing the mirror back to the institutions is a big part of why we wound up choosing that title.” 

The themes explore the mental health crisis in Charlotte and challenge the narratives of what that looks like. 

“One in five people in Mecklenburg County are reported being diagnosed with depression. We are talking about what's happening right here,” Martin said. “In 2024, the Mecklenburg County Health Report said that adults reported eight or more days a month of not feeling good, so we feel very deeply connected and it's very personal. It's very personal for us and the more specific and personal art is the more universal the appeal of it so we really hope that by bringing it to our authentic selves and our community collaborators’ authentic selves that we are creating something that everyone can see themselves inside of.”

The production’s goal is for the audience to be able to walk away with a sense of relief from internalized pressures. 

“It really is to free ourselves from the narratives that work our way into our heads, and we wind up telling ourselves so often,” Martin said. 

“We have these negative narratives about ourselves, our family, our circumstances in our brain, and we want to encourage people to stop and say ‘Whose story is that? Is that story coming from me or does somebody tell me the story and now I've adopted it and taking it as my own? I’m allowed to let the stories go. I can let go of anything I need to want to inside of this piece and I can continue to let that go and release and liberate myself from these narratives when I walk out of the door at 2916 Parkway Ave.’” 

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