“I feel like sometimes we recognise more of the bigger achievements in life but neglect the smaller mundane ones,” says Danielle Lim.
Lim has experience in the theatre realm at art companies around Australia such as ActNow Theatre, State Theatre Company South Australia, OzAsia Festival and more.
“I’ve done a few shows ever since graduating in 2021 with a main stage debut for Cold Hands at Rumpus Theatre and exciting opportunities to develop my own work,” she says.
Last year’s show, Caught In Between was Lim’s first multi-disciplinary project and won a Weekly Fringe award for her captivating performance. “Caught In Between was my first solo show that explored my upbringing between Malaysia and Australia.”
Mental health has had an enormous spread of awareness through social media platforms that encapsulates the ‘no one is alone’ stigma to a more positive perception. “I’ve always wanted to make work that really resonated with who I was and reflect upon the highs and lows.”
With an abundance of experience, Lim hopes to ignite her passion in theatre for The Good Decisions Project to reflect upon her heartfelt stories and “influence about shaping the way people can think,” about the reality of decision-making. “I think it’s really powerful that this show can engage the audience with an important topic that isn’t very known to be shown at a live theatre performance,” says Lim.
The Good Decisions Project is something very close to Lim’s heart, aiming to advocate about mental health positively and create a “sense of community” within the audience where stories can be shared and learnt from. The concept of The Good Decisions Project was inspired by Lim’s past struggles with depression and anxiety of having doubts about different aspects in her life.
“I was at a low point in my life and planning the show has made me reflect on these experiences and hope to give a fresh perspective on mental health,” she says.
The show tackles redefining what is a ‘good decision,’ and the importance of small wins in our “everyday hardships.”
“It explores the various states of our mental health and particularly dives into our process of decision-making and to find joy in smaller achievements like getting out of bed or buying a coffee,” she explains. “I hope the audience can resonate with some of the stories in the show as we aren’t focusing on a particular issue and looking at it in a general sense.”
With the success of Caught In Between, Lim wants her new project to explore art concepts that can make theatre feel “more modern,” with unique animations, film and live performances.
“We are feeling very experimental and ambitious with this project as we want to evolve and resonate with the time we are living in,” she says.
As other social platforms can be a ‘safe space’ to give advice on experiences and knowledge about dealing with mental health, there is also misinformation consistently shared. To prevent these issues, Lim wanted to share prominent awareness of mental health for The Good Decisions Project, by having a psychologist in her team. “Having a psychologist in our team was non-negotiable as we wanted everything to be represented accurately through our live performance and art concepts,” she says.
With the art of vulnerability being shared among a room full of people, Lim wishes the audience to enjoy the show and also encourages them to “find joy and beauty in celebrating small achievements,” in their current daily lives.
The Good Decisions Project, The Warehouse Theatre, until 15 March