JESSIE'S MESSY MIND Comes to the Hollywood Fringe Festival

At a talkback after a show at her school, the presenter asked the audience if anyone had experienced a time when something they considered a flaw turned out to be an asset. Jessie Knowles raised her hand and boldly told the audience that her bipolar and schizophrenia actually heightened her creativity and spiritual insight. The room went silent and Jessie noticed that afterward people either treated her differently or avoided her altogether. She realized the lack of understanding people had about mental health...and that she could do something about it.

The result is Jessie's Messy Mind, Knowles' hit solo show that makes its next stop on its national tour at studio/stage this June as part of the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Jessie's Messy Mind is a solo performance piece about Knowles' personal experiences with bipolar and schizophrenia. The show gives the audience a rare look at the world through the lens of a schizophrenic hallucination, a manic episode and a delusional state. Knowles performs the journey she's taken during her three years of graduate study as she's been discovering how to live, work and thrive while experiencing these alternate views of reality. The show is lively, humorous, fascinating and actually, surprising.

"When it comes to mental health, there have been so many stories from the outside looking in, so I wanted to share the perspective of the inside looking out," Knowles said. "I'm hoping through my story of living with bipolar and schizophrenia, audiences and people who live with these conditions can see them in a new and interesting way. A mental condition isn't a curse or an abnormality. I wouldn't even say it's an illness. It can actually be a gift, a source of insight and wisdom. It can also be a source of laughter. This show is about looking at mental health with a new perspective."

To tell her story, which is directed by Knowles' mother and nationally renowned director and actress Sherry Landrum, Knowles uses original acoustic music and the different characters and voices that she considers to be various aspects of her inner experience. A veteran theatre actress, Knowles has performed in L.A., New York and her current home city of Chattanooga, where Jessie's Messy Mind premiered before moving on to Miramar Beach, Florida. The Hollywood Fringe kicks off a tour of Fringe festival performances across the country, a tour that Knowles hopes will open eyes everywhere.

"My main goal is to get rid of the stigma that surrounds mental difference and the people who live with it, and to get people talking about it," she said. "People living with a mental health condition think they need to hide it or feel ashamed. What I want to show is that each case of mental difference is unique and there is a lot that can come from these conditions. I want the outsiders looking in on this story to no longer feel pity, fear, and judgment, but rather curiosity, fascination, admiration and respect. And I want those who live with them to find acceptance and hope."

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