Cassandra Ambe (she/ her/ hers)
Producer, Writer, Director
It is lovely to be here again, Hollywood Fringe Festival! I’m Cassandra.
I am a passionate student pursuing a career at the intersection of art and mental health. In addition to my master’s degree program, I am working towards licensure in dramatherapy and have been studying with the Drama Therapy Institute of Los Angeles since 2017. Before I was a mental health professional I was an artist working in theatre for several years. It started out fulfilling (and tough— don’t get me wrong!). In those early years of freelancing it seemed like everywhere I went I met cool people. Inspiring and hardworking. Everyone had fascinating ideas and a collaborative spirit. And, as I got to know different artists and experience their processes more intimately I began to see a painful archetype emerge. It was happening to me too. The setbacks, the fleeting nature of professional connections, the struggle to keep a sense of community really bore down on me. The “tortured” artist began to wonder: why was I doing this work? What was it for? What were the functions of art? I started to tug at the thread. The thirst for an answer lead me to an expanse of topics: the work of Alain de Botton, the life of Van Gogh, Chaos Theory and social Psychology, economics and commodification, decolonization work, anthropology, biohacking, Robin Wall Kimmerer, indigenous healing practices, and most importantly Narradrama. I met Dr. Pam Dunne through Creative Therapies Center, formerly known as Dramatherapy Institute in Los Angeles. I began to take her classes, read her books and began to lay a foundation for a career I didn’t even know existed.
After many satisfying years in the rabbit hole I have emerged with more clarity to answer some of those questions that led me down. de Botton lists a few of the functions of art in his book, Art as Therapy: art can help us to remember what matters; lend us hope; dignify sorrow.
I would argue this can be reduced to a single sentiment. Art is a tool meant to heal.
If you made it to the end of this blurb, thank you. I hope that you will join us at a performance of DISSENT to experience just how this type of healing happens and how it can be shared.
-Cassandra
