“Mine for the Tribe” is a sermon (I know, no running away yet). Written and performed by Chris Smith, this one person show focuses on mental health in the arts. By following Chris’ journey through growing up on a ranch, attending theater school, being a television producer in LA, leaving LA because of his one-eyed rescue pup and then watching his world crumble as two important women in his life died (one an artist that never faced her demons), he drives home the point that we need to take better care of ourselves and each other to keep creating. Set up in chapters, some are Chris playing cultural avatars from his life phases, interspersed with “book reports” on the ideas that made him know he was an artist and that his brain ain’t like the average person’s (ideas that, as the show points out, make artists go “Fuck, yeah, that!”). Once the greatest tragedy in his life happens, he realizes that once you heal yourself, the mission is to help the other artists around you, so we don’t lose any more. Armed with only a stack of four books and a few easy to add costumes and props, Chris jumps between clowning, character work, intense need to devour interesting ideas and find the honest problem within to help others.

ABOUT CHRIS SMITH
Chris Smith is a country boy who reads philosophy and writes plays. He grew up on a cattle ranch, found theater, went to LA, became a producer for film and TV and then returned to the ranch. These days he’s writing and annoying cattle. As a writer, and due to events that shaped him in this solo show, he’s focusing on two areas that matter to him “Mental Health in the Arts” and “Building Better Men”. After years of acting, writing, directing, producing, designing and other film and theater stuff, he wants to help his fellow artists.