‘HPHP: The Musical’ raises more than $14K

IN ONE OF the many powerful moments of "HPHP: The Musical," Casey Seymour Kim, of Gamm Theatre, acts out the emotion of a character that is overwhelmed and controlled by an illness. In the background, from left, are Donna Silva, Eric Fulford, Tom Raijt and Casey Regan. / COURTESY HASBRO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
IN ONE OF the many powerful moments of "HPHP: The Musical," Casey Seymour Kim, of Gamm Theatre, acts out the emotion of a character that is overwhelmed and controlled by an illness. In the background, from left, are Donna Silva, Eric Fulford, Tom Raijt and Casey Regan. / COURTESY HASBRO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL

PROVIDENCE – A partnership between Hasbro Children’s Hospital’s Partial Hospital Program, the state’s arts community and Trinity Rep saw the portrayal of fictionalized characters, based on children with medical and psychiatric illnesses, brought to stage in November. “HPHP: The Musical” raised $14,360 for the 4-year-old HPHP ArtReach initiative.

Michelle Rickerby, psychiatric director of HPHP, which launched in 1998 and was the first initiative to treat children with medical and psychiatric illnesses as outpatients during the day, said the program gives children the opportunity to open up to others.

“Sometimes it’s during a session of improvisation when a teen expresses an emotion that previously had been out of reach, or sometimes it’s while writing a poem or song that leads to a breakthrough in therapy. We want to create as many moments as possible, and art helps us accomplish that,” she said.

Derived from material written by HPHP patients as well as characters created by staff members, the program featured the stories of three people as expressed through dialogue created by ArtReach artists. The experiences of the characters ranged from feeling overwhelmed and controlled by illness, to feeling supported and accepting help and a sense of empowerment over their challenges.

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Jordan Butterfield, Trinity Rep’s education director, said the organization was proud to be involved with HPHP’s production.

“From the first time we saw patients in this therapeutic setting, it was clear that the entire staff understood and embraced the healing power of art. … Hasbro’s Partial Hospital Program and ArtReach don’t just provide patients with a safe space to express themselves to alleviate pain and anxiety; they also cultivate the creators of tomorrow, and that’s something our entire artistic community will benefit from,” she said.

HPHP first offered ArtReach therapeutic programming for its child-aged patients through opportunities including songwriting, poetry, visual arts and autobiography writing in 2013 with the help of members of the local arts community.

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