About | Healing Mined

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healing mined

'A POETIC FABLE OF HUMAN RESILIENCE AND BEAUTY'

- FRONT ROW CENTER

A magical realist play about an immigrant family navigating grief, where dreams and reality weave together through music and movement

"My father spent two years in and out of hospitals struggling with his mental health. At times, it felt like the only way I could reach him was through dreams and storytelling. That's how HEALING MINED was born. Years later, after he recovered, I asked my father what he thought about putting parts of our experience onstage. He paused, looked at me, and said, 'There are thousands of ways people go through depression.'

That was his way of saying, 'You're not alone.'"

— James Manuel Meneses
Playwright, Healing Mined

Anchor 3

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After the sudden death of his wife, Gonzalo, a middle-aged immigrant and successful business owner—is swallowed by grief. He retreats inward, finding himself in a hospital’s behavioral health unit, a place where memory and imagination take flight. There, he spends his days speaking to her urn and drifting into dreams, recollections, and fairy tales in search of connection.

His adult son, caught between his own artistic ambitions and the weight of the family business, comes to visit, hoping to bring his father home—and to guide him toward healing.

As fantasy and reality weave together, Healing Mined unfolds as a lyrical journey through memory, myth, and emotional discovery. Told through storytelling, music, and movement, the play explores grief, caregiving, and the courage to ask for help.