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GUEST BLOG: Dr. Sarita Robinson - The Psychologist and the Dancer

In our Guest Blog, Survival Psychologist Dr. Sarita Robinson aka Dr.Survival talks about her contribution as a consultant on PREPPERS: THE GAME and PREPPERS: THE SHOW

Dr. Sarita Robinson aka Dr. Survival

Dr. Sarita Robinson aka Dr. Survival

I first met Tim Casson at the Bushcraft Show in May of 2018. It was a lovely sunny weekend and I was enjoying giving talks and workshops on survival psychology as part of my mission to get people to prepare for disasters.

Back in 2018 the world was quite a different place. In 2018 the threat of a pandemic was discussed hypothetically alongside other potential disasters such as fire, floods and earthquakes. The world was very different to the one that we are living in now with the idea of prepping as being on the fringes of normal behaviour. Therefore, I was very intrigued to know why a choreographer would be interested in disaster preparation. 

Most of my workshop participants have a background of working in the military or for the emergency services and Tim stood out from the normal crowd as he was not carrying a knife. However, Tim was very attentive and took onboard the message I have been trying to spread – that surviving life-threatening events is about more than the biggest knife, it is about having the right mindset. After the workshop, when Tim shared his vision of a stage production to educate people about prepping (preparing for emergencies), I was really excited to be involved. 

My involvement in PREPPERS: THE SHOW was a new experience for me. As a psychobiologist at the University of Central Lancashire, I have spent the last 15 years in the lab and the library. I had not even heard of verbatim theatre and believed that dance was irrelevant to my life. Tim has over the last two years shown me how wrong those beliefs are, and how contemporary dance and verbatim theatre can be used to communicate and educate people.

Tim in rehearsal for PREPPERS: THE SHOW at Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker. Performers: Matthew Winston & Lucy Starkey Image: Alisa Boanta

Tim in rehearsal for PREPPERS: THE SHOW at Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker. Performers: Matthew Winston & Lucy Starkey
Image: Alisa Boanta

The R&D sharing of PREPPERS at the Hack Green Secret Nuclear Bunker last year was an amazing event. I was surprised at how well the production communicated the research and theories relating to the psychology of survival. I am still sad that performance of PREPPERS to a wider audience has had to be delayed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. However, Tim and his colleagues are not easily stopped and when they asked me to contribute to an adventure game about Prepping which would be played using the Alexa device I was intrigued and excited to be involved. 

PREPPERS: THE GAME really pushes the boundaries of what you can do with the Alexa device. If you are anything like me you use Alexa to tell you the weather, read you a recipe or play your favourite songs. I did not realise that Alexa could be used in such a thought-provoking manner. The game reminds me of a “choose your own adventure” book. However, as the story is read to you the adventure seems much more immediate and personal. As the game is so immersive itprovides a powerful learning experience for players. 

In the game, the player can choose two pathways. The first game pathway deals with the practical and psychological side of prepping as you find yourself in a prepper’s bunker. You can explore the provisions which have been stored, develop your own prepping skills and reflect on how surviving on your own in the bunker may impact on you psychologically. The second game pathway focuses more on survival and you can learn about the practical art of survival – such as how to make your own light source or build an effective shelter. However, the game goes well beyond the information in most survival manuals and reflects on the psychological drivers which help people to stay alive when they find themselves in difficult situations.

What I really like about PREPPERS: THE GAME is that it has captured the same themes as PREPPERS: THE SHOW. The writer has managed to communicate both the practical and psychological aspects of survival in a really atmospheric way. After playing the game, players will have a good idea of the challenges that they may face in a survival situation and how to overcome them.  PREPPERS: THE GAME is truly groundbreaking and shows how Alexa can be a useful teaching tool – it is a bold step into the new world of edutainment

Find out more about Dr. Survival on her website or follow on Twitter



About Sarita

Dr Sarita Robinson (aka Dr Survival®) is Deputy Head of the School of Psychology and Computer Science at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). Sarita has spent over 15 years researching people’s reactions to disasters. She focuses on trying to work out why some people are more likely to survive than others in emergency situations (and what we can do to improve our chances of survival). Sarita has provided training in the psychology of survival to both academic and non-academic audiences. Her work has been quoted in the national press including the Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, and on CNN, and she has appeared on numerous TV programmes, including BBC News.