The production STILL HERE by Dave & the Daves is a very clever, funny journey with great songs that explores mental health. It's messages of connection and communication, especially for boys, is clearly delivered through all the characters and songs.Ms Janine Marcus - Principal | Byron Bay High School
The show takes you on a heartfelt journey with laughs & tears but above all else great storytelling. An authentic experience into the world of depression that leaves you feeling enriched & more connected to what really matters; love, laughter & kindness.Samantha Rennie | Loss and Grief Community Education Manager | Tobin Brothers Funerals | βWesley Anne Venue | R U OKAY Day 8/9/22
About SHOT BRO - Rob Mokaraka Suicide Prevention and Awareness program NZ
πͺ STILL HERE β YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM
STILL HERE by Dave & the Daves is a depression comedy music theatre performance, followed by an optional FREE youth mental health program that is designed to be delivered and integrated with the schoolβs wellbeing team.
Activation warning: Contains mental health themes and references to anxiety, depression and suicide.
Soβ¦ βLETβS START THE CONVERSATION.β
October Mental Health Month theme β 2026
π¨ FREE YOUTH SUICIDE PREVENTION & AWARENESS FORUM
Following the performance, the school is invited to book an optional Q&A and facilitated conversation.
The session can be facilitated by Dave Houston, who is studying a Master of Gestalt Therapy and previously worked as an artist-in-residence for over a decade with the Royal Childrenβs Hospital Festival for Healthy Living, as part of its Integrated Mental Health Unit. Members of the school wellbeing team are encouraged to be on the panel for the forum.
With around nine deaths by suicide every day in Australia β one every two and a half hours β suicide is the leading cause of death for Australians aged 15β44. For young people, the rate of suicide is twice as high.
Statistics referenced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the World Health Organization / International Association for Suicide Prevention.
This forum aims to create a safe environment for open conversation about mental health and suicide prevention.
THE SHOW STARTS THE CONVERSATION. THE POST-SHOW SESSION OPENS THAT CONVERSATION UP TO EVERYONE.
Come to get support, share your experience, or learn how to better support someone you care about.
ARTIST REQUESTS FOR THE FREE POST-SHOW MENTAL HEALTH FORUM
The forum is optional. A school can book the performance only and decide afterwards whether it would also like to hold the Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Awareness Forum at a later date.
If possible, the artist requests:
- Snacks or light catering for students. Food can help with regulation and encourage informal conversations around the food tables.
- School wellbeing teams are encouraged to attend and help produce the event, alongside Mental Health Month resources, to help build the forum into a broader school wellbeing event.
- The post-show forum can run for up to one hour. It is optional and provided free of charge to support the students, the wellbeing team and the school.
- Specialised small-group post-show sessions are also available for students recommended by the wellbeing team for a more intimate session. This includes students dealing with anxiety, depression, self-harm, grief and school absence.
These requests come out of the work of suicide prevention advocate Rob Mokara, who has a program SHOT BRO and performs the show SHOT BRO β Diary of a Depressed Bullet.
Rob is MΔori, from Aotearoa New Zealand, and facilitates a worldβs best-practice suicide prevention program. Rob is mentoring Dave in creative suicide prevention delivery.
πͺ THE SHOW
STILL HERE by Dave & the Daves is a 60-minute depression comedy and far more than just a play. Itβs a lifeline on stage that champions mental health through laughter, music and the ancient art of storytelling.
In STILL HERE, Dave Houston weaves together comic characters, vulnerable stories, elements of clown, live songs and a dose of stand-up, exploring his personal raw truths about navigating life with depression.
The music crosses several genres β punk to hip-hop, psyched-up folk to garage rock, grunge to the sweetest lullaby.
STILL HERE features a colourful cast of characters, each with a variation of the name Dave:
- DAVE β a storyteller who shares his own personal struggle with depression
- UNCLE DAVID β showbiz veteran whose career is now largely confined to Far North Queensland golf clubs
- DAVO β bumbling work-for-the-dole stage manager
- RAVE de VINO β hip hop superstar
- DR DARVID DARVID β Biological Psychiatrist
- DAVIDAE ULURU CRYSTAL RISING β Byron Bay life coach
- DAVEY β union rep
- DANGEROUS DAVE β Nimbin astrologer and philosopher
- DFA β D FOR DAVE β inner-city street poet
- DAVOLOGY β Bitcoin trillionaire
Unlike the Dr Seuss poem Too Many Daves, this show has just the perfect number.
Holding them all together is the real Dave, with stories of drama school, acting, depression, medication, love, loss and life.
The result is a fast-paced, music-fuelled, no-holds-barred depression comedy experience β raw, funny, vulnerable and full of heart.
π§ WHO IS DAVE HOUSTON?
A performer, theatre maker, musician, teacher and activist who has lived experience of mental health challenges from his early twenties, now spanning 36 years, with no episodes in the last seven years.
Dave has been acting and writing songs since he was 15. He took his first solo show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at 23, has made three solo albums and five band albums, and has created theatre works for festivals, schools and communities, performing around the world.
βYouβll struggle to find a more engaging theatrical solo performer at the Fringe than Dave Houston.β
β β β β β The Scotsman, Edinburgh β 1994
Dave continues to make theatre that is entertaining, socially engaged and profoundly human.
πͺ OPTIONAL WORKSHOP
Theatre Making from the heART
$350 | 60 minutes | Year 12 Drama | Developing 5β8 minute solo monologues
Designed for Year 12 Drama students developing 5β8 minute solo monologues, this practical workshop explores ways to generate original theatrical material from personal experience, the body and imagination.
Through games, improvisation, movement and reflection, students explore how myths, fairy tales and archetypal stories can deepen their work and connect personal experience with universal themes.
The workshop introduces Gestalt approaches to theatre-making, including present-moment awareness, working from the body and building an authentic connection with an audience.
Curriculum Connections
- The Arts β Drama: creating, developing and refining original solo performance material; character, story, improvisation, movement and performance skills.
- English: developing personal and imaginative narratives, exploring themes and meaning, and communicating ideas to an audience.
- The Arts β Dance: using movement, physical awareness and the body as tools for generating and communicating theatrical ideas.
- The Arts β Music: exploring rhythm, voice, sound and music as elements that can support storytelling and performance.
- The Arts β Media Arts: considering how performance choices, sound and visual elements shape the way a story is communicated to an audience.
- Health and Physical Education: developing self-awareness, communication, confidence, reflection and an understanding of emotional wellbeing.
A supportive, practical workshop for students to experiment, take creative risks and develop material for their solo performance work.
π¦ TEACHERS RESOURCE KIT
A FREE detailed teachers resource kit for the show is available, with drama, music and mental health and wellbeing information, complete with exercises and lesson-plan guides to unpack the show or provide pre-engagement discussions around depression, anxiety and suicide.
π§ CREDITS
Created and performed: Dave Houston
Directing assistance: Valley Lipter, Craig Matherson, Megan Adiren Lester
Music recorded by: Christina Pyle at SSPrawn and Spanner Studios, Goonengerry, NSW.
Script Editor: Stefo Nantsou
Funding: accessible arts nsw | frrr β foundation for rural & regional renewal | byron shire council | create nsw | eritrea foundation | resilience nsw
π© PERFORMANCE SPACE NEEDED
Large room or theatre. Double classroom can be used, but is not preferred. No gymnasiums or basketball courts.
Stage area: 5 metres wide Γ 3.5 metres deep. Maximum audience: 200 students.
π¨ COST
2026 β $9.50 per student or $1,200 + GST, whichever is greater (127 students)
2027 β $9.50 per student or $1,425 + GST, whichever is greater
Drama and Production Students Mentoring Opportunity
This makes the 2026 minimum show fee $1,020 + GST, with a student ticket price of $8.05 + GST.
If you have senior drama students or production students β music, stage or technical production β a discount is provided if the artist can work with 2β5 students on set-up and pack-up.
Students will be mentored during this process in live theatre, sound and mixing, setting up PA, mixer and microphones, and QLab software, with a short discussion about what they want out of school drama or school production and any career advice or questions they wish to ask on the theatre and music industry.
π¦ PAY IT FORWARD
This school tour is self-funded, and wealthier schools have the option to βpay it forwardβ so a disadvantaged school can receive the program at a discounted rate.
Metropolitan schools have the option to pay it forward to regional schools, where youth suicide rates are twice as high as in metropolitan areas.
An example below of the FREE post show Mental Health Suicide Prevention and Awareness Forum
<iframe class="ql-video" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/bMMbF2K_HVY?showinfo=0"></iframe>A powerful message offering strategies, antidotes & an overarching message of 'you are not alone'. I've taught tertiary level students for 20 years and am absolutely certain each & every school should offer students of all ages a dose of Dave & the Daves.Erin Ender | Educator RMIT University | 303 Venue 5/5/23
Still Here by Dave and the Daves is a tender & generous show about mental health that surprisingly made me laugh, cry & reflect. The show was personal, without being uncomfortable & important, without being preachy. Next time I'll bring my teenage kids.Billie Atherstone | an experienced trauma-informed practitioner, educator and co-founder of Kundalini House - 9/9/22
Dave Houston did the impossible β he made a feel good show about depression. Part funny & sad, serious & silly, through his vivid imagination, strong performance & great music, heβs turned it into theatre we can all relate to.'Mark Pencak | Theatre critic | Byron Bay Theatre 24/10/2024
A very personal and heart filled journey that had me laughing, singing, feeling and even shedding a tear. Dave is a captivating story teller & I appreciated his willingness to be vulnerable and raw. His story is an important one for my students to hear.Simone Museth | Drama Teacher | Byron Bay High School
BOOKINGS
To make a booking or enquiry, simply press the GREEN Enquiry/Booking Request Button above right to directly contact the booking team. They will answer you promptly to discuss your booking including when payment will be required.
Shows for Schools not only gathers all the great available shows, it also makes booking easier!