NT : What's On : Productions : Theatre of Debate
Theatre of Debate
Four punchy new plays created by young people from around the UK tell stories from the front line of their own experience, followed by a debate driven by those working closely with teens of today.
Friday 4 July 6.00pm
Blackout
by Davey Anderson.
Inspired by the stories of a young person from Barnardo's, Glasgow.
A short play about getting bullied, fighting back, trying to make a name for yourself, turning vicious, doing something stupid, losing everything, then finding your way again.
“All I can remember is: I could hear screaming. It was like being in a dream but still being awake at the same time. And all I can hear is - please, don’t, stop it! And then… I don’t know. Next morning, I was in a jail cell. I didnae know how I got there. And I was like that - aw naw, what did I do?”
Saturday 5 July 3.00pm
Big Hopes
a verbatim play by Gary Owen.
Inspired by an xl. group from The Princes Trust, Cardiff.
We tell ourselves we live in a meritocratic, all-middle-class Britain – but if you have big hopes, make sure your parents can afford them.
“So I’m going to write this play for you, and you’re going to do it, on stage, in London. I mean, how d’you feel about that?”
followed by:
Safe
by Deborah Gearing.
Inspired by Fairbridge Southampton
A boy leaves home and joins the “invisible army” of the hidden homeless. A group of friends take him under their wing and show him that surviving on the streets is not the same as living free.
“People who take drugs, yeah, people who sleep on sofas, in stairwells, in cars or in doorways – there was a moment when something went wrong – and nobody made it right again.”
Monday 7 July 6.00pm
The Boys
Directed and devised by Jeremy Weller with young people from Fairbridge Centres in Kennington and Hackney.
The Boys is the story of one young woman’s attempt to break free from a life of violence.
“I’m not a violent person, but it’s my life”
Theatre of Debate finished on: 7 July 2008
