Challenging and Contentious But Never Boring

Beware of Beaming Uncle Bertie and Smiling Auntie Sarah was the first of a succession of plays tackling highly sensitive issues. It could be said that we started with the most sensitive subject of all: Child Protection.

How do you deal with the issues brought out by the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of a child? Especially in a play designed for children from 9+ to 12+. 'Stranger Danger' was the catch phrase around at that time but the more Helen Lewis and Audrey German researched they found that children were in greater danger from people they knew.

'Bertie' was a play that used subliminal imagery to great effect and the second tour introduced an idea that was to be used and evolved for many years to come. A rag doll was used to represent Clara's brother. The use of dolls to tell stories became a way of distancing the audience from the subject matter whilst still getting the message through. 'Bertie' also used simile, metaphor and repetition to good effect as seen in the two versions of the 'Little Red Riding Hood' story within the play. Repetition is a key strategy in most of our T.I.E. for younger children. We advise them to network: Who can you talk to? Who do you trust? Is there someone at home or at school? And if the first person you try doesn't believe you try again until you find someone who does.

Issue based plays that followed 'Bertie' were... The Mermaid's Tale

'Finding Jake' based on H.I.V. and A.I..D.S. issues.
'No Half Measures' an alcohol awareness play.
'The Mermaid's Tale' a child protection play for the very young.
'Hard Cases' an anti bullying play.
'Playtime' a play about bullying for the younger child.
'Survivors' based on coping with grief, loss and change.
'Broken Windows' a crime prevention programme.
'Missing Peace' studies issues surrounding disability and inclusion.

After the plays we have workshops which take the form of hot-seating. (Except for the child protection plays. As we encourage children with problems to tell someone, an open forum is not the place for such a sensitive disclosure). This entails answering questions in role or to be precise one of the many roles that the actors had played during the performance of the play. This kind of workshop places great demands on the actors, the children take on board the information they are given and this information must be accurate. Therefore the whole company must become experts on the play's subject matter. No mean task on a small budget!