Violence is everywhere: in books, in plays, on computer games, on the streets. We think of teenagers, inner-city‘yoof’ and the so-called Neets: often troubled, hard to reach with problems ingrained and difficult to resolve. Now a new collaboration aims to use prevention as a means to reducing the risk of children who witness and experience violent crime becoming perpetrators themselves.
Called Silent Witnesses, this eighteen month drama programme brings together professional theatre company, the Theatre Centre and the University of London’s Birkbeck College in an innovative partnership which will be the subject of a documentary made by Actorshop Productions.
Pupils from ten inner-city schools from Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, London and Manchester, will work with playwright Ed Harris to develop a script and create a play from discussions,creative writing and workshops. Senior developmental psychologist Dr Edward Barker from Birkbeck said: ‘We hope that by including children’s voices in the development of the play we will help to engender an atmosphere where children can talk to adults about their experiences of witnessing violence, and adults are equipped to support children and help them reduce their potential to react aggressively themselves.’
Silent Witnesses aims to help children deal with violence they may have witnessed in their community, on television or in computer games. The project also seeks to raise awareness among parents and teachers of the role they can play in improving children’s safety and well-being.
It will culminate with a tour of a new play by Ed Harris in spring 2014, commissioned and produced by Theatre Centre. This month, ten Year Five classes will participate in a two-day residential programme run by Harris and developmental psychologist, Dr Natasha Kirkham. These involve creative writing workshops and group discussion.
Harris will draw upon the material created in the workshops and the conversations held in schools to create a script that will be developed and rehearsed by Theatre Centre, which will take the final product on tour to targeted primary schools across the UK.
Children,teachers and parents of children at participating schools will complete pre-play and post-play questionnaires evaluating their attitudes to violence and their responses to the play. By the end of the project researchers from Birkbeck will have gathered evidence from over 5,000 children, teachers and parents about the role of creative expression in changing responses to, and understanding of,violent behaviour.
The collated data,research and resulting documentary will be drawn upon by lead educationalists, academics and parents. One of the participating heads Emma Penzer of Mandeville Primary School believes the project will support its pupils.
She said: ‘Our school is in area which experiences a high level of crime. Many children have witnessed shootings, knife crimes and criminal damage, amongst other crimes. Very rarely do they talk about them, particularly to school staff.’
Harris, an award-winning playwright, radio dramatist and poet, is looking forward to working on the project. He said: ‘For me, one of the most fascinating things about this project is listening. We know what society says, and we know what we hope society is teaching young people about violence… but this is an opportunity for us to be quiet and be curious – and to listen – to what the next generation thinks and feels. As the writer, I’ll be creating a piece of theatre purely out of what they’ll give us, and from what they want to say to us and, of course, to each other.’
For further details of the Theatre Centre’s work, visit www.theatre-centre.co.uk