As we approach Mental Health Awareness Week, the Belgrade Theatre’s Community & Education Company are staging a brand new production called Truth or Dare which explores issues around health and mental well-being for young people.
Truth or Dare - Belgrade Theatre in rehearsal
Running in the B2 auditorium from Thurs 26 to Sat 28 April, Truth or Dare will be performed by members of the Belgrade’s groundbreaking Acting Out programme, which sees the theatre working with young people who are not achieving their full potential within the mainstream education system.
Addressing important topics such as memory loss, the effects of drugs and alcohol on mental well being and issues affecting young carers, the play tells the story of a group of young people who discover that the right choice is not always the easiest one. A series of interconnected stories explore what might happen when saving yourself could mean hurting the ones that you love.
Truth or Dare was written by Jennifer Farmer and developed with the Belgrade’s drama worker Orla O’Connor and members of the Acting Out group, who in addition to acting in the play have also taken on production roles behind the scenes.
Orla said: “Mental well being is an important part of everybody’s life but unfortunately it can sometimes be a taboo subject, mainly due to lack of awareness and understanding. Both Jennifer and I have been working closely with the Acting Out group to get their views on the issue and their comments and experiences play a huge part in the story of Truth or Dare. Hopefully the play will help to challenge certain stereotypes surrounding mental well being and the way it is perceived by people, old and young.”
Truth or Dare is part of the Belgrade’s Creative Gymnasium project which aims to stimulate engagement with the arts as a way to promote health and well-being, both through participating in arts activity and as a way of exploring key issues.
Tickets for all of the Creative Gymnasium events are free, however the theatre will ask for a donation at the end of the performance. All proceeds will go towards supporting the Belgrade’s ongoing work within the local community, which is carried out by the Belgrade Community & Education Company.
Although tickets for Truth or Dare are free, booking is still advised by calling the Belgrade’s Box Office on 024 7655 3055 or going online at www.belgrade.co.uk.
The Belgrade Theatre Community & Education Company runs a range of community arts activities both at the theatre and in venues across the city. Its work is based on the premise that drama is a powerful tool for the building of creative, confident individuals, and communities with a strong sense of local identity. As such, the work can make a powerful contribution to the city’s regeneration agenda.
The community programme is central to the theatre’s work in the city raising levels of access and participation, particularly targeting disadvantaged or under-represented groups. Workshop programmes are run in venues across the city, community performances are taken out into community venues, and a targeted programme of work looks to engage the city’s Black and Minority Ethnic Communities, forming new partnerships to push forward new ways of working. The company strives to achieve artistic excellence in all areas of its work.
The C&E Company has built a profile for high quality and challenging community productions including the Belgrade’s first festival of community theatre In Our Own Words. In 2005, the Acting Out programme, run in partnership with the Education Department of the Local Authority, was cited as a model of good practice in the Government White Paper on 14-19 Education, Training and Skills. The Company celebrated the 10th anniversary of Big School in 2008, a TiE project touring 40 schools each year exploring the transition from primary to secondary school.