in association with northern stage present leaving · from staff in children’s homes to mps and...

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In association with Northern Stage present

LEAVING Written by PADDY CAMPBELL

Directed by AMY GOLDING

Touring Feb/March 2017 (and again in Spring 2018)

Leaving home for the first time...

...is a step into the dark.

A whole new life.

If you’re leaving the care system, the reality hits even harder.


Leaving is the new play by Paddy Campbell (Wet House, Live Theatre / Soho - Guardian Top Ten plays 2013)

Using young people’s own words, an ensemble cast and an award-winning creative team will test the boundaries of verbatim theatre to bring these real voices to the stage. Leaving also gives voice to those working within the system from staff in children’s homes to MPs and policy makers.

Leaving will create an immediate, immersive experience that will change the way you think about young people in care.

Leaving is a Curious Monkey production, in association with Northern Stage and directed by Curious Monkey’s Artistic Director Amy Golding (preggers, Beats North, Mamela).

About the production

Paddy Campbell’s play is formed from interviews with looked after young people and care leavers, staff from local authorities, children’s homes, social workers, MPs and Ofsted, in order to shine a light onto the lives of the young people and the issues they face.

Paddy was inspired to write the play based on his experiences as a key worker at a North East children’s home.

The project will see care leavers and looked after young people shadowing Curious Monkey’s professional artists and learning new skills throughout the development, rehearsal and production process.

We are collaborating with Northern Stage who have supported the development of both this piece and of Curious Monkey as a leading voice in independent theatre making.

Reviews:

“From Northern Stage and Newcastle-based theatre company Curious Monkey, this is an important and rewarding piece of work.” - The Chronicle “An absorbing and fast-moving piece of theatre” - The Chronicle “One of the great joys of being a reviewer is those times when you are proved wrong, when your preconceptions are shown to be little more than prejudices. Thanks for that, Curious Monkey!” - British Theatre Guide “There was a feeling of such authenticity in the delivery that made for compelling listening.” - British theatre Guide


“The remarkable aspect of Campbell’s writing is the unique, insider view that values stories above statistics” - The Guardian

“It’s a fully rounded view of the system – with experiences that are good, bad, tragic, funny, frustrating, inspiring and above all, true.” – The Sky is Falling blog review “Leaving is a touching, funny, unsettling and inspiring experience.” – The Sky is Falling blog review “You really feel as though the young people, the professionals, are right there with you.” The Sky is Falling blog review Audience comments:

“excellent and thought provoking”

“very moving. This is what theatre should be about.”

“brilliant… #whyilovetheatre”

“really informative and enlightning”

Who’s it for?

Leaving is a slice of real life. It contains all the heartache and humour you would expect from genuine experiences, told by those who experience them.

It will reach out to those affected by the issues in the play – from looked after young people to those working in social care, in local and national politics.

It will appeal to anyone with an interest in social justice, in the role of the family and the real, raw voices of young people.

Curious Monkey productions attract a high level of non-theatre going / non-arts audiences – our work has a freshness and directness that is rooted in the real experiences from which we draw our material.

We believe we make theatre about the things that really matter to people. Looked after young people are rarely depicted on stage – Leaving aims to depict lives that many will recognise.


About the Team

Paddy Campbell

Paddy was commissioned by Live Theatre to write his first full-length play, Wet House - rated by the Guardian as one of the top ten plays of 2013 - based on his experiences of working in a homeless hostel in the North East. Paddy is currently under commission from Live Theatre and the National Theatre.

Amy Golding

Amy Golding founded Curious Monkey in 2011. For the company, she has recently written preggers (2016), Everything is Wondrous (Julia Darling commemoration, Live Theatre 2015), directed Beats North by Luke Barnes & Ishy Din (Northern Stage ‘Title Pending’ winner 2014) and directed verbatim piece Mamela (2013-14) which was performed extensively in South Africa and the UK (Ovation Award, National Arts Festival, SA, Afrovibes Festival, UK).

Amy previously worked at Live Theatre (2006 – 2012) and has made work with companies including The Sage Gateshead, Open Clasp, Them Wifies, and nabokov. In 2015, Amy was a Clore Leadership Fellow, recognising her as one of the nation’s most promising emerging artists and future theatre leaders.

Curious Monkey

Curious Monkey is an international award winning theatre company founded by artistic director Amy Golding. “We make new plays inspired by people we meet and connections we make in our local community and around the world. We listen to people whose stories are rarely told. Collaborating with a team of award winning artists, we shape these stories into fresh, direct theatre that is rooted in the experiences of the people we work with. Our audiences are often young and new to the theatre. We make people welcome and speak in a clear and open language that reflects our principles of inclusivity. We make theatre that provokes and inspires audiences to connect with each other, with the ideas that we explore and with the stories that we share. Working with specialist partners, we use theatre to engage with influencers and decision makers to help create positive changes in the world.”


Participation

We have been working with a group of young people in care and care leavers over the last 18 months alongside the creation of the show. They have taken part in workshops, learnt about different elements of theatre making, been on monthly group trips to the theatre including backstage tours. Now many of those young people will be doing work experience shadowing the artists in the creative process of staging the production of Leaving.

From 2017- 2022 we will be continuing to work with looked after young people and care leavers in the northeast and will be recruiting a new group to start work later in 2017 to go through a similar programme. The new project will include learning about digital elements of theatre and will work towards creating a digital installation that will be inspired by seeing the production of Leaving. We are keen to have conversations with individuals, charities, services and agencies who might want to work with us in supporting looked after young people and care leavers to take part.


Please contact us to discuss how to get involved… Toni McElhatton – Project Coordinator on [email protected] Amy Golding – Artistic Director on [email protected]

Comments from participants:

“I just really enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing a story onstage that was similar to my story” “I’ve enjoyed coming to the workshops, you can be honest.” “I’m proud of the contribution I’ve made in the sessions” “I met my best pal” “I’ve learned about recording binaural sound and playwriting and I created a character called Arlo” Comment from one of our partners: “We have loved working with Curious Monkey on the Leaving project. The young people have been really committed to the project and have been keen to attend. The project coordinators have built really positive relationships with the young people and have shown a good understanding of their needs. The reality of working with looked after children and care leavers and the difficulties they may sometimes have in group situations have not only been understood but also addressed in a way that has enabled the relationships to build and the trust to develop. The group have learnt so much about producing a piece of theatre from the development of an idea to the range of jobs on offer in theatre, such as set design and lighting engineering. Each session is well planned and enjoyable and is pitched at the right level for the group.”

in association with northern stage present leaving · from staff in children’s homes to mps and...

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