sustained theatre

By Rikki Beadle Blair

When Drill Hall Theatre, Stonewall & Homotopia suggested that I write and direct a schools tour on the topic of Homophobia. I shocked myself with my snobbery: “I do film, TV, radio, theatre – I don’t do theatre in education!” As soon as I heard that voice, I knew that not only should I write and direct my current show (called ‘Fit’) – but I should be in it, go on tour and interact with audiences myself. And far from a penance, it was one of the most exhilarating, worthwhile, life-changing things I have ever done. 

Every morning on a tour that pinballed up and down the country, I woke at 5.30M, vibrating with anticipation for the day ahead. A few hours and two shows later, my head and heart would be brimming with input and the renewed certainty that the kids of Britain are amazing – I’ve met 15,000 so far. Cheeky, loud-mouthed, sarcastic, nosy, self-centred and grammatically challenged – but amazing. 
Filled with curiosity about the world and the people in it, these young audiences watched the show with sharp-eyed appreciation for dramatic subtlety, and dived into the after-show debate armed with insight that made your brain sweat, forcing you to appreciate the power of truth and honesty. 

Take, for example, the young man from the impoverished inner-city school who asked me why men who were straight, decide to have gay sex in prison. (The watching teachers looked a little nervous about this question.) I immediately sussed that we were talking about someone close to his heart. So, I explained that even hard geezers needed to be touched and held in someone’s arms and shared my theory that affection is the only thing that keeps us all sane. I’ll never forget the smile that explanation got me.

I try to be as honest as I can. I don't tell them that gays are perfect – or that homosexuality is a "preferred lifestyle". Despite what the tabloid press et al might have bleated, this isn't a recruitment exercise. We're trying to change attitudes and stamp out bullying; the idea of using theatre as a tool for social change isn't new, but it's pretty powerful when you're witnessing the effects first-hand.

Through theatre, we powered workshops examining effeminacy, masculinity and debated gender-conformity. We explored anger, male-frustration and why homophobic slurs are the language of violence (whether the target of abuse is gay or not). We talked how that related to the current knife-crime epidemic. And we discussed what we could do about it. These young people were funny and challenging and brilliant.

Performance can work in a unique way when it comes to dealing with the day-to-day aspects of teenage life; this is why I'm now working to raise money for a DVD version of Fit to be made available to every kid in the country.

All that said, there have been some low-points: several hundred 12-year-olds who had never heard of Barack Obama; a northern school full of undernourished, undersized boys with old-man faces and nicotine-yellow fingers; schools with barbed-wire and police guards that made Shawshank look like Tellytubby-land, and press that quoted fictitious angry parents claiming that we were robbing kids of their innocence. But, there they are every morning still: kids unafraid to challenge their own prejudices and inspiring us to challenge our own.

About the author

Rikki Beadle Blair

Actor, Writer, Director and founder of theatre company, Team Angelica