In association with Hemraj Goyal Foundation and Arts Council England, UpFront Theatre will be showcasing a dynamic play and interactive lectures across the UK to platform the younger generation. Written in response to Everyone’s Invited OFSTED Report in 2021, Before Anyone Else is designed to provide young people with skills that they can utilise in real scenarios at all stages of their lives. Targeted towards low-income secondary schools, UpFront’s spring season of workshops will be offering an industry showcase on 22nd March at Stratford East Theatre.
Exploring young people’s opinions on consent, sexuality and relationships, and the difficulties of understanding these while growing up, Before Anyone Else will follow the story of three students in Year 10. Emily and Tom are seemingly the ‘perfect couple,’ but their relationship is rocked as insecurity, jealousy, and sexual pressure begin to seep in. Meanwhile, Erica is struggling to navigate her sexuality and seeks to gain the support she needs. Across these narratives, audiences will see friendship, LGBTQ+ experiences, and the risks when navigating negative relationships.
Before Anyone Else will be performed to young audiences (KS3-5, 13-18) and teaching staff from all backgrounds to reach school communities in villages, towns and cities that might not have access to the theatre. The cast will facilitate a 30 minute post-show lecture to address key issues touched upon in the piece and create an open, forum-style dialogue with the audience. The company will replay key scenes from the play and invite students to share their thoughts and advice that they would tell the characters.
Young people have been an integral part of the creative process for the show. The script has been written using feedback from previous workshops, as well as real life testimonials being taken from this age bracket. Before Anyone Else was motivated by an OFSTED Report in 2021, which showed 90% of girls and 50% of boys had been sent unwanted, explicit pictures/videos, and 59% young women (13-21yr) had experienced sexual harassment at school/college in the past year. Before Anyone Else draws inspiration from students’ suggestions in previous workshops on consent, relationships and sexual harassment, and #MeTooAtSchool and End Violence Against Women reports. UpFront Theatre’s work strives to challenge and address these concerns across young communities.
Founder of Upfront Theatre and writer of Before Anyone Else, Rosie Ward comments, We have been running workshops in schools since 2014, and sexual assault and abuse within relationships have always been topics which have impacted the young people we work with. Consent and Relationships workshops are one of our most in demand workshops, with teachers and students telling us it is an issue which is always relevant. So, it has been my intention for a long time to write a full length play to explore consent and relationships in more detail; and then Everyone’s Invited and #MeTo happened and it became a necessity. The normalisation of sexual harassment within schools has got to be challenged and Before Anyone Else invites students to start the conversation about healthy relationships and challenging the culture within their own school environment. I’m thrilled not only to be bringing Before Anyone Else to life, but also because of the support from Hemraj Goyal Foundation and Arts Council England, to be able to offer free to 30 schools (that’s approx. 6000 young people).
