BAFTA-nominated writer Kenny Emson’s honest and unflinching new play, The Sh*t takes us into one of the thousands of forgotten youth centres across the country, where Eric has a single hour each week to break Daniel out of his spiral towards jail or the grave.
The Sh*t, from The Working Party Theatre Company, produced by Matthew Schmolle Productions, had a sold out run at Leeds Playhouse earlier this year. The production is a dynamic examination of the relationship between those at the margins of society and the people employed to help them.
This taut two-hander has been written by Emson, and researched by The Working Party, in consultation with youth workers and young people in London and Leeds. The play is brought to life by Lladel Bryant playing Eric and Dillon Scott-Lewis as Daniel while Samantha Beart takes the voice role of Sara. The creative team includes designer Caitlin Mawhinny (Winner Evening Standard x Tik Tok Future Theatre Award 2021), lighting designer Ciaran Cunningham and sound designer DJ NikNak (DJ Mags ‘One To Watch 2022′).
Director Alexander Ferris said: Every day, qualified youth workers up and down the country are quietly doing an incredible job in their communities supporting young people who might otherwise fall through the cracks. The original idea for this play came from incidental conversations during our projects in communities in London and Leeds; that the work was getting harder, resources were getting more scarce and the challenges facing young people were becoming increasingly complex.
Yet, over the last ten years, youth services in the UK have been cut by 70% and, over the last year, the number of young people needing access to mental health support has increased by a third. Youth workers and youth services are helping young people get on the right path right on our doorstep yet the majority of us have no idea it is taking place. This play shines a light on this by sharing a dynamic set of moving, funny and complex exchanges between Daniel, a young person whose chaotic life is dragging him down, and Eric, the youth worker charged with seeing him through it.
The Sh*t is at Bush Theatre Tuesday 19th – Saturday 24th April 2022.
