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Fred Drac and King RatDateline: 21st October, 2007Last November I was approached by Groundwork South Tyneside, acting on behalf of Adult and Community Education, South Tyneside, to work with NECA, the North East Council on Addictions, to produce a short play for them. NECA's clients are recovering drug addicts who have been referred to NECA's Structured Day Care by the courts and the aim of SDC is to increase their sense of self-worth and give them something to occupy their minds and energies to wean them away from drugs. The clients had come up with the idea of doing a play for Christmas. They wanted to do A Christmas Carol. So I went along to meet them and discuss possibilities. None had any experience of drama, except for one or two of the younger ones who had experienced drama lessons at school, so it was obvious that the play should be short and as simple as possible. After talking about the story and what they felt were the important parts which we should cover, I went away and write a script, using, as far as possible, Dickens' own words and actually having Dickens himself as the Narrator. It worked! OK, it was a script-in-hand performance and at one point I used the audience as actors, but it was well received by a packed house of about eighty people (including probation officers, other professionals and the actors' families) in the Structured Day Care room and Tony, who was in charge of SDC, asked if I would be willing to come back again this year. I said I would. Early this year he approached me about doing something for Hallowe'en, so during the summer I went along to meet the clients - some of the old cast and some new ones - and we discussed what we should do. Dracula and witches were the favoured subjects, so I went away and sketched out a story which involved them, and I also added three rats, simplpy because my company, KG Productions, have three beautiful rat masks which we used for a Theatre in Education production a number of years ago. Thus Fred Drac and King Rat was born, a battle to control South Tyneside between a vampire and the king of the rats. This time everything is on a bigger scale. For a start, Tony arranged to hire the Studio at the Customs House in South Shields, which means we can have an audience of over 100 and proper stage lighting. Casting has been wonderful: not only are the clients involved, but staff too, as well as staff from other agencies. Then NECA in Easington (Billy Elliott country!) became involved and staff and clients from there joined the cast. The production has taken over their lives! Not only have they been learning their lines and rehearsing when I'm not there, they have been building and painting scenery, making props and buying and making costumes. And not just during the week either: they are coming in at weekends - which means the staff are, too - and they more or less have to be pushed out of the door at the end of the day! There's also been tremendous interest from those involved in dealing with drugs and among those who have accepted invitations to see the production are probation officer, magistrates and even a judge. They're actually doing it really well too, but even if they weren't, the effect on their self-esteem, the depth of their involvement and the commitment they've shown are amazing. They are determined to make it as good as they possibly can. They have taken ownership of the production in a big way and are having a lot of fun into the bargain. And no, this isn't drama therapy. It's theatre: we're not exploring their feelings or experiences, neither are we preaching anti-drug propaganda. We're simply putting on a play. We're making theatre.
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