Theatre production aimed at tackling gang culture to visit schools

Ganging Up

GW Theatre Company is leading the way in tackling gang culture with young people in Rochdale using a unique programme of work led by performances of a theatre production called Ganging Up.

With an urgent need to address these issues local authorities have been quick to snap up the project on its first tour and between now and the end of March GW will visit a total of 26 secondary schools in Rochdale, Oldham and Tameside, reaching 4000 young people aged 14-15. The key elements within the work provoked by the play are challenge, prevention, protection and reduction.

Arts Council England, Greater Manchester Police [Tackling Knives Action Programme], New Charter Housing Trust and AGMA all supported the initial development of this project in 2011 when it was piloted with great success to 700 young people cross Greater Manchester.

The social disturbances in the summer of 2011 threw these issues into sharp focus and GW Theatre has once again demonstrated its knack of tackling key social issues at precisely the right time.

This new project follows hot on the heels of a 4 year national tour of their hugely successful and award winning production One Extreme to the Other which has reached over 50,000 young people in schools and over 5000 people in community venues and prisons.

Ganging Up, written by the award-winning writer Mike Harris, received tremendous feedback from its pilot tour and the company has spent the last seven months developing educational resources to support the play.

GW Creative Director, Dave Jones points out the depth of work being undertaken “This is not just a play. The script is based on research with young people and everything in the narrative is deliberately there to provoke thought and discussion. We have developed special teaching materials to support professionals and will launch a website in the summer of 2012; this will be a project of national significance.”

He is also keen to counter a commonly held negative view on issue based theatre work: “We’re not liberal lightweights and nor do we preach. The job of the play, our job as artists, is to engage people in a complex set of issues. We do this by producing gripping, truthful theatre that earns and demands the attention of challenging young audiences. If you successfully engage then a dialogue become possible - opening up the potential to break down ignorance, for learning and increased understanding. The theatre is an agent for change. This project will reach thousands of young people and make a real difference.”

Ganging Up is a furiously paced, funny and moving drama about how teenagers get into gangs and how hard it is to get out of them. It’s about gangs now and gangs in the so-called ‘good old days’. It’s a tragic-comedy of love, betrayal, and taking responsibility. It’s designed to provoke discussion amongst anyone from 14 to 40 (and beyond) and is always followed by a session in which the actors come back in characters to allow the audience to interrogate them about what they did.

Aimed at young people aged 14 upwards and adult audiences too, Ganging Up offers a powerful theatrical stimulus to debate and comprehensive educational resources to inform further discussion and to lead in good practice. The play explores many different kinds of gangs and there is a particular emphasis on tackling the growing exploitation and violent treatment of girls and young women.

The project will also be used to train professionals and with its key partners GW Theatre will work with families and in communities and measure the impact of the work.

In Tameside, GW is working in partnership with New Charter Housing Trust and Tameside Education. In Rochdale and Oldham the work is being led by the local authority. A national roll-out will follow across 2012 and beyond.

GW Theatre is actively seeking funding for this work from public and business sources. Interested parties should contact the company directly on 01457 837668 or gwtheatre@aol.com