A female-led theatre company is challenging audiences around the UK with a thought-provoking performance centred on the lived experiences of children whose parents are incarcerated.
All Things Considered is a collective who craft theatre concerned with social justice and in their latest work, 8 Hours There and Back, they are calling on show-goers to reflect on pre-conceived notions of imprisonment – for the sake of the children impacted.
The team has spent five years developing an exploration into the reality of thousands of forgotten children which has included drama workshops and conversations with 60 young people who they believe have been failed by a system far more interested in punishment than justice.
Playwright Sarah Hogarth said: “80,000 children witness an arrest a year in the UK – there isn’t anyone there to look after the children.
“They’re terrified.
“For many of them, that’s where their trauma starts.”
Throughout the process, the company found one phrase repeated by everyone they spoke to: you never think about the children, do you?
This became the motivation for their decision to tell this story verbatim using the children’s words.
“Theirs is the voice that’s not heard,” said Hogarth who is passionate about using the arts to tackle complex issues affecting marginalised communities.
As contemporary theatremakers, the company’s performance encompasses a diverse range of theatrical elements, including interpretive dance and projections, designed to tell real-life stories in a dynamic and memorable way.
But the core of the storytelling is in the words shared by the youngsters who cited teachers and social workers as being some of the services they wished would be more understanding to their circumstances.
“The guilt, the shame and the stigma is massive for these kids,” Hogarth observed. “They’re looked at differently and treated differently.
“That’s one of the big shifts that we as a society have to make so they don’t have to feel that.”
And to ensure society is capable of change, Hogarth and the team are working with charities supporting children of imprisoned parents in each location they perform, including Liverpool’s Time Matters who have been instrumental in providing the children’s perspective.
For Hogarth and the team, this production is about creating substantial change at a personal and national level.
“The children hate being asked, ‘What did your parent do?’ or ‘How long did they get?’” Hogarth said.
“Sometimes they don’t even know.
“That’s not about care – it’s being nosey.”
Hogarth appreciates there is an instinctive human curiosity, but she hopes this insight into the world of the children will encourage people to think twice before they put the load on them.
And that’s not all, All Things Considered intends for the play to reach changemakers who can create long-lasting impact. Hogarth said: “There’s so much happening about prison reform and this isn’t high on the agenda.
“We want to change policy.”
Find a production of 8 Hours There and Back near you and secure your tickets here.
Feature image credit: All Things Considered
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