of students said they'd been given relevant information, 92% said it tackled their misconceptions about drugs, and 86% said it had changed their perceptions of the risks and consequences of using drugs.

There are interesting parallels to be drawn with the verbatim play/film, The Laramie Project, and examining the director's methods in engaging the audience through music and visual imagery. I hadn't realised how much scope for creativity there was with a play taken completely from other people's words. Susan Elkin paid a visit to Half Moon theatre in London’s East End to chat with CEO Chris Elwell about their extensive education outreach and innovative theatre programmes. Predicated partly on Black History Month, Elayne Ogbeta’s muliti-layered play presents Grandad (Marcus Hercules) and his primary school age granddaughter, Abi (Jazmine Wilkinson) in his garden.

It was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2018 by Lloyd Theatre Arts, gaining official five-star reviews, and again as part of the online Fringe in 2021 with TiU Theatre’s filmed production, again getting great reviews. I’m not that stupid” attitude but sitting there with her last night and seeing how much it affected her emotionally and the conversation we had after made me think that she’s not. A verbatim play written by Mark Wheeller using the testimonies of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs’ friends and family.

When you meet former students, sometimes from decades back in my case, it’s usually taking part in Oliver! In moving and impactful scenes told with dialogue, physical acting, empathy, respect and humanity we learn that Dan enjoyed playing in the garden as a young boy, took part in everything at school and had already begun to support important causes. We wish you and your family all the very best for the future and we will continue to do what we can to tell Dan’s story.

Consequently, young people face decisions about drugs without the information and skills they need to live safe, healthy lives. That fateful evening is told through the words of his school friends and family, divided into two hard-hitting acts in Mark Wheeller's verbatim play.

Read more about the condition New: A new, unread, unused book in perfect condition with no missing or damaged pages. We hope this will bring the play to many more drama studios and classrooms across the country and around the world, with its important messages of risk, choice and consequence, friendship, forgiveness, love and loss. Don’t miss Mark Wheeller’s beautifully-written play and Octopus Dream’s acclaimed production, touring to theatres across the country for the first time. I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die is a verbatim play told through the words of Daniel’s family and friends.The verbatim play by Octopus Theatre (ninety-minutes, no interval) has two acts and is constructed through the testimonies of those who knew Daniel, his friends and family, as well as recreating the fateful night, trial, funeral and the aftermath of grief. I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Dietells the tragic true story of the death of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs following an MDMA overdose. Most telling of all Amy Zoldan as Alice wrestles with her conscience as the person who everyone blames for Dan’s death. There is one part, never fully explained, but beautifully performed which involves the taking off and putting on of hoodies, cardigans and jackets. When sixteen-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs dies on a night out at a rave after taking a lethal dose of MDA family, friends and teachers are left shocked and grief-stricken.

We hope it’ll reach its 1,000 th performance even more quickly, as awareness of how very relevant, engaging and impactful it is spreads further. His play ‘Too Much Punch for Judy’, written in 1987, is one of the most performed contemporary plays in the UK. The play is topped and tailed by filmed interviews with Dan’s mother and father and his girlfriend Jenna, communicating the love he inspired. This book offers a unique and fulsome guide for teaching/studying this play and includes a detailed scheme of work for teachers using the play as a set text in the GCSE Drama examination. The hoodie symbolising Dan was such an amazing concept to show everyone had a part of Dan in them and they were also a part of him and… Dan could be anyone.Students will learn that there's always a choice and that the risks associated with drug use are incredibly high. There is a range of resources available for anyone working with the play, whether in drama lessons, school, college or youth theatre performances, or studying it for GCSE or BTEC assessments. I promise I won't die" were the last words that Daniel Spargo-Mabbs said to his mother in 2014 before heading to a rave on an industrial estate in West London in 2014. Having Mark Wheeller’s interviewer words written into the script gives as a clever narration that helpfully shaped the dialogue into a narrative helping the audience follow the story. The opening image is of serene Dan, in a white T-shirt and jeans, holding glow sticks, heaven bound, the angel at a rave.