On Wednesday 1st February 2018, Year 9 Drama students performed their devised piece “Finding the Balance” at The Epstein Theatre, as part of the NOW! Festival; raising awareness of mental health issues sprung from the theme “My Education. My Mental Health.” Students created their piece from scratch; researching into different forms of mental health until they decided to go down the route of stress and anxiety. Each student brought many ideas to lessons in order to develop the piece which began in November 2017; having 2 hours a week to create the piece.
Working alongside Mr Maloney and Angie who gave support and guidance, Year 9 successfully completed their mission of raising awareness by performing the piece in front of a 200 strong audience which can be seen at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gH9zzL_clk&list=PLVOksKja6Z9VvvAwQSgawhpOFviC1XfT0
Mr Maloney is exceptionally proud of the students involved who really pulled together as a team; especially during the week long assemblies that were presented to highlight the issues of mental health when certain students stepped into others’ roles due to illnesses. The assemblies went fantastically well and it was even more fantastic to be given the overall Theatre In Education Award, for the message the students delivered in the week long assemblies, by the Kath Thompson who organised the important festival.
Well done Year 9. You have really excelled in delivering the message that it’s ok to talk about mental health and to seek support when needed.
