Description
STORY
Len is helped at home by Rob who is doing some community work. Elsewhere Rob’s friends, Dan and El, are indulging in some mindless vandalism. When Dan and El start annoying Len in his home, Rob tries to stop them – but is tempted to join in with his friends…
CHARACTERS
Len: An elderly man
Rob: A lad doing community work
Dan: Friend of Rob
El: Friend of Rob and Dan
PREVIEW
Preview of the script is available here
MEDIA
Please take a look at this taster video of the OUR SPACE project – Click here
FURTHER NOTES ABOUT THE OUR SPACE PLAYS
Context and History
These six plays were created by playwright-director Rod Dungate, working with a team of education specialists and actors. The plays were toured with a company of four actors. There were two tours. Each play can be performed by four actors. The development work was supported by a group of Home Office and police representatives.
The tour was aimed primarily at Years 9 and 10, but played to a wide range of ages in schools and youth clubs. The idea is that students can engage with the actors and characters. Although the plays are about criminal damage, they pull no punches in the complexities they raise. Young people in the audiences never took advantage of the drama situations and often had thoughts and insights that took the actors’ breath away.
The plays were created by improvisation. The scenarios were created by Rod Dungate based on research from police and other workers in the field. Rod Dungate directed the plays, with the four actors making incredibly valuable creative and practical inputs. These scripts have been transcribed from the improvised plays.
Accompanying these scripts are films of each play, teachers’ notes, and extension work.
Using the Scripts
There is much guidance on the use of the plays in the Teachers’ Notes. However the Teachers’ Notes were originally written to support the use of the film
In addition, when using the scripts, it will be useful to keep these thoughts in mind.
Casting: Each play can be performed by four people. But this usually requires some multi-rolling. Feel free to enlarge the number of actors if you wish. For the most part genders of characters could be changes; feel free to make choices – and to change names.
Transcription: These have been transcribed from improvised dramas. Sometimes it has been impossible to capture the exact tones and rhythms. Learning lines and ‘making them your own’ is an important skill for young people to learn. However, some sections cry out to be filled out with managed improvisation. Work with the scripts as suits your circumstances.
Note that a small error regarding police procedure was noted after the filming of the plays – Play Five, Swings and Roundabouts. This was corrected for the tour and for these scrips, but it was too late to correct in the filmed version.
Settings: All sorts of things are built into the scripts – gardening, cars, children’s playgrounds, a fall from a railway arch, vandalising a classroom. There are no indications in the scripts about how this may be done. When touring, Our Space used some step ladders, planks of wood, a table and some chairs. And creative imaginations.
Structure and Drama Techniques: A number of different styles and techniques are used in moving the actions along. For instance Shane’s and Jake’s mothers in Success and Failure, the use of time in Making My Mark, the way Jason is handled at the end of Just a Geezer’s Car. This may help students build up a bigger store of techniques
