Theatre in education

West Derby School Year 13 drama students in conjunction with Merseyside Youth Association (MYA) and the ‘Now’ Festival, performed a piece of theatre in education called, ‘That’s not me’.

The play, which was written to raise awareness of mental health, was performed to whole year groups across the school.

The results of the questionnaires distributed to students after the performance revealed that the play had had a massive impact on their understanding and awareness of mental health.

One of the Year 7 students said: “We learned that everyone has mental health and it has to be looked after, just like our physical health”.

Following these performances, some ‘tweaks’ were made by the students before their final performance on the stage of the Epstein theatre in February.

The response to the boys’ performance on the night was phenomenal. Members of the audience approached the students and staff to express their awe at the play the students had written and how they had performed it.

The boys themselves were overwhelmed by the experience: Drama teacher, Ms Forrest, said: “We want to get across the message that mental health can really destroy a person’s inner self.

“In the beginning we did think ‘that’s not us’ but now after this performance, this is who we are now; a strong, confident and amazing Drama group”.