Published on:
26
February 2013
What happens when tenderness turns to entrapment? That was the question posed this week to senior school children throughout Clackmannanshire.
"Crush", a humorous but thought-provoking theatre-in-education project, which looks at the serious issues of abuse within teenage relationships, gender stereotyping and the media's impact on young people's body image and behaviour came to Clackmannanshire, with a 45 minute performance in front of S3-S6 audiences at Alloa Academy, Lornshill Academy and Alva Academy.
The production, performed by the Baldy Bane Theatre, met the aims of the Curriculum for Excellence both in terms of empowering young people to build healthy relationships in the future and to better support those affected by domestic abuse at present.
The storyline follows Jack, a popular 19-year-old car mechanic, the blue-eyed boy, good at sports, popular with the girls and always up for a laugh, while Gillian, a bright and bubbly 15-year-old, lived and breathed celebrity culture.
They meet; they fall in love and appear to walk off into the Happy Ever After.....
The production was followed by a post show discussion/workshop where pupils were given the opportunity to discuss the issues that were presented and to consider the impact of each characters' actions.
Pupils were invited to question the main characters about their behaviour and suggest alternative endings.