London Bubble Theatre Company: Bubbling up conversations

The pioneering London Bubble Theatre Company was founded in 1972 by performers and artists to create and promote inclusive community-based theatre. Its Playing Safe project, now in its sixth year, won the award for Outstanding Drama Initiative at the 2023 Music & Drama Education Awards. The forum theatre piece is designed for Year 6 pupils and seeks to get them talking about youth violence and safety in their community. London Bubble was praised by the judges for their commitment to using theatre to initiate social change.

A holistic approach

Playing Safe was also commended by the MDEA panel for its ‘holistic approach’, working alongside parents, staff and the police to ‘directly support lesser-reached communities’. The initiative emerged after a leader in children's services at Southwark Council wanted to devise a project which would enable Year 6 children to talk more in depth about the knife crime and gang culture that had directly impacted local schools. Beginning with evidence from the Early Intervention Foundation's 2018 report and working with parents, school staff and the police, London Bubble practitioners devised the content for the play. During the summer of 2022, a team of three actors visited six Southwark primary schools and engaged with over 400 young people. This summer, they repeated this project.

Play(ing)

Playing Safe has three phases, beginning with a performance to a Year 6 cohort. The actors, multi-rolling, present the story of 11-year-old Ali. When his brother is involved in a stabbing and accused of murder, Ali faces being drawn into criminal activity. Pupils are given opportunities to step in and improve the outcomes for Ali, something London Bubble's artistic director Marie Vickers identified as being particularly challenging for them during this exercise. Despite this, the company's well-honed skills in facilitating forum theatre enable scenarios to be played out more than once, proving opportunities for reflection. As Ali deals with backlash from the community casting him as the brother of ‘a murderer’, those watching are prompted to reflect on real-world repercussions for those with a connection to the accused.

In the second phase of Playing Safe, eight of the most vulnerable pupils are selected (by their schools) using risk factors identified by the EIF report. This includes those who are behaviourally volatile or have family caught up in the criminal justice system. They spend a week developing their own play with the actors, culminating in a performance for their peers. This opportunity, Marie Vickers explains, empowers pupils who aren't often ‘chosen to do nice things’ and gives them a voice, supporting them to make ‘connections between thoughts, behaviours and feelings.’ While the remit of London Bubble's work is not therapy, she recognises there are therapeutic aspects, and it encourages the young participants to ‘ask difficult questions’, as they explore characters who are both victims and perpetrators of crime.

The third and final phase of the initiative is a weeklong summer school, which takes place in the community centre of the Brandon Estate. It is open to pupils from the surrounding schools visited, and includes various theatre workshops. The company's commitment to making theatre that serves the community extends into sessions for parents and carers, which, in its 2023 iteration also involved Southwark Family Help Service, Southwark Youth Justice Service and Strengthening Families Project from The Nest. This alone is striking evidence of how innovative Playing Safe is, as it builds on recommendations of the EIF to reduce youth violence through cross-agency collaboration. This was another aspect of the project celebrated by the MDEA judges within a crowded category of strong applicants.

Community role models

In London Bubble's evaluation of Playing Safe, 100% of pupils stated they enjoyed taking part, which is perhaps largely down to the talented practitioners who visit the schools. They are more than actors, Vickers explains. The practitioners involved are aware their work ‘has a bigger social purpose’. All who perform are from the area and have been part of London Bubble's Young Theatre Makers programme and are recognisable role models in the community. ‘These cool young adults are people the pupils can see themselves in,’ adds Vickers.

Future plans

The project has had a clear impact on the pupils it reaches, who overwhelmingly reported back they could now recognise unsafe situations. Parents and carers also consistently said that they felt more comfortable to talk to their children about the issues presented and they understood better the issues facing children in their area. As for the future? Marie Vickers says London Bubble will continue to be dedicated to ‘artistic excellence, participation and context’.

Playing Safe is bold work. It does not shy away from the real dangers young people face. Its innovative, collaborative, multi-agency and participant-led approach could feasibly have a wider reach. Used a framework to empower overlooked community issues, it could give young people a voice to discuss what really matters.

londonbubble.org.uk

Waddell, S., & Jones, N. (2018). Intervening early to prevent gang and youth violence: The role of primary schools. Early Intervention Foundation. Available from: core.ac.uk/download/pdf/162158685.pdf