The Late Company, is a production that I feel very strongly about when I say, this needs to be in schools!
You might remember that last weekend I went to see the play, The Late Company at Trafalgar Theatre/Studios.
I was totally blown away by both the production and the cast/story. It was phenomenal and so different to anything else I had seen on stage.
5 people, minimal props, a dining room table and they hardly left the stage.
It was on a topic relevant to everyone in today’s world – social media. More than that though it was about bullying in real life and online, it was about parents being unsure about what social media is/does. It was about suicide. It was also about how different people react in different ways to comments made about them. Some people can laugh them off, other people it really cuts hard and they struggle so much with being bullied and the cruel comments being said about them.
The Late Company also highlighted that sometimes bullies do not realise the potential ramifications of their actions. It touched on, people making comments just for a laugh, but never quite realising how that is being taken by others. It also made clear that sometimes these comments being made aren’t intentionally hurtful and also that at times they aren’t overly rude – but the impact it has on the individual receiving them can still be damaging.
In today’s world, everything (sadly) happens online.
You all know that I am a massive advocate of social media. I use it everyday, I encourage people to be on social media. I regularly recommend law students to be on twitter and other social media platforms, as it is a great way of engaging with the legal sector, lawyers, legal news, events, law schools, law students etc.
I also spend my time writing strategies and training lawyers and law firms (even law schools) on how to engage better online – so I get that we live in a world where “being online” is how we live now, it is just such a shame that students (and adults) are unable to escape from bullying because of it as well!
The Late Company needs to be shown in schools.
This theatre production needs to be shown in secondary schools. It needs to tour the UK. Due to the minimal props and space provided it could easily be done in school halls. Students need to watch this, as it might make them think twice about some of the things they say and do, in person and online. Equally, it might encourage some students to come forward and talk about being bullied, as opposed to
The Late Company needs to be shown to parents.
I do feel very strongly that this play needs to be shown to parents. It would be great to see schools putting again for the parents in the evenings. It would be great to see schools putting this production on for students during the day and then parents in the evening, or even allowing students to sit with their parents and watch it.
The Late Company – a must watch in 2017!
Sadly this production is coming to an end, but it really does need to be brought to schools. The impact this production had on me and the others in the room was huge. People were crying in parts, the whole production really hit home just how volatile a place the internet can be, it also reminded me just how hard it is for people to seek help or tell someone how they feel. It reminded me that we live in a world where everyday there are new developments to social media platforms, and new platfroms and apps being delivered – and very often parents are unaware of some of these, or what they do.
It reminded me that whilst bullying has happened for years and years, we now live in a world where school students are subjected to it 24/7. They can’t leave school at the end of the day and the bullying stops, it now carries on in their pockets, with their phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. We have students putting up questions about themselves on apps and websites, waiting for responses from people they do and don’t know. I feel very strongly about all of this because I was bullied as a child in primary school, but I could, to some extent, ignore it when I got in the car and went home. Today that just doesn’t happen. It is constant, and no wonder it leads to students self-harming, or contemplating suicide. It is awful to think that someone is being tormented so much and subjected to such a horrible experience whether they are at home or school, and the only way they think this will stop, is by killing themselves.
The reviews for The Late Company are amazing, and I couldn’t recommend it enough – it really hit home on so many topics and issues! The Independent wrote a great piece about it here. I do hope that if you have time (and you can get tickets) that you go and see this production before it closes. You can purchase tickets for this through ATG here.
Rebecca x