Culture Writer Charis Gambon reviews the play Though This Be Madness and provides insight into the actors’ motivations for participating in the performance
Tachia (Kent Okwesa), Cass (Yanexi Enriquez), and Mickey (Zak Wadley), the main characters of the play Though This Be Madness, live in a struggling area and attend a provisional education school due to being kicked out of mainstream school due to behavioural related problems. They also face issues in their home lives. The side characters in the play are gang member 1, gang member 2, gang member 3, and the English teacher Mr Jones (Jason Adam). The cast consists of four members, three of which play two characters each – but thanks to the cast’s incredible talent, the audience is able to distinguish the different characters easily.
An audience member commented that ‘behaviour is a form of communication,’ suggesting that children who are labelled as naughty should not be removed from school for their issues. Tachia is led to joining a gang as he feels that they are the only people who listen to him which is evidenced through the fact that gang member 1 comments that he is the ‘older’ and that Tachia is the ‘younger’ and that he has ‘got him.’ Cass does not talk much during the play as she feels that nobody wants to listen, but she runs her own podcast where she talks about issues young people in society face as she feels it is the only way she can be heard.
Originally, Mickey and Tachia dislike Mr Jones due to his standardised teaching methods – Mickey comments that he had joined the school to go on a ‘student safari.’ However, as the play develops, Mr Jones learns to adapt his teaching to suit the interests and needs of the students and in doing so proves that he does care about them.
Though This Be Madness is an incredibly relevant play
Though This Be Madness is an incredibly relevant play, and I believe that children would benefit from watching it as it is an extremely visual way to engage with current societal issues that affect their age group. It helps to provide a sense of realism on the issues of education, exclusion, knife crime and gangs.
The piece was created by visiting pupil referral units for a period of four months in Oxford, Bristol, and Coventry, where the director Yasmin Sidhwa spoke to students about their experiences. They then used a mixture of responses to develop the play with writer Avaes Mohammad. Yasmin commented that they wanted the story to be based on ‘in depth lived experience.’ After the first draft was created, the story went back to the same students for feedback – the play was then further developed taking this into account. This prompted an audience member to suggest the play represents reality, to which Yasmin replied: ‘It is and it is not.’
After the first draft was created, the story went back to the same students for feedback – the play was then further developed taking this into account
At the end of the play there was a question and answer session as a chance to discuss any thoughts or feelings about the play, or to ask the director and cast any questions directly. Yasmin commented that the ‘play stands by itself, but if you want to unravel it, the Q&A is beneficial.’ Having that Q&A felt incredibly important because of the play’s main theme being such a current and pressing issue.
After the Q&A, I had exclusive access and asked a few members of the cast why they wanted to participate in the play:
Jason Adam is a University of Birmingham graduate and commented that he wanted to participate in the play to showcase the ‘stories that aren’t told.’ Zak Wadley, on the other hand, said that he wanted to participate in the play because it is an ‘important and current piece that looks at issues happening right now in the everyday, not something that keeps going and is done over and over, but real stories.’
Yanexi Enriquez continued by saying she was interested because it is ‘a story that needs to be told.’ Finally, Kent Okwesa commented that he wanted to participate in Though This Be Madness because he ‘knew it would be a great opportunity as someone who lives it everyday’ and that it was good to ‘explore emotions through someone else.’
‘Wealth and deprivation are only a postcode apart’
Yasmin tells me that ‘wealth and deprivation are only a postcode apart.’ Though This Be Madness focuses on the subject of lower class struggles and expectations, and looks largely at the self fulfilling prophecy in education.
I would strongly suggest that people go to watch Though This Be Madness as it is an incredibly well crafted play which focuses on issues that could happen to anyone. It also opens people’s eyes to the world they live in, as there is an issue of people ‘sticking their head in the sand,’ as stated by an audience member.
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