Southern Regional College’s (SRC) Performing Arts Level 3 Extended Diploma and Creative Music & Audio Production Foundation Degree students returned to the stage in October past, with a strong message for young audiences with the special Theatre in Education performance ‘Speak Up’.
Touring primary schools around the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council Area and including a special performance at the Armagh City Hotel on Tuesday 21st October, students at the College encouraged their primary school counterparts to stand up and speak up against hate crime, not only for themselves but for friends, parents and others who may not have the confidence or ability to do so.
The play was commissioned by the Policing, Community and Safety Partnership and the Police Service for Northern Ireland as part of the schools affiliation programme. This sees performing arts students take a topical issue and use drama to educate. This year’s chosen topic was ‘Speak Up’, with second year students on the Performing Arts course writing topical content to perform for the target audience of primary six and seven students.
With six stands of hate crime monitored by the PSNI, students at the College focused on four strands, being race, disability, religion and sectarianism, and utilised their own experiences of growing up in an evolving multicultural society to bring a young person’s perspective to the play, combined with their own research into hate crime.
Teresa McBride, Co-ordinator for the Performing Arts Extended Diploma said:
“Performing arts students handled the challenging topic of hate crime with real thought and creativity. They spent time researching what hate crime means and how it affects people’s lives, then worked together to find ways to share that message through performance.”
Teresa continued. “By using physical theatre and comedy, students found a clever way to keep children in the audience engaged while still getting across the important message of kindness, respect, and understanding.”
The play was supported by the College’s Creative Music & Audio Production Foundation Degree students who brought their expertise in lighting and sound to create an immersive experience.
Speaking on this year’s performance, Patricia Gibson, PCSP Manager commented:
“Hate crime has no place in our borough, or indeed anywhere but unfortunately it happens. This event was a great opportunity for people to come together and share their experiences and to get advice and support from organisations on identifying a hate crime and reporting it. The students at SRC have done a fantastic job of bringing the hard-hitting impact of hate crime to life for young audiences. We will continue to work with all our partner organisations and do what we can to eliminate hate crime and to promote good relations.”
Teresa further added:
“Performing an original piece about hate crimes for children was very important to us. Our goal was to educate primary school children about acceptance and inclusion. We wanted to show that differences in skin colour, religion, or abilities should never divide us. What truly matters is that we treat one another with kindness, respect, and compassion.
We also hoped that the children would take these lessons home and share them with their parents and grandparents, who may have grown up in Northern Ireland at a time when prejudice and division were more common. By encouraging open conversations across generations, we wanted to inspire understanding and help build a more inclusive and united community.”
A total of thirteen Primary Schools (PS) witnessed this year’s performances which included pupils from Christian Brothers’ PS, Armagh; Mount St Catherine’s PS, Armagh; St Patricks PS, Armagh, Edenderry PS, Banbridge; Drumadonnell PS, Moneyslane; Bridge PS, Banbridge; St Colman’s PS, Lawerence; St John the Baptist PS, Portadown; Edenderry PS, Portadown; Hart Memorial, Portadown; St Teresa’s PS, Lurgan; St Brendan’s PS, Moyraverty; St Anthony’s PS, Craigavon.
