I Love You, Mum - I Promise I Won't Die (Plays for Young People)

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It was performed at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2018 by Lloyd Theatre Arts, gaining official five-star reviews, and again as part of the online Fringe in 2021 with TiU Theatre’s filmed production, again getting great reviews. Dan loved drama, and his school drama teacher, Izzy Forrester, became one of the first Trustees of the DSM Foundation. Don’t miss Mark Wheeller’s beautifully-written play and Octopus Dream’s acclaimed production, touring to theatres for the first time, following highly successful tours to secondary schools across the country. When sixteen-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs dies on a night out at a rave after taking a lethal dose of MDA family, friends and teachers are left shocked and grief-stricken. Having Mark Wheeller’s interviewer words written into the script gives as a clever narration that helpfully shaped the dialogue into a narrative helping the audience follow the story.

Upon leaving the Theatre I messaged my children to tell them I loved them, although it fell on deaf ears! The play is topped and tailed by filmed interviews with Dan’s mother and father and his girlfriend Jenna, communicating the love he inspired. Schools where students are studying or performing the play are able to book a conversation online with Fiona, and prepare questions to help them understand the story, the people, and the process behind the making of the play. Not only was this performance re-telling something very upsetting it was being re-told from over 300,000 words that all those audience members had said.The hoodie symbolising Dan was such an amazing concept to show everyone had a part of Dan in them and they were also a part of him and… Dan could be anyone. It is deeply moving, truly heartbreaking, and challenging as it touches on what we can do to help stop this happening to others. In Jan 2020 Wizard Theatre produced the 4th professional tour of ILYM, after COVID the 5th and 6th tour took place in 2022 and 2023 respectively. This verbatim book draws on the testimony of the many people involved in creating the play, from Dan’s family and friends who gave their words, to the young people and team of Oasis Youth Theatre, who worked with Mark on the original production that became the published play. We really hope this will mean families will come together and have conversations at home that help other teenagers keep themselves safe – but it’s also a beautiful play and a fantastic production, creating an opportunity for anyone who loves great theatre to experience it, and to get to know our Dan.

I love you Mum and I promise I won’t die is intended to be performed as two separate one act plays, but I feel it works just as well, if not better, as a two act play. She had taught his plays for many years – Dan had studied ‘Legal Weapon’ himself at school – and she had witnessed the power of his writing on young people. I Love You, Mum - I Promise I Won’t Die tells the tragic true story of the death of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs following an MDMA overdose. Susan Elkin paid a visit to Half Moon theatre in London’s East End to chat with CEO Chris Elwell about their extensive education outreach and innovative theatre programmes. Cobie Scott-Ward talks as his one-time girlfriend, then his best friend, who was unsure about his new mates in the Sixth Form.

Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. An abridged version has toured to many secondary schools across the country and has been seen by thousands of young people, but we always wanted to share the full version with a theatre audience.

There are interesting parallels to be drawn with the verbatim play/film, The Laramie Project, and examining the director's methods in engaging the audience through music and visual imagery. of students said they'd been given relevant information, 92% said it tackled their misconceptions about drugs, and 86% said it had changed their perceptions of the risks and consequences of using drugs.In this, he appears as a character, interviewing Dan's friends and family in the first act (the second act is more intimate and family-centred, telling the story in reverse). They wear a simple costume item for each person, such as a cardigan or spectacles, swiftly changing from scene to scene. In January 2014 16-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs went to an illicit all-night rave, overdosed on ecstasy and died. Most purchases from business sellers are protected by the Consumer Contract Regulations 2013 which give you the right to cancel the purchase within 14 days after the day you receive the item.