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Night Train -
Created from the true stories of young people who run away… from home, foster parents, residential units, the coppers, life, everything.
By Action Transport Theatre Company In association with Cheshire County Council.
Re-touring 25th January –
23rd February 2008.
Now Booking – please call Jess Egan at Action Transport Theatre on 0151 357 2120 for more details.
A professional film/video production company will be working on this project to create two DVD’s; one intended for training purposes for Cheshire County Council on the subject of ‘Running Away’, which will include footage of the play and interviews. The second DVD will be created for Action Transport Theatre Company and other theatre makers to open up their processes of creating new plays, by, with and for young people.
Not suitable for anyone under 14, contains strong content.
Nighttrain - the project background...
In February 2006 Action Transport worked with four young people from across Cheshire who wrote about their experiences of being in care and running away from care. The testimonies of their experiences were performed as monologues by professional actors at Cheshire County Council’s regional ‘Missing from Care’ conference – click here for more details (.pdf).
The stories and energy of these young people gave Action Transport and Cheshire County Council the opportunity to put together a longer term project and Night Train became the play created as a culmination of this project.
Following on from the success of The Bomb , which toured secondary schools in spring 2006, Action Transport is increasingly interested in creating new plays from real stories, from real people. Night Train is an innovative new play based on the true testimonies of young people who run away….from home, foster parents, residential units, the coppers, everything.
The Night Train Team
February 2007 involved...
A research and development team worked together, as well as Cheshire County Council staff and Action Transport staff.
Other young people living in residential centres and in foster care were also involved, sharing their recent and extensive experience of running away. They wee the providers of material that was the source for the play, providing a strong participatory element to this project.
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| (L-R) Hannah Rayfield - Children’s Rights and Participation Officer, Cheshire County Council, Sarah Middlehurst - Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Kevin Dyer – Associate Writer, Action Transport Theatre, Sarah McDonald Hughes – Actor/ Writer, Curtis Cole – Actor/ Writer, Liam Smith - Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Keiran Glover and Emma Glover - Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Roy Barber - Actor/ Writer, Jeff Fletcher - Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Dee Shepherd – Actor/ Writer, Louie Ingham – Projects Manager & Producer. |
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| 4 professional actors who also write - (L-R) Sarah McDonald Hughes – Actor/ Writer, Curtis Cole – Actor/ Writer, Roy Barber - Actor/ Writer and Dee Shepherd- Actor/ Writer. |
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| Young people first involved in the Missing from Care conference (L-R) Keiran Glover and Emma Glover – Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Hannah Rayfield - Children’s Rights and Participation Officer, Cheshire County Council, Sarah Middlehurst – Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Jeff Fletcher - Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’, Liam Smith - Researcher & Contributer ‘Barnton 4’. |
As well as Cheshire County Council staff and Action Transport staff
Other young people living in residential centres and in foster care have also been involved, sharing their recent and extensive experience of running away. They will be the providers of material that is the source for the play, providing a strong participatory element to this project.
The Research
The research and development team interviewed and talked to young people who have experience of running away and also those who work with them, for example, social workers, the police, emergency care teams & foster carers. Some of those interviews were filmed for inclusion in the DVD being created.
