#SRtRCSpotlight: From Stage to Classroom – The Impact of ‘The Bench’ Play

Throughout June, the North East Education Team have been delivering specially created workshops to secondary schools as part of our partnership with The Bench, as well as continuing to support the play’s tour across the region.

As the official educational partner for The Bench, we have created free educational resources, hosted on our Education Hub, for teachers and youth leaders to use independently, and worked together with Gala Durham to co-create and co-deliver 14 90-minute workshops which explore the key anti-racism messages of the play and use drama as a vehicle for exploring social justice issues with young people.

The workshops featured drama-based activities that helped participating young people to explore issues including privilege, microaggressions and allyship in a safe, non-judgemental way, with 95% of workshop participants telling us that drama was a great vehicle for highlighting issues to do with racism, equality and respect.

Throughout the month, we worked with cohorts from Monkwearmouth Academy (Sunderland), Walker Riverside Academy (Newcastle), Durham Sixth Form (Durham), Whitworth Park Academy (Durham), Ullswater Community College (Cumbria), Haydon Bridge High School (Northumberland), St John’s School & Sixth Form College (Co. Durham) and Studio West (Newcastle) – educating over 200 young people about the impacts of racism and their role in challenging it.

“I think the idea of using physical theatre to represent concepts like micro-aggression was very effective. These are concepts that some of our students find difficult to describe verbally or are too close to home to articulate in company and this was a great way for them to demonstrate their thoughts and feelings without using words. A couple of my students struggle with literacy, so the use of physical theatre really broke down a barrier for them.”

Teacher, Whitworth Park Academy

On a number of occasions, the participating cohorts were also given the opportunity to watch the play itself, an opportunity which also garnered positive feedback:

“More experiences like this please! Loved seeing work by local artists.

It was also great to bring students to see a play – so many of their theatre experiences are limited to panto or a musical. They loved seeing a smaller cast that they would relate to and a story that resonated with them.

I think they were really inspired as well, and this will go on to affect their own devised work as some of the set, lighting, music and performances seemed ‘doable’ to them.”

– Teacher, Whitworth Park Academy

Young people themselves told us that they had really enjoyed the workshops, with one young person reflecting on the experience staying:

“I think it was really good, I’m not sure if you could do anything different. It was very engaging with the activity that encouraged participation. Very good and felt immediately comfortable as soon as I entered the room. I can’t think of anything better than what we did today. I really enjoyed the workshop, and I think everything was well executed. Great at getting everyone involved and informed about serious matters in a fun way.”

– Young person feedback

Evaluation and feedback from workshop participants also include the following positive changes:

• 78% of participants said that their understanding of privilege and it’s impacts on people based on aspects of their identity had increased
• 79% said understanding of microaggressions and their negative impact on people based on aspects of their identity had increased
• 83% said that their understanding of the need for allyship and their role in being an ally had increased

Alongside the workshop delivery, the team from Show Racism the Red Card in the North East continued to support the play at each venue on the tour, with a presence at the venues where there were opportunities for the public to access additional resources, purchase merchandise and make donations to support the future delivery of anti-racism education to schools across the region, as well as chat to the team about the nature of our work and the ongoing need in 2025.

In total, we were present at 27 shows across the North East, raising more than £850 to support the delivery of anti-racism education workshops.

Speaking about the experience and the impact on audiences, North East Education Team Manager James Kingett said:

“It has been such an inspiring and enjoyable experience to be associated with this wonderful play – what was achieved through your writing and what the team achieved through the production has been to really humanise the experiences of refugees and migrants in a way that was so accessible and in a way that I feel is sadly lacking in the mainstream media coverage, and to draw out the shared human experiences of two people who on the surface appear to have little in common, but who end up providing essential support for one another driven by love, compassion and understanding.

Seeing the reactions of the audiences and talking to them about the impact that the play had on them will stay with me for a very long a time.”

Show Racism the Red Card would like to thank funders North East Combined Authority, and partners Carole W Productions and Events, Gala Durham and the whole cast and crew from The Bench.

If you are interested in finding out about partnership opportunities with Show Racism the Red Card in the North East or would like to book a workshop, please contact us via this form.