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This is an example of verbatim theatre because it used the exact words of the family and friends of the boy who died. It was a performance about a young man who died under the influence of drugs at a party; he overdosed but it wasn't his fault. the message was ' don't take any drugs because you don't know where it has come from before you and how pure it is/ how dangerous it is.
https://edinburgh49.org/2018/08/22/i-love-you-mum-i-promise-i-wont-die-thespace-venue-45-20-25th-aug-1540-70-mins/

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A verbatim play written by Mark Wheeller using the testimonies of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs' friends and family. Premiere performance at The BRIT School, Tuesday 29th March 2016

In May 1997 Daniel Spargo-Mabbs was born. His parents, like every parent wondered what he will achieve, what job will he do? In January 2014 I was pregnant and my whole world was going to change; just 30 miles away Fiona and Tim Spargo-Mabbs' world was about to change dramatically too their son, Daniel, died on January 20th 2014. You shouldn't have your children go before you. How do you cope with something so tragic? Fiona and Tim have done more than cope they have set up a foundation in Daniel's name 'The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation' (www.dsmfoundation.org.uk) and over the last 18 months they have worked with playwright Mark Wheeller to have Daniel's story turned into a verbatim play as a performance to educate young people - they want the production to tour schools so that 'many good things can come from this very bad thing.' This play has a message much bigger than the assumption 'drugs are bad' it shows the power of friendship, trust, family and love and how one person's actions can have dire consequences on all of those.

Normally when you watch a play the actual characters who are being 'performed' aren't there. I was sitting in the same row as the people who were being re-created on stage and it was an unusual experience. 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 cast, from Oasis Youth Theatre worked as an amazing ensemble but stand out performances came from Lewis Evans and Natasha Thomas who took on the roles of Dan's best friend and Dan's mum respectively with such ease. 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. The set was simple with six cubes moved around at pace to create new scenes and also used in slow motion during the opening rave scene to great effect; flying around the stage with the chemical formula for MDMA projected upstage certainly marked the moment. The upstage screens also projected text message conversations and photographs of Dan throughout which disintegrated into flying sycamore seeds - symbolic of growing goodness from such sadness. Although the play revolves around Dan he has no lines and he is imaginatively represented throughout by a blue zip-hoodie that is sometimes worn by the 15-strong cast who play him in turn.

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. At the end of such an amazing performance you would typically expect a standing ovation, but this was so emotionally draining you felt too numb to stand and on reflection that is more fitting than bursting into rapturous applause.

For anyone who recalls the 1990's story of Leah Betts and the frankly devastating photograph of her splashed all over the newspaper Daniel is sadly the 21st century reminder that drugs still destroy lives and as members of society we still need to drum home the message but this time it isn't with a headline life support photograph it's in the form of this wonderful play - get it into your local community now!

Review by Holly Barradell

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Theatre Review: I love you Mum - I promise I won't die. A production by Oasis Youth Theatre

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A verbatim play written by Mark Wheeller using the testimonies of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs' friends and family. Premiere performance at The BRIT School, Tuesday 29th March 2016 In May 1997 Daniel Spargo-Mabbs was born. His parents, like every parent wondered what he will achieve, what job will he do?

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- Mark Wheeller is a writer and also works part-time at the Oasis Academy Lord Hill's as an executive director. Even though he isn't known well outside of schools and colleges, he is one of the most performed playwrights in the UK.
He wrote plays such as London Road

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'Scratching the Surface' a NEW verbatim play by Mark Wheeller

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- Voice is very important
- We speak in order to survive
- If there's nothing at stake then there is no point in watching a performance
- Richard Attenborough directed 'Magic'
- Murder/Insanity(what's at stake)
- Conflict- Drama doesn't exist without conflict
- 2 ways
- An argument
- Or with yourself- the kind and the vicious
-' To be or not to be'
- Speaking is the best form of communication(for humans)
- If you think, you think in words
- 'To be or not to be, that's the question'
- Denzel Washington's first movie was Cry Freedom
- He is an artistic director
- Loves giving place to plays
- 'What a piece of work, is a man'
- Women are powerful in Macbeth
- Presence is important for an actor
- Regicide: Killing a King
- Start = startled
-'Fair is foul and foul is fair'
- We think in stereo
- Most money is spent on the cast
- You have to be confident
- World of the play
- Actors need to make the characters, their own
- We speak in order to change the situation
- Own your thoughts
- We are built around contradictions
- Opposite of jealousy is trust
- Jealousy comes from love
- Fear is excitement in a different colour

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The Lyric Theatre showcased a mixture of two Shakespearean plays (Othello and Macbeth);they are two tragedies in which men are more superior to women and they can also get away with murder!
Othello(created in 1603) is a play about a black man and his white wife, Othello is deceived throughout the play by his best friend Iago, causing him to fire his second-in-command, Cassio and suffocate his wife.Jude Christian got her inspiration for he adaptation of the two stories, from the O.J.Simpson trial. This man was accused of murdering his ex-wife (Nicole) and although he claimed to be innocent, Police found a trail of blood outside O.J’s house leading to a car and blood stained gloves (evidence). In conclusion to his case, he was deemed as Not-Guilty.
Macbeth(first performed in 1606) was the second half of the play. I understood the first half of the performance a lot more than the blood bath that occurred at the second part. Shakespearen tongue was used which made the play harder to comprehend, especially since I don’t know the story itself. However, overall the actors(Samuel Collins, Grace Cooley-Gam,Kirsten Foster, Sandy Grierson, Kezrena James, Ery Nzaramba, Paul Courtenay Hyu and Melissa Johns)were very talented and played very believable characters.
The theatre crew used a range of different props to set the scene, this includes: A cigarette(Sandy Grierson used this prop to make his character,Cassio, more realistic and interesting), a knife(this was a real prop,along with the cigarette, and it was used as Cassio’s weapon; this showed how dangerous this character is when he is drunk. Moreover, a large tank of water was used at the second half of the performance to clean the hands of the actors after their hands were stained with fake blood(another item used).

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- See your story and make it out
- If not, improvise
- This idea was generated in Russia

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Imagination, Visualization and Relaxation (2)

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Imagination, Visualization and Relaxation (2)

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2) Stage Action
- Struggle for the goal
- What your character does to get what they want
- For e.g. The Queen scene - sneaking in, lazers, hiding in cupboard, jumping over the dog, escaping
- Obstacles
- Action isn't the movement, it's the struggle
- Why don't they do that?
- Laziness?
- Work on it
- Criticize yourself
- Question yourself
3)Suspension of disbelief
-  How do you make your character sincere, genuine and believable
- When a character is performing with an emotion, the actor will think about a time where they felt this emotion
- Romeo & Juliet
- If you're playing a break-up, think about a time where you were dumped
- If you believe it, your audience will too
- Make stories that:
A) You can visualize
B)Touch your personality
C)Help you get things done

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- Stanislavski didn't want actors to overact or under act
- Has to be believable/naturalistic
- Technique has been used for over 80 years
- 3 things you need to do to make a believable performance
1)Super-objective:
- What your character wants
- Objective
- The Actor's goal
- You can't just read out the script
- You need to understand your character
- You need to understand the scene
- Why?/What for?
- What is my audience expected to do?
- What is my audience is expected to do?