‘Time To Talk’ is a 35 minute piece of original educational theatre aimed at 9-11 year olds. Unique in its field, this show explores methods of dealing with the whole gamut of emotions, placing particular emphasis on loss and bereavement. ‘Time To Talk’ delivers a valuable opportunity for children to realise the importance of talking about their experiences and feelings. It is the perfect compliment to SEAL (Social and Emotional Aspects of Learning) curriculum in school.
Research proves that repression of feelings can be both psychologically and physically harmful for children. This piece gives kids the confidence to let those feelings out and illustrates the positive benefits of sharing them with one another.
The introduction of anti-social behaviour orders, the rise of negative media reportage, and the problems addressed in programmes such as ‘Supernanny’, are all indications of the difficulties young people often face expressing their emotions in a controlled and suitable manner. Through our close work with schools and teachers, we have observed a general increase in such inappropriate emotional reactions first hand. In addition to this recent government statistics suggest that one in eight adolescents now has depression and that 19,000 young people attempt suicide in the UK every year (that’s one every half an hour); if they knew where to go and how to express their experiences and feelings, these situations wouldn’t escalate to such extremes.
This show helps young people to realize the value of emotional expression and gives them certain tools to deal with at times of personal crisis. As with all ‘Chain Reaction’ productions, our young audiences are encouraged to listen, learn and laugh throughout. The initial tour of ‘Time To Talk’ was a phenomenal success with a staggering 93% of pupils affirming that the show had helped them realise the importance of talking about their feelings. The teachers were overwhelmed with the response they received from the children after the performance.
The performance is accompanied by a Teacher’s Resource pack and an optional ‘workshop’, designed to expand on the learning potentials of this exciting and interactive learning experience.
With pop songs, T.V. show spoofs and a moving personal drama holding the show together, ‘Time to Talk’ is both great fun and emotionally insightful. Expressing emotions can sometimes be seen as embarrassing or ‘uncool’ by young people, especially boys. There is a fear that their friends will laugh at them or see them as weak if they show the way they are feeling. Our opening song ‘Too Cool To Cry’ illustrates this perfectly and sets the tone for the whole show.
The central character ‘Katie’ has recently experienced a personal family loss and her mates are left grappling with how to respond to the situation. They initially fire jokes at her out of embarrassment, but soon realize the cruelty of this behaviour. Their next strategy is to ignore the issue altogether. Act as if nothing has happened. This proves to be equally disastrous, leaving Katie’s desperate desire to express herself, no outlet whatsoever. Finally the girls sit down and have an open conversation or ‘deep chat’ about what has happened. Katie gets the chance to share her feelings, and her mates the opportunity to bond and learn from each other’s experiences.
Interrupting the dialogue are some incidental scenes related to the theme. The first - ‘What Have You Lost’ - is a game show where the audience are invited to join in and guess the subject of each contestant’s confession. A common sense of loss is realised in all their scenarios whether it be losing a mobile phone or a parent or carer leaving home. All degrees of experience are viewed as valuable and a sense of perspective to be an important life skill.
In other scenes we see Ozzy Osborne attempting to give his hysterical daughter Kelly a lesson in anger management, and an advert for a brand new product called ‘Tears’. In this ad, masculine icons such as David Beckham are seen to benefit from this great natural remedy along with the rest of us.
Careful to avoid a ‘slushy’ or overly sentimental tone, ‘Time To Talk’ encourages its young audience to feel comfortable with their own methods of emotional expression and to empathise with those of their peers in a caring and non-judgmental way.
