Shortly after we had decided on the Theatre Company name and created our manifesto we threw about ideas of performances we could create and what the focus of that performance could be.  Knife crime was suggested early on and we all feel the issue is so current it suits our manifesto, and also it fits the company’s mission statement. We also feel that the influence of verbatim on the performance is able to really have an impact on the audience, as it should realise the issues raised by forcing them to listen to first hand accounts of people directly affected by knife crime.

During our class the idea of merging an existing play versus devising an original piece was discussed briefly. The original idea was in regards to the contemporary verbatim play The Riots created by Gillian Slovo. The play seemed to suit our company’s purposes,  however at that point in the process the actual performance was not being focused on severely as we had yet to come up with a theatre company logo or a final draft of our manifesto.

The discussion on knife crime made me remember a television film I had watched, which had been based on a play.  In the film knife crime was dealt with rather explicitly. I posted on the group’s facebook, informing them about this program as I felt it may be worth watching, however I could not remember the name of the program, all I remembered is that it had been on channel four within the last two years.

Luckily one of the other group members was able to source that film on channel four’s on-demand television website, and it was named Fallout. In the next session the company were all told to watch the film as it would be useful for ideas for the performance piece. In discussions after watching the film we all agreed that it was something that appeared to suit our purposes, as knife crime was still a very current issue. The director was able to acquire a copy of the original play script by Roy Williams shortly after we had all assigned roles in the group.

My role as scriptwriter/editor gives me the job of changing the language from the original play script to a form which would be more accessible to any audience, as the original play is written in a London Caribbean dialect which we feel our audience may struggle to understand. I am also required to edit the play, which heavily focuses on racism. Our adaptation will focus on knife crime and the effect of it, and rather hint as racism and issues in the judicial system in this country. Along with these roles, I also have the task of strategically placing verbatim speeches within the play text as well as devising original scenes and speeches, differentiating our piece from Fallout and making it more an original performance.

The director will give me a copy of the play with notes on what she would like changing, however many of the decisions will be my own.