For me, theatre is about making an impact and changing people’s perspectives. When I first read Fallout I expected it to be a play that used stereo-types to skim through current issues. However, I came to find a gripping drama about the lives of everyday people, affected by terrible tragedy and grievance. The play reflects a community at the heart of the nation’s knife crime epidemic, having to make difficult decisions every day and struggling through pain and fear. I felt that staging the play as it written would make it difficult for our audience to relate to the play in the way we want. I therefore decided to interject verbatim (accurate and unchanged transcribed material) into our piece from real cases and police enquiries. This way the audience are exposed to language from people that have been affected by the crimes in question, often from the mouths of mothers or friends of murder victims. The play has more characters than we have actors so most actors are multi-rolling, giving a makeshift feel to the play. Characters will be defined by a simple change of costume found in a box onstage where the cast members will be in view throughout the performance.

Today, we invite you and challenge you to come with us to the streets of London. Rather than hiding from a growing problem that is spreading all over the UK. This play will give you an insight into the lives of the 130,000 people who last year alone were a victim of knife crime.

We will portray the hard hitting reality of what is happening in the world that you are living in, we will challenge your perceptions of life. Enjoy the show.