Last week, we posted a 'forum theatre' Diversity & Equality Training case study with you. Today, we want to share another; this time the client was the North East London Advocacy Service and here we talk in more detail about the process and delivery.
Case Study: North East London Advocacy Service
The Client:
North East London Advocacy Service (NELA) is a confidential and independent organisation promoting the rights of people with learning difficulties and mental health problems.
The Challenge:
To design and deliver a forum theatre programme to an audience of service users, advocates, clinicians and managers focusing on the different ways an advocate can support service users. NELA set Resound Training & Development the challenge of raising awareness of its services alongside empowering users to speak up, challenge and promote their Human Rights. And it all had to be fun!
The Solution:
Resound worked closely with the organisation to identify story lines that would be realistic, relevant and sensitive to the needs of the audience. Detailed research
was carried out by each actor/facilitator to enable them to build characters with whom the audience would empathise in situations which were recognisable. Gaining a clear understanding of the perspectives, concerns and priorities of service users and professionals was imperative. It was also important that the event was lively, fun and encouraged a high level of participation from people who use the service.
The first scene portrayed a Care Plan Assessment meeting between a young woman who uses the service and her Consultant Psychiatrist. The actors, taking advice from the audience, were able to recreate the scene to show how an advocate can help the service user to get across what they want to say and ensure their voice is heard in these important meetings.
The second scene focused on Michael, a character with a learning disability who wants to leave the family home to live an independent life. The audience became passionate about supporting this character to make the changes required to enable him to move into supported living accommodation.
The Benefits:
The audience members instantly engaged with the characters and story lines, providing instant feedback to the actors and offering solutions to the problems portrayed in the scenes. Audience members spoke with enthusiasm, vitality and purpose as they re-directed the scenes to provide better conclusions. The event was lively, heart-warming and thought provoking.
What the Client said:
“Thank you for all the work you and your team put into making the event informative, fun and subsequently very successful. The actors were all fantastic. We’ve had extremely positive feedback from both service users and professionals.”
North East London Advocacy Service
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