Newham’s youth spent easter making drama

Young men pose for the camera — Actively SeeK.I.N.G… CIC, Nathan with cast. Photo: Roy Phillips-Brill.

Actively SeeK.I.N.G… CIC is a Newham-based creative arts social impact organisation, founded with a mission to rebuild the Knowledge, Identity, Nurturer, and Gifts (KING) within young black men. Supported by the National Lottery through Arts Council England the Don’t Write Me Off Easter Holiday Drama Programme, was a forum for young black males aged 14-19 in London to engage with pressing societal issues.

The Easter Holiday Drama Programme was based at Stratford Youth Zone.

Nathaniel Phillips-Brill described his experience: “When I first signed up for this project I was really excited but I also felt nervous. When I entered the studio, the atmosphere was quiet and awkward at first but very quickly everyone started to get to know each other and I made friends very quickly.

“When we started to make the project, it was loud and inclusive and as time went on, everything started to gel together. We were each given a couple of lines to work with and from there we had to come up with improvised pieces. There was lots of help given to us by the actors to help make the final product we could perform better. We watched the show For Black Boys which helped create a vision of what our performance should look like.

“Overall the performance was successful. There was lots of chemistry between the performers which helped bring the show alive. Everyone had so much passion and talent. The fact we were all from the same background and had the same struggles really kept our bond strong. I would love to do another project like this.”

www.activelyseeking.co.uk

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