St Mary’s Students Host Prison Theatre Conference

Drama students at St Mary’s University, Twickenham recently explored the use of theatre as a tool to help offenders negotiate a safe return to society, during an annual conference supported by local schools. The Prison Theatre Conference is organised each year by St Mary’s Drama and Applied Theatre students as a way to explore how rehabilitative drama and the arts can be used in prisons to develop the key social and emotional skills needed to avoid re-offending. Through a series of drama workshops, a student written play and panel Q&A sessions, pupils from schools in the Richmond borough who have been identified as ‘at risk’ of offending, were able to see how the arts can be a positive tool in crime prevention as well as exploring their own attitudes towards criminal behaviour. Guests on the day included comedian and Capital Xtra radio presenter Kojo, Intermission Youth Theatre Artistic Director Darren Raymond, Artistic Director of charity Creative Youth Aniela Zaba and St Mary’s alumna actress Monsay Whitney, who has recently had a play commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre. [caption id="attachment_6931" align="alignnone" width="234"] Students with comedian Kojo[/caption] Academic Director for the Drama Programmes Mark Griffin said, “As ever we had an inspiring conference with wonderful guest speakers and fantastic feedback from the participants. The day demonstrated the real strength of the Applied Theatre programme, tying learning to a real, identified local need. The students responded magnificently to the importance of the work and did both their discipline and St Mary’s proud.”