Edinburgh University Theatre Company Tackles Sexual Assault In Special One Night Only Event

We need to talk about abuses of power. We need to talk about inappropriate behaviour. We need to talk about uncomfortable dating culture and walking home alone at night and working behind bars. We need to talk.

This Friday 9 March, The Edinburgh University Theatre Company presents We Need To Talk: An Evening of Solidarity, a collection of anonymously submitted personal accounts of sexual assault and harassment from people within University, the theatre industry and beyond. These accounts will be read aloud on stage, affirming in part what it is we already know, whilst forcing ourselves to confront things which are more easily left uncontemplated. Devoted to explicitly establishing a zero-tolerance attitude towards sexual assault and harassment both within and outside the walls of the theatre, We Need To Talk is about understanding the stories of yesterday and today, and how we stop them becoming the stories of tomorrow.

Anonymous accounts are still being collected for this Friday's event. Anyone wishing to submit an account can visit https://goo.gl/forms/24JwigmjjIhfGLux2.

We Need To Talk is created and directed by Stella Green and produced by Rhiannon Williams, both students at Edinburgh University.

Stella Green said: "We Need To Talk is about establishing what it is that we as Bedlam, as theatre makers and as university students stand for, and we hope this event will play a small part in the ground-breaking global movement to end abuses of power that have led to endemic problems of sexual harassment. We believe theatre exists to tell stories, often those which are unheard. And we believe now is the time to hear these stories, which are difficult and honest and heart-breaking and true. In a post-Weinstein world, we are making as much noise as possible."

Rhiannon Williams added: "We believe the event is incredibly important, both in terms of being at the forefront of student-led theatre initiatives concerning sexual assault and harassment, and in terms of paving the way for future theatre makers to be able to create work in safe and healthy spaces. We believe in being loud and messy and angry, and whilst the evening's content is at times difficult to hear, it is as much about healing and reclamation as it is about anything else. So we invite anyone who wishes to, to come and join us in kicking up as big a storm as possible. We will not let these stories be the stories of tomorrow."

Tickets: £2.00

Box Office: www.bedlamtheatre.co.uk/shows/we-need-to-talk-an-evening-of-solidarity

To post a comment, you must register and login.