THOUGH THIS BE MADNESS is Coming to the Belgrade Theatre This Autumn

This autumn, the Belgrade Theatre will host Though This Be Madness, presented by Mandala Theatre Company in association with Oxford Playhouse. The new drama arrives in the B2 auditorium from Weds 20 - Fri 22 Oct, and examines what is happening to the youth of today.

Written by Avaes Mohammad and directed by Yasmin Sidhwa, Though This Be Madness investigates how young people are being impacted by education, exclusion and gang grooming, which are all too often a pipeline to prison. The harsh reality is that 42% of people in prison were excluded at some point from school.

Tachia, Cass and Mickey have all ended up outside the mainstream - labelled and boxed in.

Plugged into headphones, a world of spoken word, music, podcasts and rap underscores their lives.

Can they escape the life they've come to know, or will they get drawn into the dangers lurking, waiting to pounce on the vulnerable and isolated?

Though This Be Madness is co-created with young people who have lived experience of gang grooming, alongside a working partnership with the Excluded Lives research team at Oxford University.

Shedding a light on the countless British young people whose downfall has been ushered by the very systems established to protect them, Though This Be Madness uses dynamic physical theatre to present a moving and authentic exploration of what lies behind the headlines.

Mandala Theatre's director, Yasmin Sidhwa hopes the play will help foster a better understanding of the issue and the need for action to be taken to address it before irreversible damage is done to young people.

Yasmin said: "This is a story which excluded and marginalised young people can identify with. They will see their stories on stage and that is a powerful thing. When you are from an ethnically diverse community or low-income family you are far more likely to be excluded from school. You get used to being ignored. But here is a play which makes these people the centre of the attention."

Though This Be Madness comes to the Belgrade Theatre from Weds 20 - Fri 22 Oct. Book your tickets now to get the best seats at the best prices at www.belgrade.co.uk or phone 024 7655 3055.

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