Theatre Peckham’s latest offering is a real ‘conversation starter’ for tackling the generational divide when it comes to mental health and trauma.
Bridge the Gap Studios and their youth group, RTB Collective present ‘None of the Clocks Work’ as part of a wider project to break barriers between young people and their parents.
Since 2013, Bridge the Gap Studios has been working with young people and their families in communities all over London who are facing challenging life situations, regardless of age, gender or ethnicity.
In a bid to help to mend a broken system, Tsion Martins, director of Bridge the Gap, originally studied criminal justice and law – but his path changed.
“In reality, a lot of the reasons leading people to crime start when they’re young – so I wanted to get there earlier,” he explains.
They started doing work in schools and with young people, with a focus on mental health – “But once they would go home, all the work we’d done would get erased,” Tsion explains. This is because parents often aren’t aware or don’t know how to help – “so it didn’t make sense to only work with young people, we had to reach their parents.”
Shelby Bootle, the play’s director, knows more than anyone what organisations like Bridge The Gap can do for people – she joined them when she was just 12 years old. Now 21 and full of inspiration and knowledge, she is ready to use her experience to help others.
“We want to bridge the gap between young people and their parents when it comes to taboo subjects,” Shelby explains.
‘None of the Clocks Work’ follows a woman across three generations of her life. “We meet her at 14 and leave her at 65.”
“We see an event that happens to her and how she, her family and people around her handle it – and it how it goes on to affect the whole course of her life.”
The piece also explores the education system, social services, youth violence and grief – “It’s a reflection of our community.”
“The play won’t fix all of your problems but it will bring them to the forefront – it’s a conversation starter.”
And the conversation has started. A panel followed the performance on opening night, where different speakers from across the borough discussed themes from the play including how outside intervention can often isolate parents from their children even more.
Bridge the Gap have partnered with the Race Equality Foundation and Active Communities Network to create a program specifically designed for parents, so they can learn how to emotionally support their children. “On Saturday (17th) we’re running a free parenting workshop,” Tsion adds.
The play opened on Monday and will run every evening from 7pm until the 24th at Theatre Peckham.
Tickets are available here
