Students Hit the Road to Promote Car Safety

Students from City College Norwich are hitting the road next week when they take their drama production highlighting the importance of wearing a seatbelt out to 16 schools across the County. The production, called “Belt Up and Listen (please)”, was commissioned by Norfolk County Council and aims to educate Year 9 pupils about the consequences of not wearing a seatbelt.

The College students, all studying for their National Diploma in Performing Arts (Acting), have been working on the play for over 2 months with students devising the script, developing the plot and auditioning for the roles. Students met with crash victims in order to develop the plot which follows 3 real life road crash stories focusing on the consequences for friends and families of those involved in crashes as well as those directly involved. There are some dramatic crash scenes but also short sketches, adaptations of children’s stories and some song and dance performances.

Philip Archer, Area Road Safety Officer, Education, Norfolk County Council, said: “The collaboration with City College is one of the most rewarding partnerships I am involved in.  Very rarely are you involved in an activity which is truly a 'win-win' experience for all of the participants.  The Road Safety Team gets an original drama professionally delivered, the College is able to provide a real acting opportunity and the students are able to showcase their creative skills. Above all this venture will help to influence attitudes to seatbelt wearing of countless Year 9 students in Norfolk.”

Ade Slack, Lecturer City College Norwich, said: “Working with the Council has been fantastic as they work with other professional theatre companies, so they treated the students as professional performers. They were given a full brief and then had to audition their script in front of a panel. The feedback has been really good and everyone is very excited to be going on tour.”

Liz Voysey, a bereaved mother who worked closely with the group developing the play said: “I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the planning of this production by offering to be a “resource” for an insight into the life changing and devastating emotional effects of losing a loved one in a car crash. Ultimately life and death can hang on the decisions  drivers of all ages make, such as whether  to drive within the law or not. Anything we can do to ensure the correct mindset of our young people for when they become drivers is a very positive move.”

Devising a production which could go “on tour” was a key challenge for the students, as large sets were not an option as with so many different venues. Much of the play uses physical theatre and props to depict some dramatic scenes.

Liberty Folker, 20, of Norwich said: “A lot of imagination has gone into how we depict the crash scenes. Working directly with young people at the Hewitt School helped us to understand what they respond to and get enthusiastic about. We found they like to be interacted with in the performance and asked questions and we realised how out of touch we are with what they think is ‘cool’.”

Sophie Mason, 18, of Taverham said: “The auditions went really well and the Council were impressed with the ending. A lot of the play is about exploring the consequences of crashes and not wearing your seatbelt, it can happen to anybody at any time and it’s something that affects not just the person not wearing the seatbelt but friends, family and other drivers too”.

The production will be running in 16 Norfolk Schools from 22nd March for 2 weeks.