An original piece of music theatre bringing together rap, spoken word and songs to shed light on how gang violence impacts young people, in their own words.
Gang violence continues to be one of the most critical issues impacting young people today. Knife crime figures in Southwark went up by a shocking 60% in 2017, and in 2018 it was the London borough with the highest number of fatal stabbings. Meanwhile, £39 million has been cut from council youth service budgets across the capital and Southwark’s youth service spending is down by 53 per cent since 2011- 12.
Following the death of an ex pupil from Harris Academy Peckham last year, a group of 30 young people from the school are now telling their own story about the bitter reality of gang culture today through art. The internationally celebrated Peckham-based Multi-Story Orchestra is supporting these young people to create an original piece of music theatre, “The Endz”, shedding light on the social issues they face today. “The Endz” will come to two of Southwark’s theatres in March.
“We created this project because we wanted to let people know what our reality is as there is not enough awareness. As young people we are told that we have the power to change things; but people are still not listening to us. Nothing changes. This is our way of spreading the word and we hope people will listen.” – Nathaniel Casaclang Year 10 student from Harris Academy Peckham
Bringing together original rap, spoken word and songs accompanied live by musicians from The Multi-Story Orchestra.
“We’ve been blown away by the creative energy of the young people in this project. The way they’ve come together to write their own music and lyrics is hugely inspiring, and a great example of how important creativity can be.” – The Multi-Story Orchestra’s Artistic Director & Composer, Kate Whitley
Tuesday 24th March from 7-8pm
Theatre Peckham, 221 Havil St, Camberwell, London SE5 7SD
Tickets: £6 from multi-story.org.uk/upcomingevents