In the beginning

Tom's Story was conceived through a discussion I had with Frankie Eyre [Star Project Coordinator at Southampton Rape Crisis] about the possibility of securing funds to create a Theatre-in-Education [TIE] project for the young people of Southampton. The idea was to create a production to support the broad objectives of the PSHE and SRE curriculum with a focus on exploring issues of grooming and sexual exploitation – very much in the mind of the public with Operation Yewtree uncovering historic accounts of the grooming and exploitation of young people and events such as those reported to have occurred in Rotherham and Oxford. The piece was to be devised from various stimulus material, including Mark Ravenhill's play text Citizenship. The intention from the outset was to provide schools and teachers with a live resource in order to raise awareness and address issues pertinent to the young people with whom they work.

With funding secured from Awards for All via the National Lottery and a small grant from the office of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner, it was all stations go for Indefinite Article's first Theatre-in-Education project, and thus an ensemble was born:

The phrase "We are not here for individual glory, but we are all individually glorious" became a mantra for the company of players that chose to come aboard this adventure.

As far as assembling a company of young actors was concerned, my approach was borne of a desire to provide something akin to an apprenticeship. Having researched the possibilities, I discovered that no such thing exists for aspiring performers, in spite of the government trumpeting the virtues of apprenticeship training whilst simultaneously eroding the funding to providers of tertiary education. Notions of repertory died years ago, and since the route for most actors is a costly debt to attend a University or a Conservatoire, I felt this would be an excellent opportunity for those young actors that I knew, and who had hedged their bets as far as taking on ridiculous debt was concerned. At the same time, the likes of Brian Cox, Christopher Eccleston, Dame Judi Dench, James McAvoy, Helen Mirren and Julie Walters were being reported on the web and in various print publications warning of a future where "acting will soon become the preserve of the 'posh' because working class people will not be able to afford to pursue it as a career"

Quite early on, I recognised I may have bitten off more than I could reasonably chew, and with funds being very tight, and every member of the company subsidising their commitment by working part time to earn a crust, a staggered schedule of rehearsals was convened to take place in three phases; throughout February, over Easter and finally in May. Whilst not a conventional apprenticeship, bringing in the experience and expertise of Wendy Richardson and Sarah Clark enabled Indefinite Article to provide mentoring and coaching to our young ensemble, and so the beginning has begun.