George Green, left, Charlie Blanshard and Becky Heslop in rehearsal for Next Door But One’s production of How To Be A Kid
NEXT Door But One are teaming up with Our Time Charity to raise awareness of mental health, young carers and young people’s experience in care in this week’s tour of How To Be A Kid.
Hot on the tails of premiering Hospital Doors, Matthew Harper-Hardcastle’s spotlight on the lived experience of disabled, LGBTQ+ and unpaid carer communities in York, the York community arts collective is staging Sarah McDonald-Hughes’ play for ages seven to 11 and their grown-ups.
At only 12 years old, Molly cooks, does the dishes and gets her little brother Joe ready for school. Molly misses her Grandma. Molly looks after her grieving mum, but who looks after Molly?
Now her mum is feeling better, maybe things will return to normal. Maybe Molly can learn to be a child again in McDonald-Hughes’ touching, funny story of family, friends and fitting in.
As well as touring to Park Grove, Badger Hill and Clifton Green Primary Schools and Out Of Character at York St John University, How To Be A Kid will have public performances at York Explore today and tomorrow at 5.30pm and Friargate Theatre on Saturday at 12 noon and 3pm.
Associate director Kate Veysey directs a cast of graduates making their NDB1 debutwith support from the company’s professional development programme: Becky Heslop as Molly, Charlie Blanshard as Joe and George Green as Taylor/Mum/more besides.
Becky Heslop’s Molly, left, and George Green’s Taylor in a scene from How To Be A Kid. Picture: James Drury
How To Be A Kid was written originally for Paines Plough’s Roundabout Theatre. “I was reading a lot of scripts, looking to do something at Next Door But One, and gave two plays to my 11-year-old daughter to choose from,” recalls Kate. “This was the one that resonated with her as it’s for her age group.
“The reason it sparked NDB1’s interest is that it’s allowed us to work with communities we’ve worked with before, but on separate projects, whereas this time it’s more collective, bringing those communities together.
“So we’ve done workshops with young carers, young people in care and Out Of Character, whose members have experience of mental health issues, getting feedback from them and taking it into the rehearsal room. It’s always important to tell stories with communities, so it’s an on-going process.”
Becky says: “My question in a workshop with young carers was to ask ‘what part of the day is the most challenging and what is the most relaxing and rewarding?’.”
Kate continues: “So that informs the characterisation, and the story of how Molly, a young carer at 12, has to do all the washing, get her brother out the door for school and find time to do her homework.
“It’s really important that, when we take the story back to the communities, they see their influence on the piece and how we’ve drawn on their experiences.”
Charlie Blanshard in the role of Joe in How To Be A Kid. Picture: James Drury
Charlie is playing the youngest character, six-year-old dinosaur-loving Joe. “It was interesting in the workshops to learn how the situation affected the youngest child; sometimes it impacted on them; sometimes they weren’t aware of it,” he says. “It can bring siblings closer, but if it goes wrong, the extremities in the relationship can be made worse.”
Becky rejoins: “Working with young carers and going into the community was eye-opening; to see their daily lives, to try to understand what they faced, and to really appreciate them as people. There are challenges there and we want to recognise that and show the human side.”
George says: “Particularly for playing the role of Mum, I found it helpful to work with Out Of Character, learning of the lived experience, where the patience to deal with anything comes from; the need for kindness to yourself.
“We gave them an open question about what piece of advice they would give to Molly, with answers written on paper for us to take away, and so many suggested ‘speak to Mum’, along with ‘do one useful chore’ and ‘do two things for yourself’.
“I was really struck by the overwhelming kindness, walking into that space, where everyone was in a very giving mood.”
Why should we see How To Be A Kid this week? “Because it’s a beautifully epic, hilarious adventure rooted in reality,” says Charlie.
Becky Heslop’s Molly, left, George Green’s social worker Michelle and Charlie Blanshard’s Joe in How To Be A Kid. Picture: James Drury
“It’s fun, it’s honest and it’s playful. They are the three words to describe it – and there’s lots of cake and dinosaurs and dancing. It turns a light on grief, mental health and carers in a positive way, “ says Becky.
“I think it’s fun that means something, an hour of escapism, where you learn something, but not in a preachy way,” says George.
“It feels a very accurate, well-written script,” says Katie. “When we shared it with communities who had lived experiences, they recognised what Sarah wrote about. Audiences will feel it mirrors them if they’ve experienced what happens, or, if they haven’t, they will understand it better or feel challenged.”
Kate’s cast members have enjoyed their debut involvement with NDB1. “As an actor, it’s been great to work with people with lived experiences and then applying that to the rehearsals and how that changes the story,” says Charlie.
“It’s been great to be part of the creative development programme, with us all being actors in the first two years of being in the profession.”
Becky says: “For me, as an actor, it’s really opened my eyes to the work of young carers. I’ve learned about myself too and about communities. If the community can be the storyteller, as they’re the one that knows the story best, then we should go to them for those stories.”
How To Be A Kid director Kate Veysey
George says: “I think, massively, I’ve learned about the power of community and the strength of shared experiences and how that can lighten the load.”
Kate says: “Having the people we have working on this production has brought something special to it. With every play, I’m careful about who I choose, and these actors have created something with a beautiful balance of sensitivity and joy, with moments of really high energy and moments where we need to sit back and feel it. Everyone has worked together to enable all those things to happen.”
What will this week’s audiences take away from How To Be A Kid? “A better understanding of communities who are quickly labelled,” suggests Charlie.
“They will see the communities here in a different way,” says Becky. “I hope it will make people give more time to the person on their left and their right.”
George says: “I think the audience will take away the thought that everything can be addressed by talking about it, getting to deal with the elephant in the room by starting a conversation.”
Kate concludes: “If they’ve had a lived experience, they will feel heard. If they haven’t, they will feel more of an understanding of how they can support the communities and have those tricky conversations.”
Next Door But One at work on How To Be A Kid
Working with the community
TRUE to form, Next Door But One are partnering with charities and services at the forefront of supporting the real-life communities that inspired How To Be A Kid.
York Carers Centre and Show Me That I Matter (York’s Children in Care Council) have attended rehearsals to provide learning and development to the cast and creative team, while NDB1 are partnering with Our Time Charity to highlight the support that young people can access if they recognise themselves within the characters portrayed on stage.
Poor parental mental illness and serious mental illness is an issue that affects one in three children in every UK classroom. Children who have a parent with a mental illness often face unique challenges at school and at home.
Our Time Charity is the only UK charity dedicated to this issue. Based on 20 years of listening to families, the charity has shown that, although the impact of a parent’s mental illness can be long lasting, relatively small interventions can make a big difference, changing the course of a young person’s life.
This week’s tour will combine a colourful and imaginative performance with a workshop and resource booklet that utilises Our Time’s expertise and tools to support communities to understand the impact of parental mental illness and how to access further support.
For How To Be A Kid tour dates and tickets, go to: www.nextdoorbutone.co.uk.
Next Door But One’s poster artwork for How To Be A Kid