
After the success of our lockdown film ‘Jess’, we were delighted to be invited by the National Association of Youth Theatres (NAYT) to talk about our project in their ‘Voices From The Sector’ webinar. Kieran spoke about the rehearsal process, collaborating with the charity LWA, and the challenges of tackling the theme of domestic abuse. One of our current over 16s, Megan, joined Kieran to offer her insight as an actor within the film. The webinar is available to watch below.
‘Jess’ is a short film made in lockdown by Urban Young Actors. During lockdown, it’s thought that cases of domestic abuse increased by 20%. Whilst our face-to-face classes at Urban had to pause, we continued our weekly sessions on zoom and collaborated with LWA to create a piece with the aim of raising awareness of domestic abuse in relationships between young people.
LWA delivers services across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland for domestic and sexual abuse, and we were honoured to be invited to work in collaboration with them on this project. Upon completion, the film will be shared on social media to reach as many people as possible.
LWA Helpline – 0808 80 200 28 (Mon to Sat. 8am to 8pm)
The Helpline is available for anyone wishing to access support from LWA or the wider UAVA services. The helpline can also provide advice and support to friends and family members.