Arc news: December 2016

SQUAD - celebrating Barking & Dagenham's young men

On 1 December, we held a special celebration and film screening event at Kingsley Hall for our SQUAD project for young men in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham.

Funded through the London Community Foundation for the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund, supported by Comic Relief Red Nose Day, Arc's SQUAD project took place in schools and young people's learning centres from winter 2015-16, using drama and filmmaking to explore issues affecting young men today, including peer pressure, friendship, loyalty, sexting, stealing and the law.

The project, led by Arc's Artistic Director Clifford Oliver and actor and film director, Tendayi Jembere, ended with a celebration of the hard work and achievement of our group of participants aged 14-16 from Eastbrook School in Dagenham, who showed the short film they had created and subsequently presented on tour to young audiences around the Borough.

We were delighted to have the support of the Leader of Barking & Dagenham Council, Cllr Darren Rodwell, at our special event, as well as Eastbrook teachers and students, representatives from the Police, and special guests from the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Havering.

Watch our SQUAD film on Vimeo here!

To find out more about SQUAD, contact Theresa Snooks at Arc Theatre on 020 8595 8509.