Cut

Kirsty and Aaron are friends. They need to be. They don’t have anyone else. But their friendship is tested when family and home pressures start to cause tensions. And when Kirsty’s brother disappears their friendship explodes with potentially tragic consequences.

“The play reflected difficult events in life and gave us the chance to understand these things.”
(Year 10 student)

Kirsty lives with her Mum, Dawn and step-dad, Keith. She resents Keith and feels he is responsible for her older brother Mitch leaving home. She idolises Mitch. She doesn’t realise he is using heroin and manipulating her to steal for him. Kirsty does have contact with her natural father, but his new partner, Annie doesn’t want her around. She doesn’t like contact with his ‘old’ life.

Aaron lives with foster parents, Janet and Eamon. They do their best but he is unhappy angry and resentful, and fantasises about his ‘real’ parents. Aaron loves Kirsty and wants them to be more than friends, but he can’t understand why he seems to be the only boy she won’t go with.

Cut is a rich piece of theatre based on the real experiences and concerns of the young people of Derbyshire. It has been very carefully and extensively researched. The lives of its’ central characters are complex and their problems do not fit in to neat, easily defined categories. As a result the play raises a wide range of issues, and has different resonances for different audiences.

“Cut hit all the issues we deal with in our programme in graphic and believable detail. What I found particularly impressive was the sight of 21 young people, all there for anti-social behaviour… sitting riveted and totally absorbed in the play. This was a tribute to your actors.”
(Mike Shaw – North Derbyshire Attendance Centre)

Cut looks specifically at alcohol, cigarettes, cannabis, and heroin, but there are also strong themes investigating relationships between teenagers and between teenagers and their parents / carers. The play also explores mental health and emotional well-being. Both Kirsty and Aaron engage in behaviour that is self-destructive, and Kirsty actively self-harms. The play also raises sexual health issues. All of these themes can be discussed in the workshop elements of the presentation.

“Cut did not try to tell us what to think. It taught us about things and how to deal with them and let us make up our own mind”
(Year 10 student)

Cut is a rich and complex resource offering a wealth of opportunities for follow-up, discussion and development. The pilot production of 70 performances was commissioned as a piece of targeted Theatre-in-Drugs-Education by Derbyshire LEA, funded by the Derbyshire DAAT.

Click here to view the performance availability of Cut

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