The format specifically allows for the audience to interact with professionals and actors alike - ensuring a much fuller understanding of the issues involved. The scenarios are based on real situations and fully explore the roles of professionals and consequences of judgments.We think that there is a rapidly increasing interest in the work of the Family Court and in the social issues with which it deals. We want to work together to show what may be done to help people through the most difficult times of their lives – times when they experience extreme loss and degradation. We hope that by combining legal knowledge, theatre experience and collaborative work between agencies, we can help the audience understand some of the social issues that arise in this difficult area.

The play has been written and is performed in collaboration between Stephen Wildblood, Gloucestershire County Council and the Nelson Trust. At times, the script is very graphically worded and the play depicts scenes that some may find extremely distressing. The plays are not suitable for children under the age of 16 without express and fully-informed parental consent.

This is a collaborative event supported by Gloucestershire County Council Children’s Social Work Academy, The Nelson Trust, and the University of Gloucestershire. What Next Theatre has been set up with His Honour Judge Wildblood QC, the Designated Family Judge for the area around Bristol and a family lawyer of 38 years standing. The Nelson Trust, since 1985, have been tackling the root causes of substance misuse, violence, abuse, deprivation and poverty, by providing Trauma Informed services in residential and community based settings. The Social Work Academy was launched in May 2019 and works closely with staff across Children’s Services to develop innovative and effective learning opportunities to improve social work practice. We are lucky to be using facilities provided by the University of Gloucestershire for this performance, encouraging closer links between social work students, children’s services and our partner agencies.

The play is approximately 60 minutes long and there will be at 30 minutes dedicated to questions . After that, the actors will come out of role and there can be a general discussion between the actors and audience about the issues that have been illustrated. All discussion will be assisted by a facilitator. Our audiences are made up of lawyers, judges, social workers, Cafcass officers, students, the media, other professionals and members of the general public.

Performance includes a live Q&A with the cast.