Here are three case studies, to tell you more about what Scene & Heard do for the children of Somers Town.
Anju and Sudha
Scene & Heard works with two sisters whose family is originally from Bangladesh. They live with their widowed mother and uncle in a two-bedroom flat in Somers Town. The mother and uncle speak little English and the mother does not like to leave the flat. The family are committed Muslims and consequently the girls are allowed little contact with the world outside their home. Scene & Heard is the only activity that the girls take part in outside school and their teachers are amazed they are allowed to do so.
The girls have permission to attend because Scene & Heard supports them in the most intense way. Going to their homes to talk with the mother (with her daughters translating) about the courses and making her a firm commitment that the girls will be collected from home and returned, for every class, workshop and performance. This is very time and personnel intensive but means that these two girls not only are taking part in activities that build on self-esteem and self-expression but that they are mixing with adults who provide them with insight into a world beyond their immediate experience.
Between them the girls have currently taken five courses with Scene & Heard and continue to work with us. The youngest sister says: “It makes me happy inside when I come to Scene & Heard. I think Scene & Heard is better than anything else”
Mehmet
A Turkish refugee boy started working with Scene & Heard only a year after having arrived in England. For many refugee families Somers Town is their first port of call in the UK. He had very little English but threw himself into the Scene & Heard classes with enthusiasm. He clearly loved them: he liked the other children, enjoyed being with the adults but mostly he seemed to relish the writing and imagination exercises. However he had no concept of timing or schedule and could not get himself to class – he had to be rung before any activity and more often than not someone had to go round to his house and get him.
His first play was an intensely moving piece in very simple English about the friendship between a rat and a tiger - a tiger who longs for captivity despite all of the rat’s warnings. The tiger discovers that the reality of captivity is very different when trapped in the zoo and the rat has to work desperately to help him escape. At the very moment the tiger is free again he is shot dead by the zoo keepers. It was a beautiful piece of theatre and two years later when the boy was asked when in his life he had been happiest he said “seeing my first play performed”.
He continued to come to Scene & Heard, both his confidence and language skills grew, and slowly his time keeping improved. When his group graduated we set up an arrangement with Hampstead Theatre for them to attend the Heat and Light Youth Theatre. However Scene & Heard did not have the resources to support them and realised, frustratingly, that for some of the children attending would not be possible without constant support. Contacting Hampstead to check on progress the Company was both thrilled and flabbergasted to find that not only was this Turkish boy attending but he was taking the bus there all on his own. And getting there on time!
Billy
One of Scene & Heard's original members was a small boy who comes from a troubled family set up. His mother is a drug addict who while caring deeply for her son has a negative impact on his life. The school identified him as someone who would benefit greatly from working with Scene & Heard and his step-grandfather was committed to him taking part.
During the first course he refused to interact and sat with his head in his hands. Because of the one-on-one adult/child relationship he was allowed to take as much time as he needed to 'come round' without affecting the rest of the group. Finally an adult was found that he related to and he started to engage with them and eventually with the rest of the group.
He wrote his first play and was overwhelmed by the response he got. He then went on to complete all of Scene & Heard’s courses. The final course saw him performing publicly on stage - something that three years earlier seemed impossible.
Scene & Heard spoke to his grandfather, about what he thought the impact of Scene & Heard had been on his grandson and the following is his response:
“I expected him not to last – I was worried that he wasn’t up to it. He didn’t participate in any other activities – NONE – wouldn’t stick at anything. He thought he didn’t deserve good things. Scene & Heard was the first thing Billy settled in. There was no pressure or embarrassment – it’s a very creative, non-competitive environment which is what he needed. It settled him down and gave him more control over himself and I think he found it easier to be taught because he started to listen rather than things going over his head. He couldn’t read and that frustrated him so he’d act up but Scene & Heard controlled that. They gave him a structure and a discipline and everyone cared about him. They helped him to express himself and gave him confidence he could do things – suddenly he wasn’t a fool and a joke anymore. He loved all the courses but the last one was brilliant – to see Bill perform? Never ever! It showed the family he had something. He achieved. He was a very sad little boy before that.”
