National Youth Theatre to Host 'We Need to Talk about Consent' Panel After CONSENSUAL, Nov 10

The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain has announced that they will present a one-off panel discussion, 'We Need to Talk about Consent' on Tuesday 10 November. The panel will take place after the evening performance of CONSENSUAL, the NYT's brand new and critically acclaimed production exploring similar themes and experiences in the classroom.

In the month after both the Crown Prosecution Service and the National Union of Students launched full scale awareness campaigns attempting to change society's view of sexual consent, the NYT are exploring an issue that affects young people in particular. 'We Need to Talk about Consent' will look at the issues young people face around consent and how we might bring about greater awareness as artists, audiences and human beings.

Joining the panel will be prominent voices across campaigns for consent awareness and gender equality: founding member of StudentFems and NUS National Women's Officer Susuana Amoah who leads on work with women students and women's liberation and pioneered sexual consent lessons for students; The Great Initiative's David Brockway, who manages the 'Great Men' project, running workshops in schools for boys on issues around sexuality and consent and coordinates a team of male volunteers who work with young men on gender equality and CONSENSUAL Playwright and former sexual health outreach worker Evan Placey. The panel will be chaired by broadcaster and writer Janet Ellis.

The event forms part of the NYT's REP season in London's West End. The REP season instills companys of the NYT's very best actors into West End theatres, giving members a chance to train by performing in front of paying audiences. Following the success of previous seasons the 2015 programme includes CONSENSUAL - a brand new play exploring issues around young people and sexual consent written by Evan Placey; Wuthering Heights, in a new adaptation of Emily Brontë's novel by Stephanie Street and The Merchant of Venice - Shakespeare's play abridged especially for the NYT by Tom Stoppard.

Susuana Amoah is NUS Women's Officer. Susuana leads on NUS' work with women students and women's liberation. She was also founding member of StudentFems.

David Brockway is responsible for managing the Great Men project at the Great Initiative. He recruits, trains and mentors volunteers and matches them up to schools for them to deliver workshops. He gets schools on board, develops workshop delivery and content, and promotes the project externally at meetings and events. David is also a strong advocate for working with men/boys and helps build the capacity of other organisations to do this effectively.

Janet Ellis trained at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama. She has appeared in theatres up and down the country and on TV in everything from Dr Who and The Sweeny to Jigsaw. She presented Blue Peter for four years in the Eighties, and since leaving has worked as an actress, presenter, broadcaster and writer. She is a regular panellist on C5's The Wright Stuff and is a regular contributor to radio and TV, newspapers and magazines. Janet's debut novel, a coming-of-age story set in 18th century London, will be published by Two Roads in spring 2016.

More information at www.nyt.org.uk.

Photo Credit: Helen Maybanks