Acting Fearless: Theatre brings hope to young people in detention

As a criminal lawyer with the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, until recently my only experience of attending the Adelaide Youth Training Centre (AYTC) at Cavan has been for appointments with young clients to assist them through their Court matters.

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BY ANNE SIBREE, IN HOUSE COUNSEL, ABORIGINAL LEGAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND DEPUTY CO-CHAIR OF THE CRIMINAL LAW COMMITTEE

This article was originally published via Law Society SA - The Bulletin Crime & Punishment, November 2017 Volume 39 - Issue 10

As a criminal lawyer with the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement, until recently my only experience of attending the Adelaide Youth Training Centre (AYTC) at Cavan has been for appointments with young clients to assist them through their Court matters. Managing busy caseloads in a hectic and high-pressure environment, as lawyers we often do not get the time or space to step back and fully understand the very complex social and economic factors that have led many of our clients into contact with the criminal justice system, and the realities of life for a young person in detention.

The sad truth is that youth in custody are among the most vulnerable and marginalised groups in Australia, many of whom have already been in contact with the criminal justice system repeatedly throughout their young lives. For this group of young people, mainstream education is often a negative experience, with a number of barriers including multi-generational incarceration and involvement in the criminal justice system; substance abuse; mental health issues; poverty and social disadvantage; and negative peer influence. This is accompanied by reduced ability to cope with stressful situations, which can be exacerbated by having a difficult home life, a lack of positive role models and low self-esteem. Shockingly, most of those in the AYTC are from Aboriginal or culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, with indigenous representation rising from a disappointing 47% to a staggering 93% in just the last two years.

Clearly there is a serious and urgent need to tackle the root causes of these issues and to examine why and how we are failing on commitments to reduce the number of Aboriginal people in custody in this country. But there is also a need for something else: to offer hope, encouragement and support for these young people to get their lives back on track, and not to dismiss them as beyond redemption as so many armchair critics, cynics and sensationalists in our community like to do. 
In this regard, I have been very fortunate to become involved in a much more positive aspect of this space, through my role as a founding Board Member of new Adelaide-based not for profit company Fearless Theatre.

Fearless Theatre was recently established with the aims of using theatre and performing arts to empower people who are vulnerable and marginalised, in particular those from culturally diverse backgrounds; help to improve diversity in the mainstream performing arts sectors; and challenge fear and prejudice in the wider community. The core of this work is delivered through workshops and training programs, productions and targeted support with a range of organisations and groups, including new refugees and migrants, Aboriginal people, and those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

 “Acting Fearless”: a first step towards changing attitudes and behaviour

Our most recent project, “Acting Fearless”, was specifically targeted to Aboriginal youth in custody. With the assistance of a grant from the Department of Communities and Social Inclusion, and in collaboration with the Youth Education Centre (YEC) at AYTC, Fearless Theatre recently completed a pilot program working with ten young men aged 15-19 currently in detention at the AYTC. Over an intensive 5 week period, experienced teachers and facilitators guided them through a range of modules involving fun, creativity and self-expression touching on themes of positive communication and decision-making, self-reflection, empathy and confidence-building, with the longer term aim of strengthening the resilience of vulnerable young people in custody and reduce the risk of violence and recidivism in the South Australian community.

At the core of this project is the PERMA+ concept of wellbeing.1 Promoted by the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) Wellbeing and Resilience Centre, as well as the Department of Education and Child Development (DECD) and the YEC, this approach considers that wellbeing is influenced by several interconnected elements: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Accomplishment. Through the measurement and cultivation of each of these elements, research has shown clear links to the improvement of overall wellbeing and resilience, which are in urgent need of development among our incarcerated youth.

Within this framework, theatre offers an extremely powerful tool for personal growth. It allows the temporary suspension of reality to explore challenging ideas and view the world and ourselves from different perspectives. It also encourages creativity and offers opportunities for skill development, both on and off the stage.

During the project workshops, Acting Fearless students were able to safely explore the impact of positive and negative life choices through movement, physical theatre, improvisations, martial arts, rap and storytelling, as well as learn new skills in set design, technical support and stage management. 

 “One Hit Road”: A powerful message about youth violence

​The program culminated with a final performance piece entitled One Hit Road, developed and performed entirely by the students, which I was lucky enough to attend with other Board members on Friday 29 September 2017 at the YEC end of term assembly at Cavan. The piece was inspired by a presentation on the impact of drug and alcohol related youth violence by the Sammy D Foundation, an organisation established in 2008 following the tragic death of 17 year old Sam Davis, who was the victim of a ‘one punch’ incident and died as a result of a devastating head injury. The set was designed and constructed by the students, and parts of the performance were filmed to create a short video, underscored by a rap written by one of the participants, and played during the final performance.

Fearless Theatre facilitators agreed the process was an enormous undertaking for the students. They were at first intimidated by the creative process of theatre and the unpredictability of improvisation techniques, not to mention the daunting prospect of performing live on stage in front of an audience. However, the students performed admirably, dealing with (not insignificant!) technical issues on the day, and demonstrating their ability to remain calm and improvise in unexpected situations.  The YEC teachers and Deputy Principal have also seen changes in the behaviour of the Acting Fearless participants outside of the workshop environment, noting a new sense of pride and sense of achievement among them and an earnestness to discuss the messages about positive choices and the impact of tragic situations like that of Sam Davis with their peers.

​Not content with anecdotal evidence however, Fearless Theatre also engaged anthropologist Michael Allen to participate in the program. With the task of documenting the Acting Fearless methodology and analysing its impact on the students, the lessons learned will be used to improve, extend and scale up the program, with hopes of reaching other vulnerable groups and demonstrating how engagement in the arts can bring important and lasting changes to our community.

Programs and collaborations such as this are all the more important in the current political climate which seems increasingly driven by fear and demonization of many at risk young people, particularly in light of some recent tragedies on South Australia’s roads, and the consequent reactive action proposed by legislators. Rather than surrender and despair, projects such as this demonstrate there is still much to be hopeful about.
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Of course breaking cycles of violence, recidivism and other serious behavioural issues in young people requires a holistic approach which cannot be tackled by one organisation or one program alone. It also requires sustained interventions from a wide network of family, friends, teachers, lawyers and other parts of the community. But with the right approaches and support, there is an opportunity to empower young people to change the course of their lives and have positive futures.

Overcoming stigma, fear and adversity was exactly what this project was all about, and we hope that it offers an important step along that path. From my perspective, it was inspirational to see this group of young people, many of whom have faced extreme experiences from early childhood that most of us would not even be able to imagine, conquer their own fears and doubts to get up in front of a group of people for the first time, and explore challenging ideas in a creative way. It was truly courageous.

Rather than getting caught up in scaremongering campaigns, perhaps it’s about time the rest of us became a little more Fearless in our attitudes too.

Click for further information, to donate, or get involved in the work of Fearless Theatre.

1 http://www.wellbeingandresilience.com/perma-plus-1