PCC Commends Theatre Company for Road Safety Performance
After attending a sobering theatrical production, Nick Alston was pleased to see such important road safety messages being directed at year 11 girls earlier this week.
Nick Alston with the acting crew
The show by the Ape Theatre Company was held at Colchester County High School for Girls and was called ‘Pills, Thrills & Automobiles’.
It was created to make teenagers aware of the risks involved with drug driving, sleep deprivation and peer pressure. It also reinforced how crucial it is to always to wear seatbelts in cars. In addition to the powerful play, the production included highly interactive sessions with the pupils, to which they gave their very full attention.
The play is taken from real-life interviews and tells the true story of four 18 year olds who after a weekend at a music festival with both drug taking and sleep deprivation, crashed horrifically on the motorway in 1997. Tragically two of the victims died; one at the scene of the incident, on the day before her 18th birthday, and one after being airlifted to hospital.
At the performance, Nick Alston thanked the crew for their performance and reminded the audience why it reinforced such an important message. “I have got to know the Essex Police Casualty Reduction Team well and by working with them I can tell you that every one of them has to deal too often with tragic incidents on our roads. At least ten people each week are killed or seriously injured on Essex Roads. Every case causes heartache for many people and it never gets any easier for our Police Officers to bang on doors and tell people that their loved ones have been involved in an accident. You are all very smart young women; please make the right choices when you start driving.”
Andrew Mulquin, who co-wrote the piece with Matthew Allen commented, “Theatre entertainment is a new way of engaging an audience and helping to reinforce safety messages.”
The production will be shown across the country. For more information, visit www.apetheatrecompany.co.uk/
