Students treated to hard hitting play on the dangers of drugs and driving

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Students from Tower Hamlets College in Poplar were this week treated to a hard hitting play on the dangers of alcohol and drugs in relation to driving. The 50 minute performance, entitled ‘Wasted’, was shown to around 500 students across two days and aimed to highlight the destruction that alcohol and drugs can cause when you get behind the wheel.

Through an innovative blend of film footage interacting with live theatre, the play charts the fortunes of three friends who head out with two girls on what should be a Friday night to remember. However, the night ends in tragedy as one of the group crashes a car while under the influence of drugs, killing one of the girls who is travelling as a passenger. The friends then have to live with the consequences of their actions which change the course of their lives and ruin their friendship forever.

The performance is put on by a dynamic trio of professional actors, Daniel Hanna, 22, Aaron White, 25, and Matthew Pattimore, 28, who are part of an educational film and theatre company called Walking Forward. The play has been shown to schools and colleges throughout London since September as part of a contract with Transport for London.

The visit was organised by Roger Grimes, the College’s own Metropolitan Police Officer, in conjunction with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Road Safety Team. Roger decided to invite the company back to perform at the College for a second consecutive year having been impressed the first time around.

“The feedback we get from students and their tutors is that the students have enjoyed it as a spectacle and have also understood the message behind it. The first half is funny and relaxed with lots of jokes but then the impact of the car crash really starts to hit home and a silence descends on the room. It is probably the only time you could manage to get so many young people to be quiet at the same time!”

The production will continue touring other London boroughs, including Barking and Dagenham, before coming to a close at the end of March.