It's Not Love

Commissioned by the NSPCC, It's Not Love is a Theatre in Education (TIE) play and drama workshop and supporting online films and digital resource, that allows young people to explore the behaviours surrounding interpersonal domestic violence and coercive control in young people's intimate partner relationships.

The play was collaboratively created by York St John University's senior lecturers Rachel Conlon and Jules Dorey Richmond (theatre department) and alumni drama students. It's Not Love follows 4 characters experiencing interpersonal domestic violence and coercive control in familial, friendship and intimate partner relationships.

In the drama workshop the young people are asked to identify their worries and concerns for the characters, in order for them to explore the choices that the characters may make and to recognise and understand where support and guidance can be found from trusted and safe allies and professionals. The drama workshop delivery is designed to be fully participatory, allowing young people to input their decisions that the characters could make and explore the impact of these.

The play and workshop have also been translated in partnership with Tea Films into a national online digital teaching resource and 3 character films for the NSPCC online learning platform.

Aims

It's Not Love aims to:

• Prevent interpersonal domestic violence and seek behaviour change through an effective awareness raising campaign targeting young people through a range of interactive positive behaviour change techniques.
• Create opportunities to discuss a number of complex issues relating to healthy and unhealthy relationships.
• Create opportunities for discussion and a rehearsal for life around these issues of concern.
• Offer strategies for how to navigate away from potentially 'harmful' situations.
• Consider the safe and trusted allies, organisations and services available to help young people keep safe and seek support.
• Offer contact details of local workers who can support young people if they do find themselves in difficult situations.
• Act as a preventative measure to reduce potential risks to young people and to break patterns of intergenerational interpersonal domestic violence.

Tour

It's Not Love will be touring Northeast Lincolnshire targeting young people aged 11 to 16, throughout 2023-24.

This is part of the NSPCC and Together for Childhood's 'Give it to get it' campaign, offering schools the 25 minute play, Q&A and accompanying 90 minute facilitated drama workshop and access to the online digital teaching and learning resources.

The offer also includes teacher training for the digital resources to be used further after the play has been delivered in school.

The play and workshop can tour nationally. If you are interested in further information please contact:

• r.conlon@yorksj.ac.uk
• j.doreyrichmond@yorksj.ac.uk

Read more about the tour in this press release: Theatre in schools support NSPCC to tackle unhealthy relationships.