Project
Make Do & Mend
Survivor Stories that offer hope and insight
Our original stage-to-screen production, featuring verbatim testimony of 3 domestic abuse survivors to highlight the breadth of manifestations, impact on survivors and the more (and less) helpful ways bystanders can respond to those affected.
Our very first project, Make Do and Mend allowed us to build our understanding of co-production and develop our trademark use of art as the stimulus for important conversations, both for young people and professionals.
Now paired with Us Too, we continue to use it to raise understanding of domestic abuse in professional training and community awareness-raising activity.
Project Impact
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80% felt the play gave them a new understanding of domestic abuse, particularly financial and emotional abuse.
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100% felt strongly that they would take new or different actions within their organization.
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94% felt strongly that it had made them more likely to ask someone they thought might be in an abusive relationship if they were okay.
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Of those affected by domestic abuse, over 90% found it helpful to see the performance.
Bringing the Project to Life
Story gathering and play touring (2015-2016)
Inspired by One Billion Rising to gather stories of local women’s voices, Artistic Director Polly Turner and Writer-Director Rachel Adamson interviewed domestic abuse survivors from the Just for Women Centre, weaving their words into a verbatim script and designing and making the set, costumes and props together with them.
Film creation (2017)
Responses to our play and a workshop trialled with Gentoo housing staff and Northumbria University student nurses encouraged us to film the play to share the stories more widely and generate greater understanding. Supported by Ed Cole<, Associate Artist Rupert Philbrick filmed our award-winning actors at The Witham and we were invited to screen it at Hammersmith Lyric Theatre.
Art-making and professional training (2018-2019)
The film inspired art-making at Wolsingham School, St John’s Catholic School and Sixth Form College, Tow Law Youth and Community Centre and Barnard Castle School, with Artist Polly Turner supporting young people to create textiles around its themes. We developed our pilot workshop into a professional training session based around the survivor stories.
Our
Impact
Related materials
Make Do & Mend Book
Buy our Make Do and Mend informational resource book to support learning around the impact of abuse on survivors and the more/less helpful ways bystanders can respond
Find out more
Make Do & Mend film
Watch the trailer of our Make Do and Mend film and contact us to access Make Do and Mend digitally if you would like to be able to use it in your setting.
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