50 Days: Alone Together

WHY?

As the unprecedented first lockdown stretched out before us, we saw first-hand the impact on the mental health of the young actors on our development programme. Our partners at other youth charities were reporting similar concerns and there was emerging data from Young Minds which suggested that young people with existing mental health needs were experiencing significant adverse effects. 83% of those surveyed said their mental health was worse as a result of the pandemic. The decline in young people’s mental health has continued during this recent period with NHS digital’s survey finding rates of probable mental disorders have increased since 2017. In 2020, one in six (16.0%) children aged 5 to 16 years were identified as having a probable mental disorder, increasing from one in nine (10.8%) in 2017. In a bid to provide a meaningful, creative opportunity for our young actors and a useful resource for teenagers nationwide the idea for the first Season of 50 Days: Alone Together was born which we filmed entirely on Zoom and rolled out using pioneering Prospero technology. Having seen how well received Season 1 was, we partnered with other mental health charities through the Surrey Wellbeing Partnership to shape Season 2.

WHAT?

During the first lockdown, actors from our Actor Development Programme worked with Artistic Director, Nina Lemon, to create a new interactive, improvised miniseries exploring the mental health impact of the pandemic through the story of 10 teens and their first 50 Days of lockdown. This six part drama was filmed entirely using Zoom before being edited into Prospero smartscripts which allow for information, advice and guidance about specific mental health and wellbeing issues to be blended with the creative content. The story was also shared via Instagram and YouTube and a designated webspace was designed and launched. With Covid restrictions lifting at the end of the summer term, we were able to film on location and to utilise our new skills and knowledge gathered when making Hidden digital. Season 2 follows a group of students in their first 50 Days at university during the Autumn 2021 lockdown. We follow 7 housemates and their high and lows as they navigate living away from home for the first time. At the centre of the narrative, 6 of the housemates have an ill-advised party which the audience sees from their multiple perspectives and then can choose whose narrative they want to follow. Season 2 again tackles a range of topics including anxiety, borderline personality disorder, friendship,

CHANGE LIVES

neurodiversity, bereavement and grief, radicalisation and racism, domestic abuse and post traumatic stress disorder. Unique to this Season, we see some of the characters interacting with real life mental health professionals and this is designed to reduce the stigma associated with asking for help making the prospect of getting support more accessible and less daunting.

HOW?

As with Season 1, our Artistic Director, Nina Lemon, and the young actors from the Peer Actor Development programme, supported by professional actors and mental health professionals, improvised together to create a gripping and engaging story line. Again we have upskilled our staff utlising the most up to date technology to make the content as accessible as possible for the widest number of young people and we are working with our partners at SWP to disseminate the work in Surrey and beyond.