Students are making drama out of a crisis

The as yet untitled drama has been compiled by students on the screenwriting degree course at Doncaster College’s university centre.

The play - described at as a “hard-hitting drama” - is based on the testimonies of residents whose lives were devastated by the downpours.

The first performances will come at the climax of the Doncaster Screenwriters Festival, which will be held at the Little Theatre on East Laith Gate later this month. The first performance takes place on Thursday September 27, and the drama will run for three days.

Acclaimed screenwriter Ron Rose, who has worked on Coronation Street, The Bill and Heartbeat and also teaches at the university, is co-ordinating the project.

He said: “We’ve been talking to people in all the areas in Doncaster that were affected by the floods, but particularly to folks in Toll Bar. Obviously what happened over the summer was tragic for many, many people but it also brought out the best in a lot of cases - there are some stories of real heroism in there and there are also a good few funny stories!

“We’re not making light of the disaster though - ultimately the floods were too tragic for too many to do that. We just want to present as rounded a picture of what happened as possible. The drama also gives us the opportunity to explore the many conspiracy theories that have grown up around the event and see if there’s any credence in them.”

Students from the college have been visiting and interviewing flood victims for the past month and are currently in the process of editing those interviews into a full script.

“Apart from the fact that it’s an important story that demands telling, it’s a really useful project for the students on the course,” Ron said.

“It’s a great way of teaching them how to write dialogue. When you interview people you begin to understand how they speak and editing their words gives you a great idea of how to structure a drama.”

The play, which will be staged as a rehearsed reading, will be performed by a mixture of professional actors and students from the university’s drama courses. Mr Rose promises it will be a hard-hitting drama that will raise questions about the response to the floods.