'˜You forgot the mince', Cast, Doncaster

New play You Forgot the Mince looks at domestic abuse and aims to do something about it too, working with offenders in prisons.
Scriptwriter Francesa Joy, 25, who has written her first play 'Dont Forget The Mince'.  Picture James Hardisty, (JH1007/99b)Scriptwriter Francesa Joy, 25, who has written her first play 'Dont Forget The Mince'.  Picture James Hardisty, (JH1007/99b)
Scriptwriter Francesa Joy, 25, who has written her first play 'Dont Forget The Mince'. Picture James Hardisty, (JH1007/99b)

Writer Francesca Joy has spent a lot of time researching the show with both sufferers of abuse and abusers as well.

It’s something she’s experienced herself as well, although she’d rather talk about the issue in general.

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The play looks at an intense relationship that spirals out of control with unexpected consequences for the couple.

Rosa, who lives with her grandma Lily, has just finished college and can’t wait to leave Yorkshire until she meets Niko.

They fall head over heels in love and the future looks bright.

But Rosa leaves for London, Niko ends up in prison and Lily won’t stop baking cakes. How will they get their lives back on track?

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Francesca said: “It delves into these people’s lives and gets right to the heart of it. Anyone can relate to it.”

Francesca is keen to point out that there’s good and bad in many offenders.

“We’re showing the grey area no-one shows. The media portrays things as black and white and I kept seeing it happening in my life and the lives of people around me but my knowledge was quite limited.

“I did research with people who had been abused and with offenders and really got to grips with it.”

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She said that the aim of the show is to help tackle the problem: “We’re making an active difference about these issues and hoping to change people’s lives.”

The writer also hopes that people who have never stepped into a theatre before will come and see the play.

The Imagine If theatre group hold workshops around performances and are also about to take the show into prisons in Leeds and Doncaster to work with offenders.

“We’re using drama to increase people’s confidence and communication skills. They will create their own performance in prison and local employers will come and watch that,” said Francesca.

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“They will set up interviews for their release. We can’t say if we get someone a job it will mean they don’t reoffend but it will help how they feel about themselves.”

You Forgot the Mince is at Cast in Doncaster on October 12 and it’s also at Barnsley Civic on October 1 part of a New Work Weekend, celebrating new writing. The other shows on Friday 30th are Private View, a dark and comic show about what it means to be a woman by Plunge Theatre and innovative new puppetry production In Our Hands by Smoking Apples Theatre, about a trawlerman who fights to rescue his life. On Saturday evening Getting Better Slowly, about life with a chronic illness, is followed by You Forgot the Mince. Cast in Doncaster