We had a lovely welcome from Laura to artsdepot’s #CreationSpace. There were ongoing introductions to the staff as we walked through to their lovely cafe. We had such an interesting conversation with one member of staff from the get go, our question: ‘What would you do if someone murdered a loved one of yours? Could you forgive the perpetrator?’ Their answer: ‘Kill the perpetrator, and then hunt down his family and kill them too!’ This response may have raised the hairs on the backs of mine and Cara’s necks, however, it was just the kind of answer that is at the other end of the spectrum to a parent who seeks forgiveness rather than revenge.

So, why are we asking such loaded questions first thing on a Tuesday morning? My new play, They Know What They Do, focusses on the meetings between Moselle, a grieving mother, and DeAngelo, a seventeen year old teenager who Moselle visits in prison. DeAngelo stabbed to death Moselle’s only son, Christopher, whilst trying to rob him. Moselle believes she will find solace in forgiving her son's murderer. However, she battles with her anger when it emerges that maybe the boy who killed her son does not want to be saved.

​Underpinning Moselle and DeAngelo’s meetings is the idea of Restorative Justice (RJ). So, what is Restorative Justice? Restorative Justice is a system of criminal justice which focusses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. Cara and I, were keen to research this further. We needed to compare the action in the play with the reality of the RJ process, did the two reflect each other? In order to do this we were having an ongoing conversation with a member of the Restorative Justice Council.

Then came the cutting, shifting and editing of the script. We also bent Laura’s ear and engaged her in some detective work! By Friday we literally were surrounded by text! However, we were now script ready for our wonderful actors in Week 2.

Week 1’s verdict in artdepot’s #CreationSpace?
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Unanimous agreement from Cara and myself: Productive and Fun! Roll on Week 2!

​On Monday we had actors Jordan Kenton Thomas, reading the character of DeAngelo, and Karlina Grace-Paseda, reading the character of Moselle. Within the space of a day Karlina and Jordan had already begun to give a voice to the character’s preoccupations and their different worlds.
On Tuesday actress Rocio Rodriguez-Inniss, reading the character of Mercy, joined us. Rocio and Jordan worked with each other on developing DeAngelo’s and Mercy’s complicated relationship.
On Wednesday we were joined by Wole Sawyerr, reading the character of Ben, who quickly gave voice to Ben’s compassionate nature.

​On Thursday we did our first full read through of the play. A great feeling! Our lovely actors embodying the characters with gusto. Cheers guys!
On Friday it was time to share what we had produced during our two fab weeks in the #CreationSpace. We had a small but no less lovelier audience to watch our fab actors do a read through of the play from beginning to end. Fantastic interpretations from our fab actors! Thank you! What would our lovely audience think? Yikes! 

Thumbs up! Fantastic constructive and positive feedback from our audience. Thank you all for joining us! Several celebratory chocolates later…

Sadly, it was time for Pitch Lake Productions to say farewell to artsdepot. We’ve had the most fabulous time and the two weeks R&D residency was invaluable to the progress of our new project, #TheyKnowNotWhatTheyDo! Thank You!

What Next?
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Watch this #CreationSpace

​Pitch Lake Productions is an East Midlands based national touring theatre company. Formed to address the lack of leading roles in British Theatre for BAME actors the company creates new and exciting work which puts BAME characters at the centre of their own story.

During their residency, Pitch Lake Productions will exploring and developing the first draft of new play They Know Not What they Do by Michelle Inniss. The play tells the story of a meeting between Moselle, a grieving Mother, and DeAngelo, her son’s killer. Moselle believes she will find solace in forgiving DeAngelo however she battles with her anger when it emerges that maybe the boy who killed her son does not want to be saved.
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The two characters are engaged in the process of Restorative Justice; a system of criminal justice which focuses on the rehabilitation of offenders through reconciliation with victims and the community at large. The company will explore this practice and seek information and guidance from those who work in the field as well as exploring the possibilities of this meeting both in terms of the practical and legal processes that must be undertaken and the emotional and psychological journeys of the characters.

Link to original article.