Dan’s mum Fiona said, “When we commissioned the play in those early, awful months after Dan died, I remember us saying how amazing it’d be if it became a GCSE set text, and we probably laughed because we never really, honestly imagined it would. We had no idea then just how far it would come, and in such a short time – only five years since it was published. Dan would be…I wonder what? Amazed? Amused? Embarrassed, but also a little in awe of what had been achieved? He’d certainly want to have done all he could to stop any harm happening to anyone else, which is what set us off down this path from the start.” This DVD shows the original 2016 OYT production as premiered at the Brit School, directed by author, Mark Wheeller. A verbatim play written by Mark Wheeller using the testimonies of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs’ friends and family. Premiere performance at The BRIT School, Tuesday 29th March 2016 For ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’, Mark used verbatim theatre to take the actual words of Dan’s family and friends, recorded in a series of interviews, which were painstakingly transcribed and then turned into the script of this two-act play. He took eighteen months developing the script and performance with Oasis Youth Theatre, based in Southampton. Through his incredible skill, and the huge talent and commitment of the young people and team of Oasis Youth Theatre, these raw words were transformed into a stunning performance that brought the audience to tears at each of its performances.

An abridged version has toured to many secondary schools across the country and has been seen by thousands of young people, but we always wanted to share the full version with a theatre audience. It’s an important, honest and deeply touching human story of how our choices can have such a huge impact on ourselves and our loved ones.” The National Youth Theatre’s Rep Company is celebrating its first ten years and Susan Elkin paid a visit to learn more. Each year a group of fifteen or so talented NYT members, aged 18 to 25, are selected by audition to join this company. In just a few months they rehearse three shows, many of […] Apprenticeships I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die by prolific playwright Mark Wheeller is the story of Dan, a popular South London schoolboy, who took ecstasy at an illegal rave and tragically died as a result of taking a lethal dose. This fast-paced, powerful and emotionally-charged play, tells the true story of what happened to Dan, the choices he made and the impact on his family and friends – all told in their own words, from tragedy to redemption.

An important and often overlooked route into the industry, especially for many non-performing roles. Susan Elkin has some suggestions. Theatre is like an iceberg. For every role on stage there are probably at least half a dozen technicians you can’t see. And the industry has been telling us for decades that there are skills shortages […] School Shows Normally when you watch a play the actual characters who are being ‘performed’ aren’t there. I was sitting in the same row as the people who were being re-created on stage and it was an unusual experience. Not only was this performance re-telling something very upsetting it was being re-told from over 300,000 words that all those audience members had said. The cast, from Oasis Youth Theatre worked as an amazing ensemble but stand out performances came from Lewis Evans and Natasha Thomas who took on the roles of Dan’s best friend and Dan’s mum respectively with such ease. Having Mark Wheeller’s interviewer words written into the script gives as a clever narration that helpfully shaped the dialogue into a narrative helping the audience follow the story. The set was simple with six cubes moved around at pace to create new scenes and also used in slow motion during the opening rave scene to great effect; flying around the stage with the chemical formula for MDMA projected upstage certainly marked the moment. The upstage screens also projected text message conversations and photographs of Dan throughout which disintegrated into flying sycamore seeds – symbolic of growing goodness from such sadness. Although the play revolves around Dan he has no lines and he is imaginatively represented throughout by a blue zip-hoodie that is sometimes worn by the 15-strong cast who play him in turn. We deliver interactive drug and alcohol education workshops for students from Years 6-13, delivered by experienced drug educators.

We deliver training to teachers prior to the PSHE programme being delivered, and drug and alcohol awareness training to teachers, school staff and other professionals working with young people. This DVD shows the original 2016 OYT production of I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die as premiered at the Brit School, directed by author, Mark Wheeller. We’re delighted that you are studying the play that tells Dan’s story. Thank you for buying directly from DSMF – due to our publisher’s discount this will generate a small donation to our drug education work Broadway World “ I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won't Die is a beautiful and deeply touching tribute to a much-loved boy” It was seven years ago this January that Dan came and found me before he headed off to a party, so he could give me a hug, tell me he loved me, and make the usual joke, promising he wouldn’t die. The next day we were in the liver intensive care unit at Kings, watching him do just that. Now these last words of Dan’s are the title of a play, that teenagers across the UK and around the world will be sitting in exam halls answering questions about.Two months after he died, the DSM Foundation commissioned playwright Mark Wheeller to write a verbatim play about what happened to Dan. Published in 2017, the play has been studied, taught and performed worldwide with the play having a successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2018. This new high-quality digital production has been filmed by Yorkshire-based Tie It Up Theatre to translate the live performance to screen. In January 2014 16-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs went to an illicit all-night rave, overdosed on ecstasy and died. Daniel was intelligent, funny, given to moments of wild clowning, but essentially serious, a member of Amnesty International and devoted to other charitable work. A hugely popular figure, he was not the sort of boy you expect this to happen to. I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die is the story of Dan, a popular South London schoolboy, who took ecstasy at an illegal rave, and tragically died as a result. This powerful and emotionally-charged play, tells the true story of what happened to Dan, the choices he made and the impact on his family and friends – all told in their own words, from tragedy to redemption. We provide planning and resources for evidence-based drug and alcohol education to be delivered by teachers in schools as part of Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) education. Three programmes offer a spiral curriculum from years 7-18, years 9-11 and sixth forms, which is age-appropriate and builds on prior learning, and is adapted to be delivered in lessons or shorter form-time sessions.