Burnley students' play puts forced marriage in the spotlight (From This Is Lancashire)

Burnley students' play puts forced marriage in the spotlight

6:00pm Tuesday 4th September 2012 in News By Peter Magill, Chief reporter

YOUNG actors in Burnley are proving they are not afraid to tackle today’s thorniest issues with their latest play on forced marriage.

Junior thespians from Burnley Youth Theatre have already earned plaudits for their hard-hitting work on knife crime, in a Home Office-backed production called The Edge of Life.

And now director Nikki Mailer is hoping for a similar effect with Bound To My Culture, which is being formulated with the support of Lancashire Police.

The constabulary has a special team examining the issues around forced marr-iage, and has secured at least 10 orders preventing such unions in East Lancashire in recent years.

She said: “We are running a series of creative con-sultation workshops with schools, and community groups, to get as wide a perspective on the issue as possible.”

Once the rehearsals have been completed, it will then be taken on a tour of ven-ues across Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn, and Blackburn.

Nikki is also involved with Moonfleece, a piece by Philip Ridley on racism and homophobia, extracts of which have already been performed at a Salvation Army conference in Prest-on last May.

The full version is set to be showcased at the youth theatre in September as part of Preston Pride’s Burnley heritage project.

Further work is also ongoing with the county council on Enough Already, a project focusing on alc-ohol abuse and sexual risk, in partnership with the Young People’s Service.

The Edge of Life initiative will continue with an exhib- ition at the theatre in March.