Mind Moves:Young people find it hard to talk about suicide, but hearing about it these days as frequently as they do, they may benefit from a safe way to engage with this subject.
I experienced a remarkable event last week in St David's Secondary School, Greystones, Co Wicklow, where transition year pupils were presented with the issue of suicide in a way that was courageous, sensitive and skilfully managed.
The school had invited Team Educational Theatre Company to stage a one-hour play, Last Call, to the transition year, and to engage them in a post-production workshop to explore the issues it raised.
Written by a psychotherapist, Francis Kay, this play is built around three characters: Shell, who lies in a coma in the wake of a suicide attempt wrestling with the question of whether to live or die; Johnny, her boyfriend, who had chosen to end his life believing we are remembered not by how we live, but by how we die; and Tom Crean, the Antarctic explorer, who had survived adventures where death was an ever present reality and acquired a deep reverence for life. His pub becomes the setting for the dramatisation of Shell's inner struggle.
The play opens on a summer's evening, when a young girl, Shell, turns up out of nowhere in Tom's pub, soaked to the skin. She is cagey at first, but as he engages her in conversation she gradually reveals she has just attempted to end her life out of a sense of guilt for not having prevented her boyfriend's suicide.
Johnny, her deceased boyfriend, makes frequent appearances in the pub as Shell relives key moments in their relationship - including very funny episodes - and wrestles with whether to follow his example.
The inclusion of the character Tom Crean was particularly inspired. He represents a wise and caring voice in Shell's mind. It turns out she had read his story recently and had related to the risks he had taken and his many exposures to death in the course of his adventures. In many respects he expresses the need that every young person has for a relationship with an adult with whom they feel personally connected and who supports them in their search for identity.
Confronted with Shell and the crisis she faces, Tom doesn't say very much. But he listens and affords her the space to think aloud and work things out for herself. His presence and his wisdom embody a message that counters Johnny's cynicism about life.
Following the play, the student audience - led very skilfully by drama therapist Lisa Markham - were invited to become players in an extension of the drama. They moved to a different chair and morphed into a Leaving Cert class that had gathered to welcome fellow student Shell back to school. Having recovered successfully from her ordeal a few months earlier, Shell is eager to return and complete her education. But before doing so, she asks permission to speak to her class and answer any questions they have about her experience.
This manoeuvre created a safe space where students could articulate the questions in their mind that suicide raises and explore what makes life worth living.
Their questions got right to the heart of the matter and Shell, still in character, sitting in front of the class, responded with an openness and honesty that reinforced the play's central message: "We are remembered by how we live and not by how we die."
The final portion of the programme invited students to "Take a stand" on some of the key issues raised in the play. Literally, they were invited to position themselves in the room according to whether they agreed, disagreed or were uncertain about statements such as "you are what you are born into"; "if a friend asks you to keep a secret, even if it's about their intention to self-harm, you should honour this".
Each student was engaged in this process of reflection without ever feeling they were being personally put on the spot.
I have just received feedback from the students in St David's as to what they took from this whole experience. Their reactions are consistently positive. Clearly the event made a very positive impact on them.
When asked what they learned most from the Last Call workshop, their comments included: "No matter how bad things get, suicide is not the answer", "that there is always another option", "that it is important to talk and not hold things in", "that you need to support your friends when they need you most".
Comprehensive programme notes for teachers and guidance counsellors accompanied Last Call and the preparation for the event involved consultation between parents, teachers and the students. The SPHE co-ordinator and the guidance counsellor also undertook systematic follow-up with each student.
The consensus between my colleagues and I, who were fortunate enough to have been invited to attend this programme, was that we had experienced a powerful and life-affirming exposition of this issue that would be hard to beat.
• This programme is being presented in The Space@The Helix in Dublin from Monday October 22nd-Sat October 26th. For details phone: 01 -700 7000. For further information onLast Call , contact educationofficer@teamtheatre.ie
