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| Michael Crowley; writer and youth justice worker | Michael Crowley; writer and youth justice worker |
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| Michael Crowley has spent most of his career working with young people: teenagers in a variety of settings in the education service, the criminal justice system and as a writer. He was interested in writing drama and used some of the characters and scenarios he came across in his job as an education worker. | Michael Crowley has spent most of his career working with young people: teenagers in a variety of settings in the education service, the criminal justice system and as a writer. He was interested in writing drama and used some of the characters and scenarios he came across in his job as an education worker. |
| It was when he became a Youth Offending Officer that, as he puts it: | It was when he became a Youth Offending Officer that, as he puts it: |
| I decided I wanted to use young peoples' writing to get to know the individuals under my supervision, and as ambitious as it might seem, as a basis for making the changes I was supposed to be making. | I decided I wanted to use young peoples' writing to get to know the individuals under my supervision, and as ambitious as it might seem, as a basis for making the changes I was supposed to be making. |
His latest play The Cell was well received at the Manchester Theatre Festival 24/7 this year and has been chosen to be further developed and performed at the Bolton Octagon on 12 October. | His latest play The Cell was well received at the Manchester Theatre Festival 24/7 this year and has been chosen to be further developed and performed at the Bolton Octagon on 12 October. |
The Cell is not what you might expect from a prison drama. It is about a Prison Officer, Scully, who has taken a convict, Kelly, hostage. Scully is trying to raise the issue of a prisoner who was bullied into suicide. The play's themes include the dependence of Scully on Kelly and the use of mobile phones supplied to prisoners by corrupt prison staff. It was developed in Lancaster Farms young offenders' institution by Crowley, the prison staff and young offenders themselves. | The Cell is not what you might expect from a prison drama. It is about a Prison Officer, Scully, who has taken a convict, Kelly, hostage. Scully is trying to raise the issue of a prisoner who was bullied into suicide. The play's themes include the dependence of Scully on Kelly and the use of mobile phones supplied to prisoners by corrupt prison staff. It was developed in Lancaster Farms young offenders' institution by Crowley, the prison staff and young offenders themselves. |
| Crowley has produced a book documenting his work in the criminal justice system called Behind The Lines. Written for professionals who work with offenders and people at risk, it shows the process of oral and writing warm-ups from writing exercises through to text and from rehearsal through to performance. He explains: | Crowley has produced a book documenting his work in the criminal justice system called Behind The Lines. Written for professionals who work with offenders and people at risk, it shows the process of oral and writing warm-ups from writing exercises through to text and from rehearsal through to performance. He explains: |
| It is a book about getting people to write and writing with them, and what that teaches us both. | It is a book about getting people to write and writing with them, and what that teaches us both. |
Crowley has been active as a socialist and trade unionist and defines himself as a political writer: | Crowley has been active as a socialist and trade unionist and defines himself as a political writer: |
| I am always looking for the politics of a story, not as propaganda, but especially in terms of The Cell seeing my work as interventionist. Trying to get the lads - the young offenders - to write is a means to address not only literacy but therapeutic needs, moral reasoning, offence-focussed thinking and all at the same time. | I am always looking for the politics of a story, not as propaganda, but especially in terms of The Cell seeing my work as interventionist. Trying to get the lads - the young offenders - to write is a means to address not only literacy but therapeutic needs, moral reasoning, offence-focussed thinking and all at the same time. |
Crowley is currently working with young people from Burnley Youth Theatre on a play called Weaving The Ark about the Eight Looms Strike in the 1930s, part of Telling The Future About The Past, a Young Roots Heritage Lottery funded project. He explains: | Crowley is currently working with young people from Burnley Youth Theatre on a play called Weaving The Ark about the Eight Looms Strike in the 1930s, part of Telling The Future About The Past, a Young Roots Heritage Lottery funded project. He explains: |
| The weaving mills dominated Burnley at that time. It was a highly unionised and political town. A shop steward in a mill has his wage docked for shoddy work and refuses to pay, the factory owner sacks him and 16,000 workers go on strike for six months. They then become part of a national weavers strike as the factory owners try to halve the workforce and double the number of looms that the weavers have to overlook. | The weaving mills dominated Burnley at that time. It was a highly unionised and political town. A shop steward in a mill has his wage docked for shoddy work and refuses to pay, the factory owner sacks him and 16,000 workers go on strike for six months. They then become part of a national weavers strike as the factory owners try to halve the workforce and double the number of looms that the weavers have to overlook. |
Crowley sees his work there as providing a political education to the young people in the production: | Crowley sees his work there as providing a political education to the young people in the production: |
| The young people did not know what it meant to go on strike. I had to explain what a picket line was and why they existed. The idea of collective action, all workers walking out over one person, was also a revelation to them. | The young people did not know what it meant to go on strike. I had to explain what a picket line was and why they existed. The idea of collective action, all workers walking out over one person, was also a revelation to them. |
Crowley and the young people used the Working Class Movement Library in Salford to research the strike. At the time it was a major event, and other groups of workers including the Tonypandy miners gave the weavers support. Ewan McColl and his theatre group the Red Megaphones went to Burnley to support the weavers and Crowley has incorporated this into the performance. | Crowley and the young people used the Working Class Movement Library in Salford to research the strike. At the time it was a major event, and other groups of workers including the Tonypandy miners gave the weavers support. Ewan McColl and his theatre group the Red Megaphones went to Burnley to support the weavers and Crowley has incorporated this into the performance. |
| Weaving The Ark will be premiered at Burnley Youth Theatre on Friday 9 November 2012 at 1pm and 7.30pm. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, all performances are free. | Weaving The Ark will be premiered at Burnley Youth Theatre on Friday 9 November 2012 at 1pm and 7.30pm. Funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, all performances are free. |
| Bernadette Hyland is a freelance writer and blogger. She is active in her trade union Unite and volunteers at the Working Class Movement Library in Salford. | Bernadette Hyland is a freelance writer and blogger. She is active in her trade union Unite and volunteers at the Working Class Movement Library in Salford. |
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