Spider: Play about drama school misconduct lifts curtain on trauma behind the scenes
A new play, written by a former drama student, tells the story of a flawed acting school teacher whose out-of-date and unethical practices land him in deep trouble with his students.
Spider is set in a fictional drama school and the writer and director, Jude Benning, says the lead character – Frank Dowling – is a composite of people who still work in the industry.
It’s run at the Riverside Studios, in London, and comes after a Sky News investigation in November last year uncovered misconduct and harassment in some of Britain’s leading conservatoires.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Benning says a play exposing disturbing behaviour – through a narrative of black comedy and adventure – is needed now more than ever.
“There’s a sort of cult-type aspect to some drama teaching,” she says.
“There are characters in power that traditionally have always run away with their power and found it difficult to be aware of themselves and be aware of creating a safe environment for students.”
Experiences Ms Benning has researched and heard about have influenced her directing style.
“As one example, last night the cast had a party and I can’t be at that party among them, I can’t have alcohol with them,” she says.
“I have to be really strict about my boundaries, because we have to keep a nice professional balance.
“I think it’s very difficult not to, as a leader, as a director, or a teacher, not to want to get in with everybody and socialise and be a friend, but that’s when things start getting a little bit blurred.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Alleged abuse at UK drama schools explained
It’s quite common for teachers and leaders to socialise with students at drama school after a big performance or event.
The issues this can sometimes lead to are drawn out in the play.
“We have a scene in the play where the main character Frank has been to the pub with one of the students and things start to blur and he starts to forget that he’s actually an authority figure and a person in power,” Ms Benning said.
“That leads to muddy waters when you’re a director or a teacher. It’s not good.”
Frank is an unnerving character. Some in the cast are familiar with aspects of his behaviour in the play from their own experiences as students.
Actress Saffy Andrews is a former student of the now-closed Academy of Live and Recorded Arts, known as ALRA.
Saffy Andrews
Ms Andrews says her time at the campus in Wigan was filled with experiences of racism that eventually led her to leave a couple of months before graduation.
“I had to leave, it was just a mess,” she says.
The school was marred by racism and sexual misconduct allegations. It eventually closed in 2022 due to financial difficulties.
One internal report in May 2021 found the school created a “humiliating, hostile and exclusive” environment for students of colour.
Ms Andrews says being part of a play like this has been satisfying, although saddening at times, reminding her of her own experiences.
The cast during rehearsals
Speaking to Sky News, she says she is proud to be part of a play exploring these issues: “I feel like it’s the only way that drama schools are going to notice and it’s also an eye-opener to potential students that want to go to drama school and this industry.
“You have to have a strong back, otherwise – teachers, people, your classmates – they’ll eat you alive.
“During this show, it is very sad because this teacher character, Frank, he doesn’t care about his students.
“He just wants to abuse them, get what he wants, because he hasn’t made it and he lies to them and they believe what he says because they want to make it in the industry.”
The former chair of trustees of ALRA, Henry Cowd, tells Sky News they were made aware of general complaints from students involving microaggressions of a racist nature and it eventually became clear the school had a “deep-seated problem”.
In addition, Mr Cowd says: “There were clear policies but many staff had an insufficient understanding of how their language, often used unintentionally, could be misinterpreted and found to be potentially insulting.”
Read more:
‘I always felt unsafe’: The alleged abuse at top drama schools
Fellow cast member Scarlett Green loved her drama training experience but hopes the show will offer some comfort for those who did not or are currently struggling.
“I would hope that for people who had a negative experience in drama school… I would hope that it was a cathartic experience for them just to have… to know that it’s out there and people are aware of it,” she says.
“The thing with harassment and subtle abuse that we draw on is that the victims of it can so often feel unheard, and like no one really knows that this exists.
“So hopefully for them to come and see it, it’ll feel good that people know about this.”
This play may lead to some in the industry having to confront some uncomfortable truths and help survivors feel seen.
David Smy, Deputy Director of Enabling Regulation for the Office for Students (OfS), said: “Harassment and sexual misconduct can have a profound impact on a student’s life, including their education.
“We know that universities and colleges take these issues very seriously, but we think there is a compelling case for further action to prevent these incidents from happening, and to ensure higher education providers respond effectively when they do occur.
“This is why the OfS launched a consultation on introducing new regulatory requirements in this area in 2023.
“Any student who has experienced harassment or sexual misconduct should speak to their university or college. They should expect to be supported by their university or college or signposted to more specialist support.”
Spider runs until 25 February at the Riverside Studios in London.
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration.
Warning – this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse
A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost.
Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation.
Greenfield House Convent, where Marie says she was abused
As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students.
She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were “spread-eagled” as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger.
Merseyside Police investigated claims of abuse at the convent, but in 2016, a suspect died before charges could be brought.
Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse.
Marie, 71, is still fighting for compensation for the abuse she says she suffered as a child
In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA.
Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse.
Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims.
Peter Garsden, President of The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Civil cases ‘can take three to five years’
But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court.
Mr Garsden said it takes “between three and five years” for a civil case to get to trial.
He warned that claimants “can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims”.
Victim awarded £10 compensation
Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan’s children’s home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court.
Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made.
Read more from Sky News:
Call for Labour minister to resign over grooming gang remarks
PM says govt will fund further local grooming gangs inquiries if ‘needed’
Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA.
Hundreds of millions paid to victims
The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims.
In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales.
But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it “is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse”.
“In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward,” it added.
For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse.
“The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse,” Marie said.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway