from Shadow Syndicate

Compelling, hard hitting and visceral, Shadow Syndicate present this eye opening play exploring the acute impact the criminal justice system has on both adults and children alike.  Uncompromising gritty episodes expose pain, anger and fragility in equal measure, with unfiltered characters revealing uncomfortable realities and truths audiences are forced to confront. Jessica is one, amongst many young people, who find themselves as an innocent stuck within the cyclical effects of criminality and the justice system, drowning in the wake of the circumstances they find themselves. Alice Birch writes a play of 60 scenes and invites companies to select those which work with the narrative they wish to tell, in this case, we tell Jessica's story.

Coarse and blunt in approach, Multi-award winning Youth Theatre Company, Shadow Syndicate, brings life to this unique play with energy, rigour and attention to detail.  Written in conjunction with Clean Break Theatre Company, who make work with and about women who have had experience of the criminal justice system, Alice Birch has forged a play that is uncompromising in its approach and rare also, providing theatre companies chance to select episodes from fifty available to form their own narratives. 

Shadow Syndicate have woven a rich tapestry with their choice, revealing raw, uncompromising and poignant back stories for the adult and child characters, in conjunction with detailed realities for how they are touched by the system now.  Subtleties and nuances are crafted with impeccable detail, revealing haunting truths that surpass stereotypes and exposing a gritty reality that can be uncomfortable to confront.

Unforgiving in its' raw approach, [BLANK] provides a unique insight into the realities of those tainted by the criminal justice system, who are often ignored or known simply by a number.  Alice Birch avoids sentimentality in her writing, crafting characters and situations that rebuff stereotypes, opting instead to challenge audiences to engage with uncomfortable truths about those who most need our attention in society so they are more than just statistics.

Superbly crafted, the actors of Shadow Syndicate reveal the struggle of those attempting to break the chains of cyclical involvement, whilst also purporting a stark reality for those destined to remain because of circumstance, reduction in government funding and a wider society that has already pigeon-holed those born into it.  There is a palpable sense of urgency to the production, which attempts to demystify the truths of those under the spectre of the criminal justice system, giving voice to those who would normally be silenced and life to those who would be invisible.