Consensual - New Theatre

Overview

Guaranteed to set the staffroom afire with gossip and outrage, New Theatre wades into the prickly issue of teacher-student relationships with Evan Placey's Consensual.

Seven years ago, Diane was 22, a teacher's assistant just getting to grips with the blend of riot control and guile needed to haul adolescents through a class curriculum. She made a mistake and got too close to a student who took advantage of her.

Seven years ago, Freddie was 15, unhappy and a mess. A teenager, in other words. He was groomed by one of his teachers and bragged about it after the fact.

Now, Diane is a qualified teacher and trying to get a new Sex Ed programme through the skulls of her Year 11 class. When Freddie turns up looking to press charges, both versions of events are played out, but Placey isn't interested in who's right. Rather, Consensual promises an unflinching account of what we tell ourselves about the horrible things we do to other people.