How a play tackles negative body image problems

Project
The Body Image Project

Purpose
To help schools tackle the difficult issue of negative body image and eating disorders among young people

Funding
Includes £35,000 from the Succeed Foundation to launch the play and subsidise the first wave of performances

Background
Negative body image can be a big issue for young people, leading to serious mental and physical health problems.

Theatre and education company Peer Productions decided to tackle the issue head-on. “All of our plays are on social issues that are relevant to teenagers, and body image and eating disorders was one that kept coming up,” explains company director Claire Knight.

“We have worked with many young people over the years and have sometimes been quite shocked and saddened by the things they come out with about body image and their own appearance.”

In summer 2011, the company teamed up with the Succeed Foundation, a charity working to reduce eating disorders, with a view to devising a play to take into secondary schools.

Action
Peer Productions’ plays are performed for young people by young people. Every year, the company trains a team of volunteers aged between 16 and 24 as actors and “peer educators”.

Show director Nina Lemon worked closely with her 11-strong cast to develop the play’s concept, characters and story including doing workshops in schools and meeting young ambassadors from the eating disorder charity Beat.

“We really believe in the power of young people educating others,” says Knight. “Also, the fact that we’re an outside organisation coming in helps give schools a different perspective.”

The 70-minute multimedia performance tackles the powerful influence of the media on body image and aims to smash myths and misconceptions about body image, dieting and eating disorders, and help young people spot warning signs of unhealthy attitudes and behaviour.
 
“It’s about empowering young people,” says Knight. “It can be very difficult to know what to do if you think someone has a problem and you can feel powerless. But there are sources of help.”

The play comes with a support pack and information about further help.

Outcome
Over the past two years, the play has been performed 55 times, reaching 8,800 young people. A survey of audiences in the first year found 86 per cent felt it was a good idea to tackle the subject of body image in schools. Just over 60 per cent said the play had made them more aware of eating disorders, while 62 per cent said it had taught them about the seriousness of issues surrounding body image.

The company is currently devising a new work on the topic of domestic abuse, but the body image play will return in the next school year.