THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET MASTERCLASS - COOKIES 2017 -18ProducerCookies was commissioned and developed for The Cyberscene Project; an inspirational theatre initiative created by Masterclass in partnership with Kidscape and generously funded by Pureland Foundation.
The Cyberscene project used theatre to support the health and well-being of young people affected by cyber bullying and to raise awareness not only of the dangers of being online, but also the positives too.
Working alongside Cyberscene’s development director Guy Unsworth and writer Emily Jenkins, the process to create Cookies began in October 2016, by scripting the play through a series of theatre based workshops. In this supportive environment, over 100 young students worked alongside theatre professionals to share their intimate experiences; to learn from each other, and to be part of an empowering initiative which aims to address the impacts of cyber bullying and the wider digital realm.
It is through hearing the voices of these young students that Emily Jenkins was able to conceive Cookies, a bold new play which directly addressed the issues brought up in the workshops through live performance.
The final production, directed by Anna Ledwich, featured 25 of the original 100 students, and premiered at the Theatre Royal Haymarket on 29th October 2017. It went on to win both the Outstanding Drama Education Resource at the Music and Drama Awards 2020 as well as the Standout Security Awareness Campaign, Security Serious Unsung Heroes Awards 2018.
London School of Economics on Cyberscene:The aim of the collaboration between Cyberscene and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) was to evaluate both the participants and the play. The participants were surveyed at different stages of the project to track their perceptions and awareness of cyber bullying. Professor Ellen Helsper's project evaluation report, Overcoming victim blaming and bystander effects through social theatre, can be viewed hereFurther films exploring 5 themes of cyberbullying with Dr Helsper, Rhiannon Newman Brown and the participants of the Cyberscene project:Social content and support structures
