It has been an amazing journey and I am looking forward to the Theatres reopening next week (from 17th May 2021). The Foundation has also funded and coordinated a professional tour of London schools, colleges and communities as a Theatre in Education production since 2017, recently attracting Arts Council funding for its fourth professional tour this Spring. The title takes Dan’s joking last words to his mum, Fiona, before he left home for what turned out to be the last time: ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’. We really hope this will mean families will come together and have conversations at home that help other teenagers keep themselves safe – but it’s also a beautiful play and a fantastic production, creating an opportunity for anyone who loves great theatre to experience it, and to get to know our Dan.

Drama is an incredibly powerful way to communicate important messages to young people, and Mark Wheeller’s play has become a core part of our vision to enable young people to understand the risks, and potential consequences and impact of experimenting with drugs. by Louisa Reid Published by Guppy Books Cassandra, narrator of this powerful verse novel, is a reluctant sixth former in a prestigious mixed school, formerly all boys, where toxic culture simmers.This project is a collaboration between Wizard and the DSM foundation, a drug education charity working with young people, parents, teachers and professionals across the UK. A talented, creative “lovely boy” with a passion for helping others who’s always on the side of the underdog. Professional productions of Hard to Swallow, I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won't Die and Chicken regularly tour schools and many of Mark's works are available on DVD, with digital formats forthcoming in late 2020.

uk) and over the last 18 months they have worked with playwright Mark Wheeller to have Daniel’s story turned into a verbatim play as a performance to educate young people – they want the production to tour schools so that ‘many good things can come from this very bad thing. Whether that's putting new work on stages across the world or supporting our outreach and learning programmes, every purchase you make really does make a difference. Predicated partly on Black History Month, Elayne Ogbeta’s muliti-layered play presents Grandad (Marcus Hercules) and his primary school age granddaughter, Abi (Jazmine Wilkinson) in his garden. Then the first half consists of wild dancing separating out the verbatim interviews with Mark Wheeller. His work has been a staple part of the Drama curriculum both in the UK and abroad for the past three decades.Amy Zoldan demonstrates incredible versatility as she glides from drama teacher to immature teenager to deeply in love girlfriend. I have taught Drama for over 20 years now, and have lost count of how many plays I have directed, but the impact at the end of last night’s performance on both cast and audience was something I have never experienced in education. Told entirely in the words of his family and friends, it explores the decisions that led to his death and the consequences of his loss on his loved ones. Perhaps this scene was built around the parting shot, the last time a loved one leaves the family home, a casual everyday gesture of slipping into a hoodie, forever after a sacred memory and the moments perhaps, when life stands still for those left behind. I Love You, Mum - I Promise I Won't Die , was originally commissioned by the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation , the drug education charity.