Interview with Nathan Curry & Shireen Mula

What happens when a child feels unheard, misunderstood or defined by a label that fails to tell their whole story? Tangled Feet’s A Class of Your Own explores the intricate realities of school exclusion, selfhood and belonging through the eyes of young people whose experiences are too often overlooked. Developed in collaboration with Creative Advisors who have lived experience of exclusion, this powerful new production combines imaginative storytelling, physical theatre and therapeutic approaches to contest assumptions and encourage empathy. Premiering at Polka Theatre before travelling to Luton and embarking on a wider tour next spring, the show aims to create meaningful conversations among children, families and educators as well. I caught up with director Nathan Curry and writer and dramaturg Shireen Mula to discuss the importance of authentic representation, the responsibilities that come with bringing real experiences to the stage, and how theatre can help young audiences see themselves and others in a new light.

I'd love to start at the beginning. What first sparked the idea for A Class of Your Own, and what made you feel this was a story that needed to be explored through theatre?

Nathan: Tangled Feet have been working in Pupil Referral Units in Croydon, Sutton and Merton for the last 10+ years. Over that period we have grown our Creatives Therapies offer to include drama, music and art therapies. During that same time we have been developing a way of making work for children that leans into the complicated parts of growing up, that focuses on stories not often seen on our theatres and works alongside young people, who are experts on our story, as Creative Advisors. We felt there were themes in the research around labelling and exclusion that were important for all children to understand and experience. Theatre is a safe place to explore challenging topics – it happens through character and a story, it’s explored with actors not through participation and it offers the chance to reflect and digest.

Your work has inspired the show with young people who have experienced exclusion from school. How did those experiences begin to shape the story and the production's world?

SHIREEN: There are so many moments in the play that come directly from our Creative Advisors’ lived experiences: pulling the firealarm to get out of school, flooding the school toilets, breaking a chair, becoming silent because noone is listening, making a connection that allows you to be seen. Through a series of workshops we had the priviledge of getting to know the Creative Advisors and learning about their lives. They were then invited into the rehearsal room while the company explored and generated content. The Creative Advisors would provide feedback ranging from thoughts about the use of projection or music to what might happen next in the narrative. Our work alongside the Creative Advisors was ongoing throughout the process – always going back to the young people; does that feel right? Does this reflect your experience? It was a journey of assimilating these responses, mixing and melding with other research carried out and translation from reality to fictional narrative.

I'm particularly interested in the idea of therapeutic theatre. What does that term mean to you, and how is making therapeutic theatre different from creating a more conventional piece of theatre for young audiences?

Nathan: Theatre is a space to process things, often complex & difficult things. Tangled Feet’s long running Dramatherapy programme offers young people a space to process lived experiences using drama & play. Our style of therapeutic theatre is a connection between these two worlds. During the process we work with young people who have lived experience of our theme & have experienced Dramatherapy. We work through co-creation with the young people inspiring ideas for the work & feeding back. Often drama-therapeutic concepts such as metaphor, characters. play & design/art are present in the process. In many ways you can see the process inside the performance. Finally, the process & performance may offer therapeutic moments for people to feel seen, to be represented & have catharsis in a group/community setting.

You worked alongside creative advisors with lived experience. How did those advisors influence the development of the piece, and were there particular moments where their insight fundamentally changed something you were creating?

Nathan: We started by exploring the Creative Advisors (young people who’d been to all different PRUs) what they had in common- this was a key part of understanding common themes and lived experiences for them all. We worked through art, play, games, discussion and ideas that they devised and developed are visible in the show. The descriptions and ideas around dysregulation, how labelling feels and life in a PRU were key moments that developed large parts of the show. Some of the Creative Advisors challenges and questions were also helpful to focus and check our work – for example asking “who is the show for” “what are you trying to say?” These moments made us check assumptions, reassess and refocus.

When you're working with people's real experiences, particularly young people's experiences, I imagine there is a significant responsibility around how those stories are represented. How did you navigate that responsibility while still creating a fictional theatrical story?

SHIREEN: We never set out to create a piece of verbatim or documentary theatre about our Creative Advisors but instead together we were creating a fictional narrative populated by fictional characters. Yes, there is a deep responsibility to stay true to the experiences of the Creative Advisors but there is also a responsibility to the audience who will watch the play and a balance needs to be found. Nathan leads the rehearsal room brilliantly and this balance was discussed with the Creative Advisors in an open and safe manner where any concerns could be talked through. Clarity and transparency from the beginning is key. Our Creative Advisors were all in their late teens and early 20s but our audience members would be just 8-12 years old. The task was to both honour the experiences of the Creative Advisors but also create a piece of work that is accessible and engaging to young people who may not even know that it’s possible to be excluded from school.

Nathan, from a directing perspective, what were you particularly interested in finding physically and visually within this story, and how did that develop during rehearsals?

Nathan: One of the big challenges in terms of directing was making a piece about something - being excluded/labelled (that is v complex & often a world unknown to children) - accessible to a wide range & age of audience yet specific & representative of some. Finding multiple access points was key - metaphors, design ideas, character types, narrative arcs (complex & simple) & moments of relief. For an audience I’m hoping every image & story moment has several layers from which you can view it.

Shireen, from the writing and dramaturgical perspective, how did you approach giving the characters authentic voices without making them feel like representations of a particular issue?

SHIREEN: The show features 7 different characters. Having a large number of characters provides great opportunity for diversity; one character need not represent everything. Dramaturgically we were attempting to have each character be different from the last but also find surprising crossovers and commonality between them. For me, having so many different characters in the piece is one of the most beautiful things about it; each character comes from a different background and has wrestled with different challenges in their own unique way but yet they find themselves in the same predicament; excluded. From an audience point of view this diversity of character was important; it meant that there was a character for everyone to relate to. There was also something interesting in exploring tropes or stereotypes; setting up a character as a stereotype but later subverting this, reflecting themes of our readiness to jump to judgements without fully understanding an individual or their circumstances.

Following Need a Little Help, Butterflies and Belongings, what have you learned from creating theatre with and for young people that influenced the development of A Class of Your Own?

Nathan: It takes time. The time you invest in building relationships and trust is key. We had monthly workshops with the Creative Advisors before we started the creative journey and hiring creative teams. In this way the Creative Advisors take some ownership of the start of the journey, and we can build the project, teams, plans in response to that. There are also some practical things about workshops happening very close to where the Creative Advisors live, allowing many access points/ways of feeding in and having job descriptions for the role so everyone had clear expectations.

Theatre can sometimes allow audiences to experience a perspective they might never encounter in their own lives. What do you hope young people see or recognise in A Class of Your Own?

SHIREEN: I hope young people will see and recognise themselves or those who are close to them in A Class of Your Own. We received feedback from a young audience member about recognising their brother, who is an autistic person, in Bailey our protagonist. We also had a young audience member say they understood Tye and what it is to miss a parent as their own father had passed away. It’s so important for these young people whose narratives are less often represented to feel seen and understood. For those who do not find a personal connection with the narrative or characters, I hope they’ll see that not every child comes into life with the same priviledges. There is a line in the play where Bailey says “I didn’t know anyone else didn’t have much food in their house”. I would love for young people to come away from the show recognising that not everyone has a stable family life, not everyone learns in the same way but everyone has the right to love, connection, empathy and understanding, and that if we can be open to difference than perhaps we might learn something or even make a very good new friend.

I'm also interested in the adults who might see the production alongside young people. Are you hoping teachers, parents and other adults might come away questioning anything about the way we understand exclusion and the experiences behind it?

SHIREEN: We have had parents come to the show and instead of seeing their child’s experience on stage they have seen themselves as a child and felt catharsis; finally seen and understood. We have had teachers come to see the show and express that it’s made them consider if there is anything more they can do for kids who are struggling in their classes. A Class of Your Own centres the voices of children showcasing the complexitity of childrens’ emotions and experiences. The play asks adults to look behind the immediate behaviour of a child to the root cause; what needs might this child be missing out on and how can we adults  work collaboratively with the child to allow them to feel seen, heard, understood and supported.

Finally, you're premiering the production at Polka before bringing it to Luton and then touring further next spring. How do you expect the production to evolve as you take it into different communities, theatres and schools?

NATHAN: Our work for children is built on the foundation of two principles - to represent complicated childhood experiences & to make sure children can access them- touring is a huge part of that. We make sure the work we make is easily tourable and can visit schools, theatres and community spaces. The Polka and Luton dates are the first draft and we always develop our work as we get feedback – from children, teachers and audience. The work often changes in schools as we offer post show workshops and school communities and groups of children give the story a whole new context.

A huge thank you to Nathan and Shireen for taking the time to share such thoughtful thoughts on the creation of A Class of Your Own and the joint process behind this important production. It has been fascinating to see how Tangled Feet has worked alongside young people with lived experience of school exclusion to create a piece of theatre that not only gives a platform to often unheard voices but also encourages greater empathy, comprehension, and connection. Their reflections draw attention to the importance of looking past labels and behaviours to recognise the individual stories, challenges and needs of every child.