Playwright Backs Calls For Consent to go on Curriculum

Press release – for immediate publication

Playwright Backs Calls For Consent to go on Curriculum

First performance of Lynda Radley and Pepperdine Scotland’s Fringe world premiere will promote work of Scottish Rape Crisis charities 

Playwright Lynda Radley and the Pepperdine Scotland theatre company will dedicate the opening night of their new play The Interference to Scotland’s Rape Crisis charities.

The performance and reception, on 3 August, is intended to encourage discussion of attitudes towards sexual violence and raise awareness of the charities’ work to promote education on the issue of consent among young people.

Both Lynda and Pepperdine Scotland are previous Fringe First winners and The Interference brings them together in a production that explores the aftermath of a campus rape. The play is set in the USA, with a college American football star as the perpetrator, but the disturbing social attitudes it reveals, and the sense that it is the survivor who is on trial, are equally familiar in Scotland.

During her research Lynda became increasingly aware of the work of Scotland’s Rape Crisis charities. 

She said: “If society is to be free from sexual violence and bullying young people must be taught respect for one another and fully understand consent. I’ve been told by Rape Crisis workers that the young people they speak to are open to discussing these issues, but understand little about the law.

“There is already good work being done by charities, and others, to enable young people to make educated choices about their relationships. But our approach is piecemeal, which can’t be right in an environment where many young people experience peer pressure, or develop misconceptions due to online pornography.

“California, where the cast of The Interference are from, is making consent a compulsory part of the curriculum – Scotland should give serious thought to doing the same.”

The play’s cast is made up of students from Pepperdine University in the USA, which has been presenting performances at the Fringe since 1985.

There will be a collection for Rape Crisis Glasgow, and Pepperdine Scotland will also be contributing to its funds. The audience will be able to meet and talk to representatives from the charity after the show.

Isabelle Kerr, Manager of Rape Crisis Glasgow, said: “Sexual violence continues to dominate headlines across the world and organisations such as Rape Crisis Centres strive to highlight the importance of understanding that sexual consent is a critical part of any relationship, no matter how short lived.  

“We need to move past outdated myths that reinforce a victim blaming culture which silences survivors and makes them responsible for the abuses perpetrated against them.  

“We need to throw out the attitudes that make us only see the potential of the perpetrator and the behaviour of the victim – he’s a talented football player or his career will be ruined, she was drinking, flirting or kissing him. It’s essential to reframe those internalised biases so that we see the behaviour of the perpetrator and the potential of the victim.

“This production shows the impact of rape on the life of a young woman, and the danger of her potential being lost because of the behaviour of someone who didn’t care whether there was consent or not. If we want to change a whole culture, we need to have that visceral response to the reality of rape to keep us committed to the struggle.”

The Interference builds on the success of previous projects including 2012 Scotsman Fringe First Award winner Why Do You Stand There In The Rain?, and on Pepperdine Scotland’s interest in issues of social justice. 

- Ends -

Notes to Editors

• The Interference by Lynda Radley is at C Venues C (Venue 34), Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh from 3 to 16 August.
• The box office is on 0845 2601234 with online booking at www.ctheFestival.com
• Tickets: Weekend and weekday prices vary. Full price £8.50 to £11.50, concessions £7.50 to £9.50, with special prices of £5.50 to £7.50. See www.ctheFestival.com for the ticket price of each performance.
• Time: 15.45
• Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Age: 12+

For media information about The Interference contact Matthew Shelley on 07786 704299 or Matthew@Scottishfestivalspr.org

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Media briefing - The Interference by Lynda Radley - Edinburgh Fringe world premiere

Media briefing - Edinburgh Fringe world premiere

THE INTERFERENCE – A rape survivor’s struggle for justice

·      A new play by Lynda Radley

·      Directed by Cathy Thomas-Grant

·      Presented and performed by Pepperdine Scotland

About the play

When a university sports star rapes a fellow student it is the survivor who seems to be on trial – struggling with the very forces that are supposed to protect her. The Interference, by Fringe First winner Lynda Radley, explores the aftermath of a crime and the disturbing attitudes that lie just under the skin of contemporary society.

The work has disturbing echoes of recent cases and events in the USA and Scotland.

While it is set in an American university, the questions it raises are for the whole of society. Realities become distorted, the attacker is portrayed as a wronged man, his victim’s voice is drowned out and justice is at risk as vested interests scramble to defend themselves.

Central to the play is the adulation surrounding the attacker, the quarterback in the university football team, and how people focus more on his career and the impact on the team than on the crime or the damage to the victim.

The title refers to American football rules allowing players to block opponents who try to tackle their teammate. It highlights the seemingly infinite sources of opinion, commentary, and distorted or suppressed information that are routine players in the aftermath of sex attacks.

Radley speaks about The Interference

Radley, who is based in Scotland, says: “The play looks at the forces that are unleashed when a man of talent and privilege is accused of a rape – in this case a university sports star. Something very disturbing you often see in rape cases is that the survivor faces disbelief and abuse. It’s incredibly difficult as they can end up at the centre of a storm.

“In this case the fans refuse to accept their hero can do wrong, there are outpourings of hate on the internet, the media line up behind the star, the legal system is geared against her and the university authorities are terrified of damaging their reputation with funders. The crime is traumatic, but what follows can re-traumatise the survivor again and again as she struggles to be heard and believed. It really is no surprise that reporting and conviction rates are low.

“I think there is something very dangerous bubbling away on our society and it has to be challenged. One of the aims is to draw every member of the audience into questioning their own attitudes and the myths that exist about rape.”

·       See Neil Cooper’s feature in The Herald http://bit.ly/29IGq50

Pepperdine Scotland

The Interference has been commissioned by 2012 Fringe First-winning company Pepperdine Scotland. The cast and technical crew are made up of students from Pepperdine University in the USA, which has been presenting performances at the Fringe since 1985.

The Interference, which is produced by Alex Fthenakis builds on Pepperdine Scotland’s interest in issues of social justice.

Pepperdine Scotland is a cultural and artistic exchange between Pepperdine University's Department of Theatre and leading members of the Scottish Theatre Community. Its first commission, Peter Arnott’s Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? won a 2012 Scotsman Fringe First Award.

Pepperdine has been performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 1985, and is proud to have expanded its presence in Scotland with this exchange, developed with support from Playwrights' Studio Scotland and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.

Working with Rape Crisis

Lynda Radley and Pepperdine Scotland are working with Scotland’s Rape Crisis charities to raise awareness of their work and to encourage discussion about attitudes towards sexual violence.

One of their key objectives during the Fringe is to encourage debate about the issue of consent and to encourage more consideration about making it a compulsory part of the educational curriculum. This is a measure already being introduced in California, the state where the Pepperdine students are from.

Listings details

The Interference by Lynda Radley is at C Venues C (Venue 34), Adam House, Chambers Street, Edinburgh from 3 to 16 August.

·       The box office is on 0845 2601234 with online booking at www.ctheFestival.com

·       Tickets: Weekend and weekday prices vary. Full price £8.50 to £11.50, concessions £7.50 to £9.50, with special prices of £5.50 to £7.50. See www.ctheFestival.com for the ticket price of each performance.

·       Time: 15.45

·       Duration: 1 hour 15 minutes

• Age: 12+

Background information

The writer - Lynda Radley

Lynda Radley is an award-winning playwright and dramaturg who has been working in professional theatre for over a decade. Her play DORM was recently shortlisted for The Bruntwood Award - one of the UK’s most prestigious new writing awards. She is currently developing plays with the Traverse Theatre, Magnetic North and Stellar Quines. Lynda recently worked as dramaturg for Mark Bruce’s dance version of Dracula which won a South Bank Sky Arts award. In 2011 Lynda won a Scotsman Fringe First for her
play Futureproof, a co-production between Dundee Rep Ensemble and the Traverse Theatre. Her solo show The Art of Swimming was short-listed for Meyer Whitworth and Total Theatre awards and toured internationally. Lynda is published by Nick Hern Books. Lynda frequently works as a dramaturg and creative writing practitioner in collaborative processes (National Theatre of Scotland, Citizens Theatre, Tricky Hat, Playgroup, Imaginate, In Cahootz) and adapted Under Milk Wood for the Tron Theatre's Home Nations Festival, part of The Commonwealth Games cultural programme, 2014.

Director - Cathy Thomas-Grant

Cathy Thomas-Grant heads the Pepperdine Scotland exchange and has served as director of Pepperdine's endeavours in Scotland since 2000. Edinburgh Festival Fringe directing credits include Mr. Happiness/The Water Engine by David Mamet (2002), Eve Ensler's Necessary Targets (2006) Robert Shenkkan's The Kentucky Cycle (2008), Karen Sunde's The Fastest Woman Alive and Naomi Iizuka's Language of Angels (2010), Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? (2012 Scotsman Fringe First Award winner), Forget Fire (2014) and Musical Direction for The Grapes of Wrath (2004).

Soundscape - Michael John McCarthy  

The Interference features a live-mixed soundscape designed and composed by multiple CATS (Critics’ Award for Theatre in Scotland) award nominee Michael John McCarthy.

Michael John is a Cork-born, Glasgow-based composer, musician & sound designer. Work for performance includes: The Cheviot, The Stag & The Black, Black Oil, The BFG & Steel Magnolias (Dundee Rep); Light Boxes, Letters Home & The Authorised Kate Bane (Grid Iron); Into That Darkness, Fever Dream: Southside & Sports Day (Citizens Theatre); In Time O’ Strife, Blabbermouth, The Tin Forest & The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish (National Theatre of Scotland), A Gamblers Guide to Dying (Gary McNair/Show & Tell); Right Now (Traverse Theatre); Bondagers (Royal Lyceum Edinburgh);; Under Milk Wood (Tron Theatre Glasgow); Glory (Janice Parker Projects), Educating Ronnie (Utter). Other companies he has worked with include The Arches, Lung Ha’s, Macrobert, Platform, People’s Light & Theatre Philadelphia, Playgroup, Poorboy, Theatre Uncut, Vox Motus and Youth Music Theatre UK. He has twice been nominated for the Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland in the category Best Use of Music & Sound.

Pepperdine University

Pepperdine University is an independent, medium-sized Christian university enrolling approximately 7,700 students in five colleges and schools. Seaver College, the School of Law, the Graduate School of Education and Psychology, the Graziadio School of Business and Management, and the School of Public Policy are located on the University's 830-acre campus overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Malibu. Courses are taught in Malibu, at four graduate campuses in Southern California, permanent programme facilities in Washington, D.C., and at international campuses in Germany, England, Italy, Switzerland, Argentina, and China.


For further information see www.pepperdinedrama.com @peppscotland

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