Play tackling domestic abuse to be performed in US

A theatre production that educates young people on how to spot the signs of domestic abuse is crossing the pond to run workshops in the United States.

Bradford-based social enterprise Soundproof Box has partnered with the Megan Montgomery Foundation and the University of Alabama to bring the play Red Flags Interactive to stateside audiences.

Founder Lise Kaye-Bell, from Leeds, said the collaboration demonstrated the level of demand for early intervention education around domestic abuse.

"This is a worldwide problem - it does not start and end in Leeds. We're doing a lot of great work and we'll continue to do that across West Yorkshire and beyond," she said.

Inspired by her own experiences, Kaye-Bell penned the play to provide early intervention education as she felt "a lot of services available are there to support people after things have happened".

It has since been seen by an estimated 35,000 young people across West Yorkshire and travelled to the the Edinburgh Fringe in 2024.

The play unfolds "like a talk show" with two actors centre stage, telling a story and role-playing relationship scenarios.

The audience are given red flags which they wave when they witness behaviour they do not like or find problematic, Kaye-Bell explained.

"The beauty of the piece is it's in three parts and each part is facilitated.

"So we get the audience interaction, we get to hear what they're thinking about the story, they can ask questions, they can share their observations - it's massively interactive."

After the production's Edinburgh run, the team at the Megan Montgomery Foundation got in touch to invite them out to Birmingham, Alabama.

The US charity provides grants to schools, colleges and non-profit organisations for education on healthy relationships, according to its website.

Kaye-Bell is currently in the US and said it was "incredibly powerful and deeply meaningful" to work alongside new partners developing the play for US audiences.

"This is not just a UK problem, this is a problem across the world," she added.

"There are early signs we can teach young people to get out of those relationships or identify early on and not go into them."

• If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this story, information and support can be found at the BBC's Action Line.

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