Powerful performances at MK College to mark White Ribbon Day
Milton Keynes College’s Performing Arts department has put on a powerful, student-led production entitled “We Speak Up” in support of the White Ribbon campaign, which works to end male violence against women and girls.
Timed to coincide with White Ribbon Day on Tuesday 25th November, this original performance is the result of weeks of research, devising, and creative collaboration by students who are deeply passionate about the cause. The production, put on for staff and students, explores the challenges young people face and aims to spark conversation and commitment around the White Ribbon pledge. More than 120 people will have seen “We Speak Up” over the three performances, with Deputy Mayor for Milton Keynes, Paul Trendall attending the final showing.
The students have taken ownership of every aspect of the production—from concept to execution—working closely with tutors Colin Bloxham and Mandy Clayfield, technicians, guest speakers, and local charities. Their dedication reflects not only artistic ambition but a heartfelt desire to contribute meaningfully to a national campaign.
Ella Worsley, Level 3 Performing Arts student at MK College, said: “Working on this performance has been nothing less than amazing. Everyone in our class has developed such a strong bond, it’s made it so much easier to be creative and to work together.
“There are so many things to be learned from the play. After the performance, we’d like the audience members to maybe research into the topic and pledge their support to the White Ribbon campaign – there’s a QR code at the bottom of the tickets so they can do that easily. We’re aiming to gain a lot more support for the campaign.
“It’s really important to address topics like men’s violence against women and girls in performances like this because some people still don’t know about it or know that it’s wrong – if they can’t see it’s wrong then nothing will change.”
The production comprised a number of hard-hitting vignettes around violence and abuse and the students were supported in their work by Performing Arts course leader, Colin Bloxham, who says, “This all started off with a conversation with colleagues in our Inclusion and Community Engagement teams, following on from a staff training day we had over the summer. The training day featured a session on the White Ribbon campaign and I knew that I wanted to do a performance to support the campaign as an accredited organisation. I wanted to showcase that our Performing Arts students have a voice and that our job as actors is to tell stories that support our communities.
“The process of putting the performance together has been hectic, but extremely creative. Our students have been phenomenal in their response to the topic. They really got stuck into the research into the topic of Violence Against Women and Girls as well as the White Ribbon campaign, and translated that information into scenes and performances.
“It’s been amazing to see the students’ dedication to their individual parts and the performance as a whole and seeing the final piece on stage has been really powerful. They’ve been able to get across the emotional impact of these issues in a way that they couldn’t achieve if it was just in a leaflet or on a poster – it’s a provocative piece of work where you’ll go away thinking about these issues in a different way. The audiences’ reactions have been really emotional so far, and we’re looking forward to reaching even more people with the rest of our performances.”
Milton Keynes College is itself, White Ribbon Accredited, demonstrating a commitment to aid in the cause of ending violence against women and girls. The College has also supported the White Ribbon Day Employers’ Breakfast held on White Ribbon Day itself at YMCA Milton Keynes. The event was a collaboration between the College, YMCA Milton Keynes and Milton Keynes City Council and aimed to challenge myths about the White Ribbon campaign and introduce a new audience on how to be allies in challenging men’s violence against women and girls. A number of key community figures spoke at the event, including MP for Milton Keynes Central, Emily Darlington. The College’s Performing Arts students even came along to perform some scenes from their “We Speak Up” performance as part of the event.