Driving home the message

SAFETY message . . . (back, from left) Emily Jenkins, Tiree Kirk and Charlotte Kilroy. Front: the youth council’s Emma O’Donnell, safety campaigner Becca Dale — Chris Dale's sister — and Chantel Birtwistle of Oldham Youth Council)

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Lewis Jones — with Oldham Youth Council members Chantel Birtwistle and Emma O’Donnell

Hard-hitting play follows tragic death of Christopher Dale

As the lights rise on the audience, it’s clear to see one of the first performances of “The Split Second” has had an impact.

Born from a conversation between writer Sarah Nelson and Becca Dale, sister of 15-year-old Chris Dale who was killed in a car accident on Lees Road in June, 2009, the production made its debut at Oldham Sixth Form College.

Part of the Every Life Matters — the Chris Dale campaign to make young drivers more aware of road safety — the production has been created on a shoestring with the help of Oldham Theatre Workshop. Chronicle reporter Lewis Jones and Oldham Youth Council members Chantel Birtwistle and Emma O’Donnell witness the crowd’s reaction to the moving piece of theatre. “You don’t need to speed,” scribbles one teen on a postcard.

“Think, don’t be stupid,” jots another.

The play has had the desired effect.

Silent tears slip down the face of more than a handful of the young audience while the red brick auditorium falls eerily silent, a cautious clap follows a stunned pause.

Writer of the hard-hitting play, Sarah Nelson helps hand out specially-designed postcards for the audience, asking them to write a message to their future selves.

The cards will drop through their letterboxes a year from now as an out-of-the-blue reminder of the way the dramatic production has left them feeling.

It’s been a spine-tingling hour of emotion.

Bobbing in from behind the humble set, the event kicks-off with a chirpy and realistic depiction of teenage life.

Crude, witty and relevant, the scenes are punctuated with chart music and peppered with swear words and slang.

Sections of the play succeed in making the whole audience laugh out loud, a tall order faced with a critical bunch of Oldham teens. But it is the raw emotion shown by the three actors which elevates the play from local drama production to the masterpiece with a message it has become.

Following the story of a first-time driver passing his test and setting off on a roadtrip with his best friend and girlfriend, things take a turn for the worse when they collide with and kill a young teenager during a lapse in concentration.

Tension grips the audience by the throat as the plot unfolds and the upbeat comedy is spliced with sadness and disaster.

Eighteen-year-old Becca Dale sits eagerly at the side of the stage, cementing the play in reality.

Sarah Nelson said: “When you write something you never know how it will work in front of an audience but it has had exactly the reaction we were hoping for.

“Sending the postcards further down the line I hope it will really hammer home the message.

“This could put Oldham on the map, but I don’t care whether it is seen by 10,000 people across the country, as long as it gets the message of being a safer driver into one person it has done its job.”

The fictional happenings gain weight as they race towards a poignant finale.

Chadderton actor Robert Mallard’s portrayal of the popular main character Jake is a triumph, with the last 15 minutes acting as a harrowing crescendo to leave viewers aghast.

His face reddens and tears stream down his face as his character is haunted by the memory of the accident in which he mowed down a younger boy while driving his mother’s car.

The drama stops short of acting out the crash scene, instead relying on an all-encompassing audio track in which the moment of impact is heard.

A heartfelt recording of Becca Dale talking about her late brother and the day he died is then played.

“I’ll always wait for him to bound through the door,” she says, her voice cracked with emotion.

The audience are blown away.

Gently drying her eyes as the lights come up, photography student Helen Richards said: “My sisters knew Chris and they saw the VIP screening, they told me to expect tears but I didn’t think it would be like this.

“It’s just a shock.

“I think it will be really successful, hearing Becca’s voice at the end talking about what they are going through just moves you.

“I’m going to stick that postcard on my wall so I see it every day.”

Tiree Kirk, an 18-year-old student studying English, said: “The impact of the performance was beyond what I expected.

“I knew what the performance was about but nothing could have prepared me for this — I think everyone should see it.”

Olivia Cooke (16) declared: “It was really emotional, the actors brought across emotion in an unforgettable way.”

Drama student Matthew McCormick (16) said it was unlike anything he had seen before.

“Nothing has had an impact on me like that,” he said. “I can relate to every single aspect and I’ve never been able to do that before.

“It’s scary how something like this can happen to normal people, my brother learned to drive a few years ago and I’ve been out in the car with him before.

“It hits home and it makes it real.”

Those involved say interest is already being shown by influential road safety campaigners, and so it should be.

Like a favourite film or a catchy song, the play will stay with the teens who have witnessed it, but for incredibly different reasons.

It succeeds in entertaining and in making people care. More importantly, it succeeds in bringing a stark realisation that behind every display of flowers at the side of Oldham’s roads is heartbreak.