Octopus Dream Theatre is set to tour the full-length version of ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’, a powerfully emotive play written by Mark Wheeller. The play tells the true story of Dan, a popular South London schoolboy who tragically died after taking ecstasy at an illegal rave. The tour, which will be held in nine venues across the UK, has been supported by the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, a drug education charity established in 2014 following the death of 16 year old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs.
Elliot Montgomery, Artistic Director at Octopus Dream Theatre, said: “We are delighted to be touring the full-length version of this powerful and emotional story. An abridged version has toured to many secondary schools across the country and has been seen by thousands of young people, but we always wanted to share the full version with a theatre audience. It’s an important, honest and deeply touching human story of how our choices can have such a huge impact on ourselves and our loved ones.”
Fiona Spargo-Mabbs OBE, Director & Founder of the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation, commented: “This is such an exciting development for us as a drug education charity, and also as Dan’s mum and dad. We commissioned Mark Wheeller to turn Dan’s story into a play as part of our passionate commitment when Dan died to prevent any harm happening to anyone else’s family from drugs. This first tour to theatres is taking the play to a whole new audience outside schools, where it’s been touring for the last few years. We really hope this will mean families will come together and have conversations at home that help other teenagers keep themselves safe – but it’s also a beautiful play and a fantastic production, creating an opportunity for anyone who loves great theatre to experience it, and to get to know our Dan.”
Octopus Dream Theatre is a Yorkshire-based touring theatre company which has been touring since 2018. The full tour starts at York Theatre Royal on 19 May and concludes at the Jack Studio in Lewisham in June.
The play ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’ has received wide critical acclaim, with one reviewer from Broadway World calling it “a beautiful and deeply touching tribute to a much-loved boy”.
Octopus Dream Theatre are hoping that the tour will not only provide audiences with an opportunity to experience a fantastic production, but also to start conversations at home that will help other teenagers keep themselves safe.
For more information, please contact David Chafer, Octopus Dream Theatre Producer, on david@tiu-theatre.co.uk or 07747 014895, or the Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation on media@dsmfoundation.org.uk. Full tour details can be found on the Octopus Dream Theatre website.
Distributed by https://pressat.co.uk/
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