Anti-racism theatre production toured schools for Hate Crime Awareness Week

A THEATRE production has toured Tameside Primary schools to provide anti-racist education to students and teachers for Hate Crime Awareness Week.

The production, commissioned by Tameside Council, and funded by the Community Safety Partnership is a collaborative approach between ‘Show Racism The Red Card’ (SRTRC) and ‘Odd Arts’ groups.

Odd Arts performed their Knock Out Blow play (KOB) focused on the story of unknown Manchester boxer Len Johnson who was denied champion status because of his skin colour in the 1930s.

SRTRC delivered workshops that compliment and build on KOB – looking at how we recognise racism and importantly how we can respond to racism today.

The productions raised awareness and critical thinking around issues relating to race discrimination. They helped equip students with answers to questions such as ‘What does racism look like in 2025?’ and ‘How can we act as allies?’.

Tameside Council Executive Member for Towns, Transport and Connectivity Cllr Stephen Homer said: “Supporting safe and supportive communities is important to us and this is a fantastic project that will help achieve this by celebrating positive black role models and inspiring young people to challenge discrimination and inequalities.”

 “Values are shaped from a young age so it’s important we work with schools to educate our children on hate crime, how it affects people and how they can be proactive in supporting their peers and their wider community. Theatre is a really effective way of engaging young people and helping them to learn and further explore issues. I’m sure the project will have a really positive and lasting impact on the pupils involved.”

For more information on the performance, visit here.