York theatre group vows to keep touring play put together following Sarah Everard murder
The 33 year old who grew up in York was killed five years ago
A York theatre company says it will keep touring its show about women’s safety, created after the murder of Sarah Everard.
It has been five years since the 33 year old, who grew up in York, was killed.
Matthew Harper-Hardcastle, CEO and artistic director of Next Door But One, leads the "She Was Walking Home" project.
He explained the impetus behind the project: "Our female artists were going, well, can we do something within our work that actually brings more light to this."
"We're not shifting the perspective to where it needs to be," he added, emphasizing the importance of reframing discussions away from victim-blaming to focus on broader societal change. "This shouldn't be a conversation of wear bright colours... actually, we need to call to action predominantly to men."
The theatre company conducted interviews with 33 women from York and North Yorkshire to capture their experiences and ideas for transformation: "We created this first into an audio walk... hoping people could see this was happening on their streets."
As the project grew, it transitioned to a touring theatre show, engaging thousands of young people: "The dual focus was to support young women and encourage young men to make positive changes."
He shared the transformation he's witnessed: "We've seen young men make assemblies for the young women in the schools... We've seen real sort of micro change."
Encouraging young men to take action, Harper-Hardcastle stated, "You have agency and you have power... you can make your friends, your girlfriends, your sisters, your mothers feel safer by changing your daily interactions."
Matthew articulated the project’s ultimate aim: "Every time we tour this show, we say the best result would be we never have to do this show again because the change has fully happened."