I Love You, Mum - I Promise I Won't Die (Plays for Young People)

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Don’t miss Mark Wheeller’s beautifully-written play and Octopus Dream’s acclaimed production, touring to theatres for the first time, following highly successful tours to secondary schools across the country. At the beginning of the film, Dan's parents Fiona and Tim Spargo-Mabbs fondly describe their son. They talk about how funny he was, how kind and how desperately missed he is. The film then switches to a stage where a cast of four perform the words of Dan's friends as they recount what happened.

An important and often overlooked route into the industry, especially for many non-performing roles. Susan Elkin has some suggestions. Theatre is like an iceberg. For every role on stage there are probably at least half a dozen technicians you can’t see. And the industry has been telling us for decades that there are skills shortages […] School Shows I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won't Die is a true story about Daniel Spargo-Mabbs, a popular schoolboy who tragically died at 16 after taking ecstasy at an illegal rave in 2014. Dan was the younger son of Fiona and Tim Spargo-Mabbs, living with them and his older brother Jacob in Croydon, South London. He was in Year 12 of Archbishop Tenison CE High School in Croydon, which he’d attended since Year 7. Dan was bright, articulate, funny, chatty, popular and talented; a big, engaging, much loved character as illustrated by him being voted Prom King at the end of year 11 by an overwhelming majority. He was embedded in his school community – playing in the band for the school show just before Christmas in year 12 – as well as his local and church communities, running errands for the elderly people to whom he delivered on his daily paper round, and involved in youth work at the church he attended with his family. He had a real social conscience, having recently signed up to the bone marrow donor register and becoming a member of Amnesty International. Neither play text nor production overplays the drama. It’s all there in the controlled, understated performances and the poignancy of the filmed interviews.Ben Glasstone’s charming, witty account of The Emperor Who Has No Clothes works well for two main reasons. First it is one of the most perceptive stories ever written, dealing as it does with vanity, self delusion, conformity and truth. It’s both topical and timeless. Second, we have a cost of living crisis and the […] Book Review – Activist Don’t miss Mark Wheeller’s beautifully-written play and Octopus Dream’s acclaimed production, touring to theatres across the country for the first time. Broadway World “ I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won't Die is a beautiful and deeply touching tribute to a much-loved boy” A verbatim play written by Mark Wheeller using the testimonies of Daniel Spargo-Mabbs’ friends and family. Premiere performance at The BRIT School, Tuesday 29th March 2016

The words of the title are the last ones spoken by sixteen-year-old Daniel Spargo-Mabbs to his mother. One evening in January 2014, Daniel’s parents thought he was going to a friend’s house. He actually attended an illegal rave and later died after taking MDMA.

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The production is incredibly powerful, and aimed at students from years 9-13. It explores issues of choice, risk and consequence, but also friendship, love and loss, and the impact of our choices on others. I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die is the story of Dan, a popular South London schoolboy, who took ecstasy at an illegal rave, and tragically died as a result. This powerful and emotionally-charged play, tells the true story of what happened to Dan, the choices he made and the impact on his family and friends – all told in their own words, from tragedy to redemption. I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die is a verbatim play told through the words of Daniel’s family and friends. The play allows Dan’s story to be told by the people who loved him and knew him the best, his family and friends.

We deliver training to teachers prior to the PSHE programme being delivered, and drug and alcohol awareness training to teachers, school staff and other professionals working with young people. The tour is being supported by drug education charity The Daniel Spargo-Mabbs Foundation. Commenting on the play and support for the tour, the Director & Founder – and Dan’s mum - Fiona Spargo-Mabbs OBE, said: As a result of taking MDMA, Dan’s body temperature soared to 42⁰C and above. At this temperature, the body’s organs can’t cope and they shut down. For a couple of hours his friends couldn’t find him, and when they did he was propped up outside the building in the rain with paramedics. Dan was rushed to A&E at 04:30 on Saturday 18th January. When we found out We were so excited to hear just before Christmas that Mark Wheeller’s play that tells Dan’s story will become a GCSE drama set text next year. ’I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’ will be in great company on the Eduqas syllabus. I’d had a conversation specifically with Dan about ecstasy. It’s one of the things you do as a parent, isn’t it? Wear your helmet when you’re out on your bike, you know, don’t take drugs. To be honest, I was more worried about him being safe on his bike than at a party with his friends.I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die was commissioned by the DSM Foundation to raise awareness about the danger of party drugs. It is a fast-paced, tragic, vibrant piece of verbatim theatre, which should engage teenage readers, audiences and performers alike. TiE It Up Theatre has been touring since 2018 and in that time has completed three tours of Mark Wheeller’s play ‘Hard to Swallow’; two tours in Scotland and two tours in England of the abridged version of ‘I Love You, Mum – I Promise I Won’t Die’; the company has also produced two as-live film versions of both plays which are widely used in schools. This DVD shows the original 2016 OYT production as premiered at the Brit School, directed by author, Mark Wheeller.