‘Domino’ effect on mental heath issues

Student officers were given a “potentially life-saving” performance by teenagers in a play designed to help them better understand mental health issues. Charity Youth Action Northern Ireland staged the production for student officers at the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), with the “powerful performance” based on real-life experiences. The play, ‘Domino’, was performed at the Police College by teenagers from across the greater Belfast area, who also took part in a cross-community workshop with the student officers as part of the event. PSNI Inspector Mark Cavanagh said: “As police officers, we deal with mental health issues on a daily basis so this was a great opportunity for new student officers to engage with teenagers and chat about the issues head on. For officers in their initial few weeks of training, the workshop and play helped them give consideration to different perspectives of events that could in real life, lead up to a tragedy. “We’ve had good feedback from the student officers who seemed to really enjoy the performance. I know they’ve been talking about it quite a lot too, which is great in terms of a learning experience for them.” Maire Campbell, artistic director of Youth Action and director of ‘Domino’, commented: “This is a powerful performance and workshop that places the spotlight on mental health especially in young people. It is performed by teenagers and is based on real-life experiences. The concept is that life can be like a domino, once one thing falls everything can fall – but the project offers hope and practical ways to ‘get up’ again. “Projects like this that tackle mental health issues in a skilful and sensitive manner are simply invaluable. Art has the ability to affect us on a unique and deep level; therefore using the arts to reach out to those who are silently suffering can make a real difference and to quote some of our audience feedback, this is potentially a life-saving production.”