10th Anniversary in Scottish Parliament

Theatre Nemo's 10th Anniversary celebrations were held in the bright airy committee room 2 at the Scottish Parliament thanks to the active and ongoing support of Linda Fabiani MSP. Linda has given Theatre Nemo outstanding support through the years and so it was only right that she host what was a very successful evening.

This particular event focused on the arts educational work undertaken by Theatre Nemo’s specialist facilitators in our prisons, and highlighted the true benefits of the arts in providing people with the skills and opportunity to take charge of their lives to determine new pathways and move on from previous life experiences to recognise personal worth and development of self esteem.

Questions we have to ask ourselves. Do we want prisons to be a place to further reinforce social exclusion and release people back into the community no better than they went in or do we want the time spent in prison to be used in such a way that new insights are gained and that people can be prepared to lead a responsible life on release.

John McCaig, Director of Theatre Nemo, formerly deputy Inspector of Prisons, gave a factual and memorable speech on why we need to do more for prisoners and the alarming figures on mental health in prisons and gave us some idea of the direction in which Theatre Nemo will go in the years ahead.

The star of the evening was undoubtedly Andy, an ex-prisoner who said he had been fated (in his own words) to meet Theatre Nemo whilst in prison and how much it had enabled him to turn away from his previous life of crime.

The changes that he has made are truly remarkable, not only has he stopped offending, he has managed to get off drugs and now has a good relationship with his family, where before they were not his priority the drugs were. We were all touched by his honesty, his courage in standing up in a room full of strangers, his forthrightness and how expressive he was on behalf of many of those whose lives have been touched by Theatre Nemo’s work. We are incredibly glad to announce that in recognition of his inspiring progress and amazing hard work Andy has since been appointed to the Theatre Nemo board of directors.

Also joining us in our celebrations was Kenny MacAskill, Cabinet Secretary for Justice who gave us a characteristically forthright speech on the importance of the individual building confidence and self esteem and having the skills to move forward, taking responsibility for their actions and being given a second chance by organisations like Theatre Nemo.

To end the evening our spirits were lifted by the Theatre Nemo community choir singing some of their best Scottish songs whilst the audience clapped in time to the most lively of the jigs.