alan45
01-08-2012, 13:48
Episode: 1 of 2
Friday, 17 August 2012, 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Factual
This exclusive new two-part series for ITV1 sees four much-loved Coronation Street stars take a break from the cobbles of Weatherfield to spread a life-saving message in Africa.
Actors Sue Cleaver, Ryan Thomas, Brooke Vincent and Ben Price jetted out to Kenya to work with the charity S.A.F.E. on a mission to use performing arts to educate people on the dangers of HIV and drug abuse.
Using their Coronation Street storyline experience, the foursome had just over a week to recruit local actors and workshop their story ideas into a series of soap-like plays with a warning message which were then performed by them and S.A.F.E.’s Kenyan actors to a live audience in the African bush.
There are scenes of tears and laughter as the actors meet the people they will be working with and visit the homes of those they are trying to reach out to.
Sue, Ryan, Brooke and Ben have fun mentoring the local actors and helping them to act out scenes from Coronation Street.
And they visit the local villages and meet people suffering from HIV and AIDS and those whose lives have been changed thanks to education in a country where over 70,000 people lose their lives to the disease every year.
Episode One
The first episode sees the actors arrive in the biggest slum in Mombasa. Home to 20,000 people, the slum has no running water, a poor sewage system and, for those living there, there’s a high risk of them catching cholera or dysentery.
The actors are shocked at the sights that greet them, both because of the poor conditions and also the positive way the locals handle their environment.
As she wanders around the slum, Brooke tells the programme: “I don’t think I have seen so many people in one place before.”
On average, seven people live in each house, and the Corrie actors meet one family who live in just one room.
Sue says: “The poverty and the problems that people have here, you cannot fail to see. What’s got me is the way that they deal with it.”
The actors explain to the programme their thoughts when they were asked to take part in the project with charity, S.A.F.E. which uses performing arts to create social change.
Ben says: “Becoming a dad was a very big moment in my life and, if I can, in someway, help those children while I’m there, then it seems a personal angle for me. It’s not in my comfort zone, or within my experience, but I think that’s a great reason to do it.”
Brooke says: “I’m an emotional person and I know I’m going to want to take all of these people home with me, that’s what I’m like.”
Sue adds: “To be able to make just a tiny weeny bit of difference, I was like, ‘Yes, absolutely, I’m on board.’”
The actors explain that they want to help the charity to create characters for their plays that are recognisable. After they have left Kenya, the plays will tour around the country and return with further instalments, so the aim is to make the stories and characters as gripping as those in Coronation Street.
Before they get started, the actors have a trip to the local sex education centre where they are tested on their knowledge of condoms. Next, they take a tour of the local village and are pleased to see African equivalents of the Rovers Return, The Kabin, Underworld and Roy’s Rolls.
But it all gets a bit much for Brooke when she meets the local children. She fights back tears as she tells the cameras: “I don’t know what to do. They’re all so kind and welcoming. They welcome you into what they have and even though that’s not much, to them it’s everything.’
As their first day draws to a close, Sue says: “I’m exhilarated about getting started, bring it on.”
The next day the Corrie actors and the S.A.F.E. team meet for the first time – after the charity actors have watched clips of the actors in action on the streets of Weatherfield. They take part in a drumming circle to introduce themselves and Ryan says: “It’s an exciting feeling, I’m absolutely buzzing.”
Kamau from S.A.F.E. tells them the challenge that lies ahead. He says: “Yesterday…we went to a place where they demonstrated condoms and talked about HIV and our work at S.A.F.E. We do that on stage. So the challenge here is seven days. We have seven days to put out what we normally do. We put on world class performances and hundreds of people will be waiting.”
The Coronation Street actors’ next task is to audition local actors to play the parts of a young man and woman in the plays.
As they split into groups, Sue, Ryan, Brooke and Ben help the actors to recreate scenes from Coronation Street, such as when Becky McDonald stayed the night with Ben’s character, Nick, and when Brooke’s character, Sophie, was about to get married to another girl.
After they have chosen the actors to play the parts, Sue goes with two of the charity workers to visit some of the people who they are trying to help.
Sue meets 25-year-old Patricia who is also pregnant and HIV positive. Patricia already has one baby who was born HIV negative but became HIV positive after she breastfed him. She also has another daughter who is HIV positive and Sue is moved to tears as Patricia explains that her children cannot play outside as they get beaten by other children in the village because of their disease.
Afterwards Sue says: “This is the reality. This is what it’s about and I’m glad I saw it. It’s education that’s needed.”
With only a few days before the play is to be performed, the Corrie cast members advise the actors on developing their characters, and Ryan pays a visit to an orphanage.
There are an estimated one million orphans in Kenya, largely because the children have lost their parents to HIV and AIDS. Mattoh, who runs the orphanage with his brother, explains to Ryan and they too were orphans and have now opened the orphanage to help other children to stay off the streets.
One little boy shows Ryan around and tells him that his favourite football team is Manchester United.
Ryan says: “We complain about so much, but if you came here and saw what these guys have, you would never complain again.”
And, S.A.F.E. worker Aisha invites Sue and Brooke to her home for a traditional meal. The trio talk about Aisha’s family and the loss of her mother to AIDs and Brooke is left overwhelmed by her story.
Sarah Kennedy, S.A.F.E.’s Development Director, says: "Corrie Goes to Kenya highlights the continued stigma and misinformation that surrounds HIV/AIDS across Africa, as well as the difficulties in overcoming these challenges in a country where most people do not have access to a TV and only 85 per cent of adults are literate. S.A.F.E. beats the odds to deliver life- saving information through accessible, mobile street theatre, and we’re so pleased Corrie Goes to Kenya is spreading the message to the British public about the need for this education and what S.A.F.E does.”
Friday, 17 August 2012, 9:00PM - 10:00PM
Factual
This exclusive new two-part series for ITV1 sees four much-loved Coronation Street stars take a break from the cobbles of Weatherfield to spread a life-saving message in Africa.
Actors Sue Cleaver, Ryan Thomas, Brooke Vincent and Ben Price jetted out to Kenya to work with the charity S.A.F.E. on a mission to use performing arts to educate people on the dangers of HIV and drug abuse.
Using their Coronation Street storyline experience, the foursome had just over a week to recruit local actors and workshop their story ideas into a series of soap-like plays with a warning message which were then performed by them and S.A.F.E.’s Kenyan actors to a live audience in the African bush.
There are scenes of tears and laughter as the actors meet the people they will be working with and visit the homes of those they are trying to reach out to.
Sue, Ryan, Brooke and Ben have fun mentoring the local actors and helping them to act out scenes from Coronation Street.
And they visit the local villages and meet people suffering from HIV and AIDS and those whose lives have been changed thanks to education in a country where over 70,000 people lose their lives to the disease every year.
Episode One
The first episode sees the actors arrive in the biggest slum in Mombasa. Home to 20,000 people, the slum has no running water, a poor sewage system and, for those living there, there’s a high risk of them catching cholera or dysentery.
The actors are shocked at the sights that greet them, both because of the poor conditions and also the positive way the locals handle their environment.
As she wanders around the slum, Brooke tells the programme: “I don’t think I have seen so many people in one place before.”
On average, seven people live in each house, and the Corrie actors meet one family who live in just one room.
Sue says: “The poverty and the problems that people have here, you cannot fail to see. What’s got me is the way that they deal with it.”
The actors explain to the programme their thoughts when they were asked to take part in the project with charity, S.A.F.E. which uses performing arts to create social change.
Ben says: “Becoming a dad was a very big moment in my life and, if I can, in someway, help those children while I’m there, then it seems a personal angle for me. It’s not in my comfort zone, or within my experience, but I think that’s a great reason to do it.”
Brooke says: “I’m an emotional person and I know I’m going to want to take all of these people home with me, that’s what I’m like.”
Sue adds: “To be able to make just a tiny weeny bit of difference, I was like, ‘Yes, absolutely, I’m on board.’”
The actors explain that they want to help the charity to create characters for their plays that are recognisable. After they have left Kenya, the plays will tour around the country and return with further instalments, so the aim is to make the stories and characters as gripping as those in Coronation Street.
Before they get started, the actors have a trip to the local sex education centre where they are tested on their knowledge of condoms. Next, they take a tour of the local village and are pleased to see African equivalents of the Rovers Return, The Kabin, Underworld and Roy’s Rolls.
But it all gets a bit much for Brooke when she meets the local children. She fights back tears as she tells the cameras: “I don’t know what to do. They’re all so kind and welcoming. They welcome you into what they have and even though that’s not much, to them it’s everything.’
As their first day draws to a close, Sue says: “I’m exhilarated about getting started, bring it on.”
The next day the Corrie actors and the S.A.F.E. team meet for the first time – after the charity actors have watched clips of the actors in action on the streets of Weatherfield. They take part in a drumming circle to introduce themselves and Ryan says: “It’s an exciting feeling, I’m absolutely buzzing.”
Kamau from S.A.F.E. tells them the challenge that lies ahead. He says: “Yesterday…we went to a place where they demonstrated condoms and talked about HIV and our work at S.A.F.E. We do that on stage. So the challenge here is seven days. We have seven days to put out what we normally do. We put on world class performances and hundreds of people will be waiting.”
The Coronation Street actors’ next task is to audition local actors to play the parts of a young man and woman in the plays.
As they split into groups, Sue, Ryan, Brooke and Ben help the actors to recreate scenes from Coronation Street, such as when Becky McDonald stayed the night with Ben’s character, Nick, and when Brooke’s character, Sophie, was about to get married to another girl.
After they have chosen the actors to play the parts, Sue goes with two of the charity workers to visit some of the people who they are trying to help.
Sue meets 25-year-old Patricia who is also pregnant and HIV positive. Patricia already has one baby who was born HIV negative but became HIV positive after she breastfed him. She also has another daughter who is HIV positive and Sue is moved to tears as Patricia explains that her children cannot play outside as they get beaten by other children in the village because of their disease.
Afterwards Sue says: “This is the reality. This is what it’s about and I’m glad I saw it. It’s education that’s needed.”
With only a few days before the play is to be performed, the Corrie cast members advise the actors on developing their characters, and Ryan pays a visit to an orphanage.
There are an estimated one million orphans in Kenya, largely because the children have lost their parents to HIV and AIDS. Mattoh, who runs the orphanage with his brother, explains to Ryan and they too were orphans and have now opened the orphanage to help other children to stay off the streets.
One little boy shows Ryan around and tells him that his favourite football team is Manchester United.
Ryan says: “We complain about so much, but if you came here and saw what these guys have, you would never complain again.”
And, S.A.F.E. worker Aisha invites Sue and Brooke to her home for a traditional meal. The trio talk about Aisha’s family and the loss of her mother to AIDs and Brooke is left overwhelmed by her story.
Sarah Kennedy, S.A.F.E.’s Development Director, says: "Corrie Goes to Kenya highlights the continued stigma and misinformation that surrounds HIV/AIDS across Africa, as well as the difficulties in overcoming these challenges in a country where most people do not have access to a TV and only 85 per cent of adults are literate. S.A.F.E. beats the odds to deliver life- saving information through accessible, mobile street theatre, and we’re so pleased Corrie Goes to Kenya is spreading the message to the British public about the need for this education and what S.A.F.E does.”