Raising Awareness around Sexism & Sexist Behaviours
Unacceptable is a fantastic applied theatre project, developed by Narrative Alchemy (the team behind ‘Chelsea’s Story’, ‘County Lines’, and ‘Breaking the Chain’), aimed at raising awareness, kick-starting conversations and promoting cultural change around sexism, misogyny, sexual harassment and sexual violence (VAWG, violence against women and girls).
To date, it has had an audience of over 30,000 young people in schools across the country. The writers created the play to be engaging, non-judgemental, and to empower boys to reflect on their actions, while also showing girls that they do not have to tolerate unacceptable behaviour and acting as an early intervention for schools.
Sexism, sexual harassment and sexual violence are, unfortunately, an issue for every school in every community in the UK. In order to combat these issues, we need to understand and raise awareness of what they are, what creates them and what can be done to expose and respond to the harmful attitudes that perpetuate harassment and gender injustice.
Storyline
Friends Oli and Kalyn confront their friend Adam, who has been saying and posting some worrying things lately. They have decided to stage an intervention and are going to explain to Adam what sexism is, the differing forms that it can take and the impact that comments and actions can have.
Performance of Unacceptable in Parliament
On Wednesday 26 March 2025, MPs and guests at the Houses of Parliament witnessed a gripping performance of Unacceptable. The play was performed at the request of Helen Hayes MP, Chair of the Education Committee and other MPs and their teams were in attendance, as well as invited charitable organisations including Tender.
Following the performance, Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood and Chair of the Education Committee, said:
“Thank you to Narrative Alchemy for staging a powerful performance of Unacceptable in Parliament. Sexism and misogyny infiltrate all corners of society and parents, teachers and young people themselves often struggle to tackle it. Unacceptable is a really effective use of the power of storytelling to educate young people on sexism and misogyny and begin conversations which can be transformative, and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone seeking to address misogyny amongst young people.”
Stuart Andrew, MP for Daventry, added:
“The TV drama, Adolescence, has got everyone talking and it demonstrates the reach of such productions. It is extremely timely to have Unacceptable shown in Parliament today, and I hope that this show will be a huge success.”
Schools & Colleges feedback
“We’ve just had the team deliver ‘Unacceptable’, and it was superb. The actors were fab, brilliant with our kids, and I’ll certainly be booking more in the future. I’ve just wandered round the classrooms, and they’re all discussing the play and the issues. In our setting, those issues are something we face daily, so it was very powerful.”
Chris Denley, Principal, Penwith Academy, Nov 29, 2024
Project Information
Running Time 50 minutes
Get In 1 hr
Get Out 30 mins
Cast Size 3
Performance Space 4m x 4m
Staging Ground Level – End On
We can perform the play for intimate audiences or to entire year groups at a time. All we need is a performance space roughly 4m x 4m and somewhere to plug in our sound system. The cast do not use mics so performance venues must be suitable for unamplified voices. The cast aim to arrive one hour before the show start time to set up and take about 30 minutes to pack down.
Target Audience
- Young People (year 7+)
- FE colleges
- Parents, carers, teachers & professionals working with young people
The project uses simple story-telling and narrative theory techniques to cover:-
- What is sexual harassment?
- What is sexist language?
- What are sexist stereotypes, attitudes and behaviours?
- Where do these stereotypes, attitudes and behaviours come from, where can they lead and what are their effects?
- What is consent?
- How can you respond to and/or report these behaviours?
- How do we create lasting change?
Narrative Alchemy Theatre Co.
Theatre productions to raise awareness, get young people talking and tackle knife crime, grooming, misogyny, drugs and mental health.
Narrative Alchemy is one of the leading Applied Theatre & Film production companies in the UK. Our primary focus is creating positive change through the art of storytelling.
Our team collaborates with various organisations, including schools, colleges, charities, government bodies, the NHS, and private companies, to develop and deliver impactful productions. We explore topics such as safeguarding, cultural health, wellbeing, and social issues.
Our portfolio of work includes projects on child sexual exploitation, child criminal exploitation, domestic abuse & coercive control, radicalisation & extremism, hate crime, knife crime, sexism & sexist behaviours, emotional resilience, internet safety, and diversity. By raising awareness and initiating conversations around these issues, we hope to contribute towards a better world.
Available 2025/2026
- £695+vat per show (AM or PM slots available)
- Or you can book the whole day for £1,295+vat and have up to 3 x performances in the day
Booking
To book or for further assistance, please call 0161 236 1448 to talk to our friendly team. Alternatively, fill in the enquiry form below and we’ll get back to you with availability in your area…
Theatre for Schools 