Mid-Sussex play raises awareness for men’s mental health

Barnet Hawks centres around nine men and their stories, discovering the power of friendship and belonging. Set in a changing room of a down-on-their-luck football team and featuring hits from Tom Jones, Billy Joel, Queen, The Greatest Showman and many more, the production is packed full of laughs, toe-tapping songs, thought-provoking themes and lots of heart, Nicci promises. In line with the topics and messages within this production, the cast and creative team have partnered with Movember and are using this new production as a platform to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s mental and physical health. At Ariel we are always striving to use drama and its associated skills to positively impact the lives of individuals within our community. As the idea for Barnet Hawks developed, we soon realised we had a wider cause than just the production itself.”

Since the start of November, the cast and creative team have taken on various challenges, all in aid of Movember. This included moustache growing, 60k walks and runs and so far, the cast have raised nearly £700.

Students from Ariel’s six Drama Academies joined in the fun and wore their own stick-on moustaches to raise funds.

“The fundraising doesn’t end there as the cast plan to continue their cause at the two performances at The New Bury Theatre Hurstpierpoint on Friday, February 17 and Saturday, February 18. If you would like to support this new production, tickets can be bought at https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/ariel. If you’d like to find out more about Ariel’s Drama Academies, costume and theatre equipment hire, contact www.arielct.com or call 01444 250407. Free trials are available at all Academies.” Ariel has Drama Academies for students aged four–19 yrs. There are currently Ariel Academies on Saturday mornings at Burgess Hill, Crawley and Steyning and on Saturday afternoons at East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Horsham.