Tough Case:
The next upcoming sponsored event is a reading of the play "Tough Case" authored by the renowed playwright David Craig from Roseneath Theatre. This will take place at George Brown College on October the 4th, 2011 from 10:00-11:45 a.m in Room 406 in the Financial Services Building on Adelaide St. It is for students of the Community Worker and Child and Youth Worker Program at George Brown and invited guests.
Tough Case is a gritty, fast moving, fifty-two minute drama that depicts the resolution of a crime through the practice of restorative justice. Described as “a court room drama without the courtroom”, Tough Case engages the audience from the first line and never lets go.
The story centres on Nessa, a restorative justice worker who grew up in a tough, north Halifax, housing project. Her background allows her to connect with Dane, a sixteen-year old young offender who has hideously vandalized the home of an elderly widow, Grace Ross. Dane is accompanied by his mother, Marjorie, a woman deeply protective of her son in spite of his criminal tendencies. We discover she and her son are fleeing from an abusive relationship with Dane’s father. Nessa tries to contact the victim, but Grace Ross is too traumatized to speak and too fearful to sleep in her own home. Nessa instead meets with Grace’s son, Tom, who attacks the process he sees as a mere “slap on the wrist”. To Tom, restorative justice is a make work project for progressives who are too unrealistic to realize that only punishment works. We see Nessa persuade these angry, hurt people to attend a meeting where Dane and Grace must face each other and where reconciliation emerges.
The story centres on Nessa, a restorative justice worker who grew up in a tough, north Halifax, housing project. Her background allows her to connect with Dane, a sixteen-year old young offender who has hideously vandalized the home of an elderly widow, Grace Ross. Dane is accompanied by his mother, Marjorie, a woman deeply protective of her son in spite of his criminal tendencies. We discover she and her son are fleeing from an abusive relationship with Dane’s father. Nessa tries to contact the victim, but Grace Ross is too traumatized to speak and too fearful to sleep in her own home. Nessa instead meets with Grace’s son, Tom, who attacks the process he sees as a mere “slap on the wrist”. To Tom, restorative justice is a make work project for progressives who are too unrealistic to realize that only punishment works. We see Nessa persuade these angry, hurt people to attend a meeting where Dane and Grace must face each other and where reconciliation emerges.