How a Leeds Conservatoire graduate is using theatre to raise awareness of the dangers of spiking

A Leeds Conservatoire graduate has written a play focused on the dangers of spiking which will tour around West Yorkshire this October.

Produced by Rebel Roots Theatre Company, Aftermath centres on Layla, a university student who is unknowingly drugged on a night out and for writer Lottie Burns, the play was inspired by the surge in spiking cases in 2021.

The now 23-year-old remembered how the emerging “trend” of needle spiking in university towns transformed how she and her friends approached nights out.

“I was in the girls’ bathroom and normally when I go into a girls’ bathroom, it's a lovely environment of women looking after each other but it was so different,” Lottie told the Yorkshire Evening Post.

“There were girls going up to each other like ‘can you check my arm, I think there’s a pin prick’.

“If they hadn’t been spiked, the placebo was just as terrifying because we couldn’t enjoy our night. We were so scared of there being something in us.”

The fearful experience inspired Lottie to talk to other friends about the subject, who were having similar experiences across the country.

She also spoke to her family, frustrated at limited attention to the perpetrators of spiking attacks.

Lottie said: “Me and my dad had this big conversation about women’s issues and about how we’re always told how to try and prevent something from happening to us rather than for people to stop treating us like that.

“He was horrified that it was happening.”

As Lottie’s dad decided to share a Facebook post calling more men to take action, Lottie thought it’d be interesting to create a play exploring spiking from a male perspective.

That’s why Aftermath is told through the eyes of David, Layla’s father, and Ethan, her brother, who also has a prominent role in the story.

The play is sponsored by anti-spiking organisation CounterSpike, who Lottie described as an “amazing” source of support.

“Having their support means we have the facilities and things to give people afterwards if they want to find out more, or need a bit of support after watching it,” Lottie said.

Aftermath will perform at venues such as the Troydale Pub in Pudsey, St Joseph's Catholic Club in Hunslet, and The Attic in Leeds city centre.

Fareham-born Lottie, who originally trained in acting, said it feels “surreal” to see a play she wrote prepare to take stage.

Lottie said: “I just can’t quite believe it and I’m proud of how far it's come.

“I want to make sure that I do this justice because as much as I’ve been incredibly lucky and haven’t been spiked, it's affected people that I love around me.

“I’m hoping that with this play, we could start to have more conversations - if there’s more awareness than we could hopefully keep people a bit safer.”

The writing of Aftermath began four years ago, as Lottie balanced creating the play alongside her studies and acting projects.

She remembers saying in her Leeds Conservatoire interview that by the time she left the drama school, she wanted to transform her theatre idea into a reality.

Now, 10 months after her graduation, Aftermath is ready for an audience.

To find out more about Aftermath and buy tickets, visit the Rebel Roots Theatre website.