When 19-year-old Mahlee, a member of Geelong’s Nobody’s Fool Theatre, first heard Grace Tame’s famous Australian of the Year acceptance speech in 2021 she realised she was in an abusive relationship and needed to call it out.
Little did she know that realisation would lead to the creation of an uncompromising music video about consent entitled ‘No Means No’.
“The next day (after hearing Grace Tame speak) I went into Nobody’s Fool rehearsals and I spoke about the interview…and I also talked about what had happened to me,” Mahlee said.
“I had been in a very toxic relationship that was abusive in every way possible, and I didn’t realise that my own personal experience was shared by other kids here. That was a big thing for me, to tell everyone about that and then get everyone else’s stories.
“And that sparked up a big conversation about consent, what each of us thought about that, ‘cos it’s a really big topic.
“There’s a lot of young people out there that are scared to say ‘no’ in certain situations. I know, I was petrified of saying the word ‘no’.”
That conversation became the catalyst for ‘No Means No’, released on YouTube last week by Nobody’s Fool Theatre’s parent organisation, Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company (SDTC).
The creators are all members of Nobody’s Fool Theatre, an arts-led early intervention program for school non-attenders, which is run by SDTC in partnership with Newcomb Secondary College.
Nobody’s Fool Theatre offers young people aged 13-19 a safe and inclusive environment where they can work toward Victorian Curriculum outcomes in the Arts, English, and Mathematics.
The students also attend intensive workshops conducted by SDTC artists throughout the year in drama, music, dance, multi-media and script development, leading to performances, regional tours and the creation of digital media resources such as ‘No Means No.’
SDTC artistic director Maud Clark said the music video was intended to promote awareness and conversation of the importance of consent.
“There is a lot of fear around consent, and where people stand with that, so I think the more discussion there is and awareness around the many layers of consent understood and integrated, the better for all of us,” she said.
