I Wont Die

By Mark Wheeller

I’d had a conversation specifically with Dan about ecstasy. It’s one of the things you do as a parent, isn’t it? Wear your helmet when you’re out on your bike, you know, don’t take drugs. To be honest, I was more worried about him being safe on his bike than at a party with his friends. The words of the title are the last ones spoken by seventeen-year-old Daniel Spargo Mabbs to his mother. Last January, Daniel’s parents thought he was going to a friend’s house. He actually attended an illegal rave and later died after taking MDMA. That fateful evening is told through the words of his school friends and family, divided into two hard-hitting acts in Mark Wheeller’s verbatim play. I Love You, Mum, I Promise I Won’t Die was commissioned by the charity set up in Daniel’s memory to raise awareness about the danger of party drugs. It is a fast-paced, tragic, vibrant piece of verbatim theatre, which should engage teenage readers, audiences and performers alike.

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