SBL premiers Dead End in Seychelles |21 September 2020

Guests watching the premiere of Dead End at the SMA campus

Seychelles Breweries Ltd (SBL) in collaboration with Collingwood Learning in the UK and the Ministry of Education has premiered Dead End for the first time in Seychelles and in any markets which Diageo, parent company of SBL, operates.

The show, which explores the consequences of alcohol in relation to driving, was first premiered in Seychelles on Thursday afternoon at the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) in the presence of the principal secretary for Tertiary Education and Human Resource Development Dr Linda Barallon, management of SBL and the SMA.

In his speech for the occasion, the managing director of SBL, Conor Neiland, spoke about how the initiative to bring the interactive show to Seychelles came about. “We first started with SMASHED about two years ago, when my predecessor was requested by the President to look at how Seychelles Breweries can support government to address the problem of underaged drinking in Seychelles,” explained Mr Neiland.

After the success of SMASHED, which was rolled out in all secondary schools across the country, Seychelles Breweries commissioned Collingwood Learning to work on a programme designed for the older age group of 17 to 19 year olds focusing on drink driving which is also a major problem in Seychelles.

“Students in post-secondary institutions are at the age where they are contemplating to become drivers, or they have just received their licenses – they are categorised as first-time drivers. We want to address the problem at the root,” explained Mr Neiland.

The show explores the consequences of alcohol in relation to driving – the impact of the driver and passenger, the legal and psychological consequences of driving under the influence of alcohol and the role played by peer pressure.

Similarly, to SMASHED, Dead End uses a compelling and hard-hitting live theatre show delivered by an interactive workshop for students that further explores the issues presented in the show. The show and workshop are delivered by Kurt Lagrenade and his groups of actors from Komik Lokal.

The roadshow for Dead End will take the team across all the post-secondary institutions in Seychelles over the next two months.

Text and photos contributed by SBL