Latest news with #Shug
Scottish Sun
05-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
New hard-hitting play about suicide in prison stars real-life ex-offenders
'When I heard there was a over 40 per cent increase in suicides in Scottish prisons, I gasped. It wasn't good enough and it never left me' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DEATHS in Scottish prisons are amongst the highest in Europe after increasing by 60 per cent in the past year, a recent report revealed. The Scottish Centre for Crime and Justice Research found 64 people died in jail in 2024 - up from 40 in 2023 - with 17 of those deaths apparent suicides. 4 Ex-offenders Duncan Stewart and David Ross play cellmates Shug and Rambo. 4 All the cast together at The Fort Theatre in Glasgow where they are staging Fever. 4 Fever is written by Gemma Muir, who was triggered by the high rates of suicide behind bars in Scottish jails. Professor Sarah Armstrong. who led the research for Glasgow University, stated the figures were 'unprecedented'. Chief Features Writer MATT BENDORIS speaks to Natalie Logan, who lost her own dad to suicide in jail, about a new play that aims to turn the spotlight on the blight going on behind bars with a new play called Fever. FEVER is the elation that prisoners feel in the build-up to the day they are set free - but this play was written out of sheer shock at the appalling rates of suicide behind bars. Natalie Logan runs the charity Sisco which works hand-in-hand with the Scottish Prison Service to help offenders return to society. But her community manager Gemma Muir was inspired to put pen to paper after a visit to Barlinnie where she discovered The Scottish Prison Service's Talk to Me suicide prevention strategy had failed - with a 42 per cent rise in suicides since the scheme was introduced in 2016. Gemma, 39, from Bishopbriggs, Glasgow, said: 'Before I started working with Sisco I was very much of the mindset that if you do the crime you do the time. 'But when I started my training the facts and figures that were trotted out from the work book were pretty triggering for me. 'When I heard there was a over 40 per cent increase in suicides in Scottish prisons, I gasped. It wasn't good enough and it never left me.' Four years on it has led to Gemma's first play Fever, following the stories of cellmates Shug and Rambo as they prepare for release. Every actor in the production, which begins a three night run at Bishopbrigg's Fort Theatre from tonight (July 31), are ex-offenders including including Glaswegians Duncan Stewart, 64, from Possilpark, who plays Shug and David Ross, 53, from Springburn, who portrays Rambo. Inside Belmarsh: Secrets of Britain's most notorious prisoners Natalie and Gemma and the rest of the team hear stories like theirs all the time at the Sisco Recovery Cafes they run both inside and outside of Scotland's jails. Duncan said: 'I was first put in the care system when I was 10. That escalated to approved schools, then jail. ' But about 10 years ago I met Natalie and I started getting off my heroin, my crack, my spice, my methadone, my booze. I was still smoking cannabis, but I don't do that now. 'What changed for me? My attitude, I didn't care about myself. But I found people that gave me tools to start caring about myself. 'It took me about seven and a half years for the penny to drop, but they never once asked me to leave.' Asked how he's adapted to being an actor, Duncan just laughs: 'We've been actors our whole life - we knew how to lie and cheat. 'I didn't know it then but that's the same as acting. But then these women took a leap of faith to put me in a play to do it for real.' David also found himself in the care system from a young age, but admits acting out his character Rambo's suicidal thoughts was personally a tough ask. He said: 'I had a similar experience with my last sentence. I was suicidal. 'If it wasn't for me having these people that cared for me, then I might not be here today. 'But we just want to get the message out there that there are other options. That there's always hope - you just need to talk to somebody.' Every scene in Fever is also based on real-life scenarios experienced by all the cast. Natalie, 46, from Springburn said: 'The importance of having lived-experienced actors is we didn't want any of the play to be superficial, fabricated or untrue. 'We wanted it to be as gritty and real as possible and to leave people questioning, does the Scottish Prison Service work? 'Ultimately, at the moment, they don't do enough because they don't have adequate resources to support people.' The mum-of-two has skin in the game after her dad Stephen Logan took his life in jail in 1986. She called her charity Sisco as it was his nickname. She said: 'My father was on suicide watch. Now the bottom line is if someone is on suicide watch you would assume that your family member is in a place of safety. 'A fatal accident inquiry found there was no accountability. Nothing's changed since then almost 40 years on. REVIEW OF NEW PRISON PLAY FEVER FEVER starts with Shug and his 'co-pilot' (cellmate) Rambo getting on each other's nerves. The play follows all their ups and downs from the excitement building to their release, to their hopes and fears over their family relationships down to where they are going to stay. But it doesn't skirt over their rampant drug taking and dealing behind bars with Rambo's kid sister sneaking his supply in during visiting time. There are plenty of laughs too, like the moment Shug says it's 'Willy Wallace day' because he's getting his 'freedom!' It all builds to a Sliding Doors-style climax where Rambo - immediately rearrested after release - can take no more and decides to end his life, alone in his cell. Members of the audience, who were themselves ex-offenders or their families, were in floods of tears. But it ends with an alternative scenario when an upbeat letter from Shug saves the day with Rambo deciding to get back on the straight and narrow, leaving us all with hope. MATT BENDORIS 'Although they're in prison, they're not all bad people. Yes, we have a small cohort of really, really bad people that absolutely should be in prison. 'But I just wish policy makers would come to see this play to see what's going on inside the Scottish Prison Service because if nothing it done then the next set of suicide figures are going to be truly eye-watering.' A Scottish Prison Service spokesperson said: 'Our staff work hard to support and protect vulnerable people in our care, including in moments of crisis in their lives. 'Following recent Fatal Accident Inquiry determinations, we have committed to delivering rapid and systemic change, which will be enduring and impactful and also look at ways in which we can go beyond them, help our staff build positive relationships with people in custody, particularly those who might be vulnerable, and keep them safe. 'This includes an overhaul of Talk To Me, our suicide prevention programme, based on the advice of independent experts.'
7NEWS
01-08-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
The Summer I Turned Pretty's Jenny Han has so much respect for the big feelings of girlhood
Belly Conklin feels things very deeply. Caught between her affection for two boys – brothers Jeremiah and Conrad – she dreams about them both, the futures they could have, the kisses they would share. Lara Jean Covey feels things very deeply. She writes letters to boys she forms a connection to, even if they don't know she exists, until her secret missives make their way to the addressees, and one of them, Peter Kavinsky, approaches her with the piece of paper in hand. Jenny Han is the woman behind both those stories, The Summer I Turned Pretty and To All the Boys I've Loved Before, young adult fiction books that have turned into streaming sensations, on Prime Video and Netflix, respectively. Those stories capture a special moment in a young girl's life, when they start to awaken to the fantasies and possibilities of love. It's a heady time when every stolen glance at a crush could end up in red-cheeked embarrassment or ultimate wish-fulfilment (or, more likely, nothing at all). Almost everyone goes through it, but teen girls go through it with so much emotion and angst, right there on the surface. The complexities of reality and adult responsibility has not yet hit, and the rush of hormones makes everything heightened. The highs are euphoric. 'There's something very magical about girlhood, and growing up and experiencing life for the first time. It all just feels much more potent and intense,' Han told The Nightly. Han is in Australia this week to promote the release of The Summer I Turned Pretty's third season, which after one week, has been watched by 25 million viewers around the world, according to stats provided by Prime. That's a lot of people swooning to the dramatic turns in Belly Conklin's (Lola Tung) life as she enters the final year of university and re-examines a question she thought she had settled. The Summer I Turned Pretty is breezy and sweet, and very popular among young women who see in its recognisable character types aspects of their own teenage years. Han, 44, wrote her first novel, Shug, while she was still a teenager in university. On the cusp of adulthood, she still felt closer to her 12-year-old protagonist than she did to grown-ups whose experiences she had not yet lived. The Summer I Turned Pretty trilogy followed, then the Burn books and the To All the Boys series. To All the Boys was the first to be adapted for screen with a very well-reviewed Netflix film released in 2018. It had the tenderness of a throwback teen romance with the freshness of the modern era. It was earnest and wholesome. Han was already a big name in young adult literature and now the streamers really wanted in. Too All the Boys had two sequels and then a spin-off series, XO, Kitty. When she started to develop The Summer I Turned Pretty with Prime, she also came on as creator and showrunner, an unusual move for an author who generally relinquishes control to the studio. But Prime recognised that it was Han's sensibility that earnt her loyalty from her fans. Despite being almost three decades older than her characters, Han still feels connected to the younger generation by not viewing them as some kind of scary alien species that either need to be patronised or diminished. Han's work validates them. 'In general, women's experiences aren't perceived as equal because (it's seen) as not a human experience, it's just a woman's experience. 'In the same way that people will minimise artists that women enjoy, and people will think it's not as serious. If a song is about heartbreak or love, people think that's not serious. I don't know what's more serious than that. 'When you look back at your life, what was really important? What are the things that defined you? I don't think it's going to be how much money you made or how successful you were. It's going to be those relationships and the people that you loved. 'Even when you're watching a movie about war or death, the things that move people are stories about love. 'The part of the story I really care about when I'm watching The Hunger Games is Peeta and Katniss. Yes, I care about the resistance and I care about everything else, but what keeps you going is you're hoping that they'll find a way.' A young person's experience is a human experience, you just have to be open to their significance. For Han, she wants to be respectful to the enormity of what a teenage girl is feeling, even if you know, as an adult, that those seemingly disproportionate moments are not as massive as it feels in the moment. That's her guiding light when it comes to girlhood. She talks to the young actors on The Summer I Turned Pretty, Tung and Rain Spencer, but she also has friends who are older. The women in her life teach Han something about what's it like to be a girl at any age – and she's listening. Let's hear it for the girl.
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Miami Herald
23-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Endangered crane makes ‘great escape' out of WA zoo — and nobody can catch her
Another zoo animal is on the run in Washington, but this time it isn't a zebra. An endangered East African crowned crane escaped the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, the zoo said in a May 21 Facebook post. The young female bird has been gone for days, and no one can seem to catch her. She was spotted at Lake Sammamish State Park the same day she sneaked out, the zoo said in another Facebook post. Zoo officials said she's likely still at the park hanging out with great blue herons, which she is being mistaken for. The zoo is working to catch the bird and advises anyone who spots her to not approach her. Anyone who sees her can call the zoo at 206-641-1554. 'Seems like the great escape has been working out just fine,' someone commented on Facebook. 'Heaven forbid a girl have hobbies. But seriously, I hope she returns to her home soon!' someone else wrote. 'It's the zebra all over again!' another person said. Last year in April, four Zebras were on the loose after fleeing from a trailer in the North Bend area, The News Tribune in Tacoma reported. Three Zebras were caught the same day, except for Shug. He roamed free for nearly a week, becoming a 'social media sensation,' the news outlet reported. Issaquah is about a 20-mile drive southeast from Seattle.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Endangered crane makes ‘great escape' out of WA zoo — and nobody can catch her
Another zoo animal is on the run in Washington, but this time it isn't a zebra. An endangered East African crowned crane escaped the Cougar Mountain Zoo in Issaquah, the zoo said in a May 21 Facebook post. The young female bird has been gone for days, and no one can seem to catch her. She was spotted at Lake Sammamish State Park the same day she sneaked out, the zoo said in another Facebook post. Zoo officials said she's likely still at the park hanging out with great blue herons, which she is being mistaken for. The zoo is working to catch the bird and advises anyone who spots her to not approach her. Anyone who sees her can call the zoo at 206-641-1554. 'Seems like the great escape has been working out just fine,' someone commented on Facebook. 'Heaven forbid a girl have hobbies. But seriously, I hope she returns to her home soon!' someone else wrote. 'It's the zebra all over again!' another person said. Last year in April, four Zebras were on the loose after fleeing from a trailer in the North Bend area, The News Tribune in Tacoma reported. Three Zebras were caught the same day, except for Shug. He roamed free for nearly a week, becoming a 'social media sensation,' the news outlet reported. Issaquah is about a 20-mile drive southeast from Seattle. Runaway kangaroo wreaks havoc on interstate, AL cops say. 'Nobody believed it' Beaver named Cauliflower escapes NY zoo and is killed by car. 'Heartbreaking' Escaped alpacas seen exploring Cedar Point are not park's first animal fugitives
