A NEW play aimed at teaching Bradford primary school pupils the many guises of predatory paedophiles and written with the help of City Hall experts will soon be touring the district.

Mr Shapeshifter is a specially-commissioned work by the GW Theatre Company of Manchester, which successfully brought the anti-child sex abuse play Somebody’s Sister, Somebody’s Daughter to the district’s secondary schools.

That was seen by more than 6,200 pupils and all who saw the play received before and after lessons using materials specially prepared for the tour.

Bradford Youth Service worked with young people and the theatre company to produce information materials and resources for teachers and young people to use in other settings.

Each performance of the play was attended by colleagues from a range of state and voluntary sector organisations that were available to give local information and offer support to young people affected by the performance.

A dozen young people are now known to services as, on the day of a performance, they sought and received specific services in relation to CSE.

Councillor Michelle Swallow (Lab, Clayton and Fairweather Green) asked a question at the last full Council meeting for details on new projects to raise Child Sex Exploitation awareness.

In response, Council leader, Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, has replied: “A new play “Mr Shapeshifter” has been written with input from professionals from Bradford and other areas.

“Funding for this is provided by the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and will cover eight performances.

“This is aimed at primary school children in transition to secondary school it has been piloted in Bradford primary schools and a tour is currently being organised .

The GW Theatre Group says of its latest production: “Mister Shapeshifter is an exciting, very contemporary fairy tale for 11 to 12-year-olds about the ways some adults abuse the trust children put in them and how kids can protect themselves.

“Mister Shapeshifter is a super villain. He can change his appearance at will.

“He has one aim in life: to lure children into his Super Story World Studio Workshop and steal the childhood out of them so he can live forever.

“When he lures 11-year-old Jess there, only Jack can save her.

“But Jack is one of Mister Shapeshifter’s previous victims, and as a result is bullied and lonely and angry.

“To save Jess, Jack has first to save himself and then bring The Shapeshifter to justice, with the help of Jess, the audience, his teacher and the police.”