Family Focus: Local Playwright Using Theatre To Teach Domestic Violence Prevention

Approximately 15 million American children live in homes where they witness domestic violence and the effects can be devastating.

They can become bullies themselves or grow up with extreme anxiety, afraid of making mistakes.

Vickie Evans turned her tragic past into a teaching tool for others. Evans is writer and director of a play called “A Change Is Gonna Come” and is raising awareness about domestic violence through her theater.

The play is a flashback to her childhood.

“Many nights I heard and saw my mother being pounded in the face by my father, and after he battered her, he would tend to her wounds,” she said.

She said witnessing the abuse haunted her. “I had nightmares, and some nights I would go to bed shaking and trembling from that image,” she said.

The awful dreams continued into adulthood and domestic violence had a hold on her life, she said.

“As I grew up, I began to seek out abusive men because it's the only type of role models that I had,” she said.

Evans’ story is not unique. In 2009, Mecklenburg County Children’s Domestic Violence Services counseled 477 children who witnessed abuse. In 2008, 792 children were treated for issues such as anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder.

“Spiritual intervention is what saved me,” Evans said. Evans is now spreading the message through her play.

“There are so many children growing up angry and some become abusers, as well, because of what they’ve seen from parents or grandparents or other loved ones,” she said.

Evans said for her audience this play could mirror their own lives and wake them up to stop the cycle of abuse.

Mecklenburg County's HERO program provides therapy for youth ages 5 to 18 who have witnessed domestic violence and the services are free. For more information, call 704-336-3210.

The play, "A Change Is Gonna Come" is Oct. 23rd at 6 p.m. in the Pease Auditorium on the campus of Central Piedmont Community College.

For more information on Vickie Evans and “A Change Is Gonna Come" please visit forgiven2.com.

For more information on local domestic violence services please visit Mecklenburg County's Women's Commission.