The Chair of BYT is guest blogger. She has recently, like a number of us, run the Manchester 10k - this is her take on that and her reflection on her year as chair of BYT:
On the 15th May I set out on one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever volunteered for in my 42 years of life – the Great Manchester Run; 10k (or 6.2 miles) of Manchester’s finest tarmac was my nemesis and I conquered it to raise funds for Burnley Youth Theatre. I will come back to my race experience later but at this point it is important to state that I was not the only one undertaking this challenge, I was part of a team and teams play an essential part in the success of Burnley Youth Theatre as an organisation.
There always seems to me a great sense of working together as a team at BYT. We are lucky to have an extremely hard working staff team led by our Artistic Director, Mandy Precious. This year we have been extremely fortunate that Mandy has agreed to a full time contract with us. I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Aiden and Steven to the staff team. All of the team work together in the development of what we do and how we do it and offer each other support in order that they can all develop to their full potential. In the main it is the work of the staff team that drive us forward towards success. We have had an anxious wait for news from the Arts Council about our regular funding but thankfully the news was good. With a new Artistic Development Plan in place to take us through the next few years we have a clear focus and direction. We have started to enjoy visits from professional, touring companies and have put on some fabulous productions ourselves. Alongside this we have worked on projects with young people that educate and facilitate discussion and debate. We have worked with a vast range of schools and developed our relationships with other theatre groups and projects for young people.
Back to my experience of race day: I was what might be termed as a ‘plodder’ as I went around the course. I ran a bit, then walked a bit and probably did a fair bit of staggering. I stopped three times to adjust my shoes as my toes had gone dead and even managed a bit of speed as I went past the official photographer. I ached from the waist down, it was raining and I felt quite alone despite the thousands of people who travelled alongside me on my journey. I felt disappointed that the route was not more scenic. I had an expectation that I would admire the heritage of the city along the way but one branch of Curry’s looks much like all the rest. The glossy brochure that they sent before the race held promises of jelly babies near the end of the course and the anticipation of their sweetness and the fact that they would not affect my waistline today kept me going. I could see the volunteers ahead holding out their latex gloved hands and I got a little faster again all for the sake of one darn jelly baby and it was not even a black one! The last kilometre was the longest 1000 metres I have ever travelled. I was wet, I hurt and I was crying at the whole overwhelming experience of taking part in a race after avoiding any type of running for all but five months of my life when I finally crossed the finish line. At this point you may wonder what on earth I am leading to and my point is this:
I ran this torturous race voluntarily. The rest of the team who ran the race did it voluntarily. The participants, parents, and friends who give their time to Burnley Youth Theatre do it voluntarily. I know that our wonderful staff team give us extra time and regularly work above and beyond the call of duty voluntarily. Being a volunteer is not always easy with jobs, studies, families and a vast array of other competing priorities to contend with but being a volunteer brings its own rewards. Our Financial Director, Moira Preston, has said to me on several occasions, after volunteering with us for over 30 years, “I have got more back than I put in”. Being a volunteer brings new people, new skills and new perspectives into your life. I believe that there is no feeling like the one you get when you feel you are making a difference to people’s lives and I think that, in general, is why our team of volunteers keep giving us their time and skills.
The time and skills of our team of volunteers is crucial in the work of Burnley Youth Theatre. Our entire board is made up of volunteers. Volunteers make and source costumes for our productions. Volunteers organise and man fund raising events. Volunteers run the front desk during workshops and productions. In short, Burnley Youth Theatre could not support up to 450 young people coming through the doors every week without volunteers.
We have achieved many things and there is much to celebrate and each member of the team that is Burnley Youth Theatre should be a part of that celebration but we must never allow ourselves to slip into complacency on the back of success. There are still young people for us to reach out to, there are still penny pinching days ahead and, as ever, there is still a need for those essential volunteers and the need for us to work as a team for the greater good.
Onward and upward!
Alicia Foley
Monday, 27 June 2011
Friday, 27 May 2011
Find a Way, Make a Way.
So much has happened in the last few weeks that I have found it difficult to sit down and write a blog entry that will cover the breadth of what I've felt, thought, experienced and lived. It is ever thus, but of late I have been in perpetual motion. I have been suffering from blog block - unable to find a way to say what I want to say.
I realised it was probably a good idea not to even begin to try to tell the whole story.
Edited highlights? Well, that suggests that it's all been good stuff, when frankly there has been tough stuff too.
I was personally devastated when Chris May a close ally of the youth theatre and great colleague and friend died suddenly at the end of April. Chris, CEO of Curious Minds, was a man absolutely committed to ensuring that all young people be given the opportunity to participate in the arts and fulfil their creative potential and he will be missed. At 51, I am certain that his work was not complete. I know also he would have continued to support our work at the youth theatre and that the youth theatre's value was intrinsic to his core beliefs; in education and in creativity.
We are lucky to have what we have at the youth theatre, and I mean to ensure that all young people have access to our core offer should they want to join with us. And I am just as passionate about ensuring that children and young people in schools, youth clubs or wherever else they might be know that we exist and that what we do here is for them. This is one of the reasons why we have reconfigured the space - it allows us to run three workshops simultaneously. There have been times this week, when a fourth space would have been handy!
But it is about more than this - the youth theatre is about 'dialogue', about conversation, about what we make and create together. The curriculum isn't set - we are engaged in the business of creating something - often new and original - together. If you're sensing that this is a familiar and not my own philosophy, you would be correct. The notion of dialogue in this sense was a principal idea of the Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire - for him dialogue wasn't just about greater understanding but about working together and making a difference in the world. This underpins my understanding of youth theatre too - in the long run it is about social action. About making the world more co-operative, equitable and engaged and that, as Freire argued, needs to be well-informed. You can't change or move people if you tell them what to think any more than you can change or move people who don't know what to think... any liberation is an act of dialogue, people working with each other, with respect. We can make a piece of theatre, but we can't tell you whether to like it or not. But we can equip young people with the skills they need to have their say.
This week we enjoyed receiving the Faction Theatre Company and their production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' They played the show 6 times, including to some children who might never otherwise have had the opportunity to see Shakespeare. It was a matter of wonder to me that children, some only 7 years old, from some areas where seeing Shakespeare may not be a priority were leaving the theatre enthusiastically sharing their ideas about what they had seen, or laughing out loud or being shocked by a rude gesture 'The Wall' may (or may not) have made. It reminds me that we should never underestimate children and young people. Any children, any young people. Anywhere. Neither ourselves nor the Faction compromised on the Shakespeare and we did not play down to the children. I think the children knew that. And they responded. We entered into a dialogue with them.
Chris May and I, the last time we met, spoke of Paulo Freire which is probably why the educationalist is so in my mind at the moment. As Freire says,
I think it is as well to remember this in good times, and in bad. And to remember too that the journey of discovery, even if it sometimes very painful, never really ends. Next time I'm stuck or have blog block I'm going to say - quietly or loudly - find a way, make a way. And see how far that gets me.
I realised it was probably a good idea not to even begin to try to tell the whole story.
Edited highlights? Well, that suggests that it's all been good stuff, when frankly there has been tough stuff too.
I was personally devastated when Chris May a close ally of the youth theatre and great colleague and friend died suddenly at the end of April. Chris, CEO of Curious Minds, was a man absolutely committed to ensuring that all young people be given the opportunity to participate in the arts and fulfil their creative potential and he will be missed. At 51, I am certain that his work was not complete. I know also he would have continued to support our work at the youth theatre and that the youth theatre's value was intrinsic to his core beliefs; in education and in creativity.
One of Chris' values was based on the following philosophy, 'If you can't find a way, make a way.' I believe that this is the only way that the youth theatre will survive, and sometimes in the cut and thrust of the day to day business of ensuring that we have enough funds to survive, it is easy to lose sight of it. I am certain, now that I have taken up the position of Artistic Director full time, that I will find a way to build on the success the youth theatre has enjoyed, and work towards extending what we do.
I think too, in thinking of Chris, of service. I believe that we pay for our place on earth by service to others. I believe this as passionately as I believe anything - and I think Chris did too. I am not servile (no doubt my colleagues would testify to this) and I am not perfect but I understand service to be about the difference we make to each other, about committing to changing the world for the better, about doing good, and about giving. There are many people in the arts who share this belief and Chris exemplified it. And had an approach to his work that many of us aspire to.
I think too, in thinking of Chris, of service. I believe that we pay for our place on earth by service to others. I believe this as passionately as I believe anything - and I think Chris did too. I am not servile (no doubt my colleagues would testify to this) and I am not perfect but I understand service to be about the difference we make to each other, about committing to changing the world for the better, about doing good, and about giving. There are many people in the arts who share this belief and Chris exemplified it. And had an approach to his work that many of us aspire to.
We are lucky to have what we have at the youth theatre, and I mean to ensure that all young people have access to our core offer should they want to join with us. And I am just as passionate about ensuring that children and young people in schools, youth clubs or wherever else they might be know that we exist and that what we do here is for them. This is one of the reasons why we have reconfigured the space - it allows us to run three workshops simultaneously. There have been times this week, when a fourth space would have been handy!
But it is about more than this - the youth theatre is about 'dialogue', about conversation, about what we make and create together. The curriculum isn't set - we are engaged in the business of creating something - often new and original - together. If you're sensing that this is a familiar and not my own philosophy, you would be correct. The notion of dialogue in this sense was a principal idea of the Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire - for him dialogue wasn't just about greater understanding but about working together and making a difference in the world. This underpins my understanding of youth theatre too - in the long run it is about social action. About making the world more co-operative, equitable and engaged and that, as Freire argued, needs to be well-informed. You can't change or move people if you tell them what to think any more than you can change or move people who don't know what to think... any liberation is an act of dialogue, people working with each other, with respect. We can make a piece of theatre, but we can't tell you whether to like it or not. But we can equip young people with the skills they need to have their say.
This week we enjoyed receiving the Faction Theatre Company and their production of 'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' They played the show 6 times, including to some children who might never otherwise have had the opportunity to see Shakespeare. It was a matter of wonder to me that children, some only 7 years old, from some areas where seeing Shakespeare may not be a priority were leaving the theatre enthusiastically sharing their ideas about what they had seen, or laughing out loud or being shocked by a rude gesture 'The Wall' may (or may not) have made. It reminds me that we should never underestimate children and young people. Any children, any young people. Anywhere. Neither ourselves nor the Faction compromised on the Shakespeare and we did not play down to the children. I think the children knew that. And they responded. We entered into a dialogue with them.
Chris May and I, the last time we met, spoke of Paulo Freire which is probably why the educationalist is so in my mind at the moment. As Freire says,
No one is born fully-formed: it is through self-experience in the world that we become what we are.
I think it is as well to remember this in good times, and in bad. And to remember too that the journey of discovery, even if it sometimes very painful, never really ends. Next time I'm stuck or have blog block I'm going to say - quietly or loudly - find a way, make a way. And see how far that gets me.
Thursday, 31 March 2011
Dancing with lead boots
BYT is delighted to announce that they received NPO funding from April 2012 - March 2015 (subject to funding agreement.) We will be receiving an increase of 9% to develop the youth theatre as a cultural venue. This is something we are passionate about, because we feel we will enable the community of young people we serve and their families to engage with a range of performances and other cultural events.
Part of our bid was also concerned with developing the youth theatre as a hub for other youth theatres, and this is something we are really interested in too - we know how lucky we are to have a venue (and a purpose built venue at that) and wish to extend the use of the venue to other youth theatres locally, regionally and nationally (as well as internationally).
This has been a strange few days. Of course we are delighted that we have received this great news - but it is inevitably tempered by the news that so many of our collaborators and co-conspirators have not been given NPO status. We extend to them our goodwill.
Part of our bid was also concerned with developing the youth theatre as a hub for other youth theatres, and this is something we are really interested in too - we know how lucky we are to have a venue (and a purpose built venue at that) and wish to extend the use of the venue to other youth theatres locally, regionally and nationally (as well as internationally).
This has been a strange few days. Of course we are delighted that we have received this great news - but it is inevitably tempered by the news that so many of our collaborators and co-conspirators have not been given NPO status. We extend to them our goodwill.
Friday, 11 March 2011
Meet 10k Team BYT Sponsored run...
I don't know, the months just whizz past.
How can it be March? How can it be the middle of March? How can there only be 64 training days left to our Great Manchester Run? Erm...
We are doing the Great Manchester Run (that's six miles) to raise funds for the youth theatre so please support us by following the link.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/BYT
For those of you who don't know us - 14 adults have volunteered to take part in a bid to raise £3,500 (with a match of a potential match of £3,500), most of them new to running because they passionately believe in the value of the work we do here and they want to support us by discomforting themselves and training for the run.
Meet the Team:-
Meet our team captain Mr Daniel Armitage - renowned Santander employee of this parish. Daniel is an ex-member and he says that he's taking part because Burnley Youth Theatre has made a big difference to his life.
Another ex-member, Laura Crymble is also part of our team - she's squeezing her training around her university degree. She says, "Youth Theatre was my escapism! It gave me the opportunity and confidence to get involved in a variety of different activities whilst mixing and making friends with people I would never normally meet." Laura wants other young people to have this opportunity too.
Poppy Cooper will be joining us directly from the US of A where she's currently based. She probably won't be green. I think she's secretly quite good!
Then there's Mr Davies - Gareth (below). He used to work for us, and in common with most people who have worked with us, Burnley Youth Theatre, as he says, keeps hold of a part of your heart forever. (I don't think he'll be wearing the Santa Claus suit although he is quite shy!) A good mate of Gareth's, Craig is running too.
The parents are muscling in - Dermot Patterson, Steve Martin, Tom and Sam Root are all running with us as well! When asked, Sam said, "Well, we've got legs!" I'm guessing all these guys are pretty fast to be honest (they won't be running with the fruit!) I'll upload pictures, just as soon as I've asked permission! Special thanks go to these for doing this when they are really busy - we really appreciate it!
Two current members of staff, aside from me are running too:- Sarah Porter who has only been with us a term, but who still thinks we are worth a punt and the intrepid Anthony Briggs (above), both dancers, both pretty fit (I'm guessing) will be joining us. Anthony has knee issues though, and expects them to pop out before the end of the race!
These guys will be joined by Rob Howell - all round good egg, and stalwart of the arts scene in Lancashire. And when I last spoke to him - he hadn't even started his training! Thanks Rob!
Our intrepid Chair who has managed to avoid running for more than 40 years, she says, and who has taken up the challenge because she is passionate about the youth theatre and doing her absolute best to support us.
Then there's me. Already green with worry...
Please support us...
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/BYT
And why are we all discomforting ourself in this way? Well, because we all believe that the Youth Theatre is a great place and that it requires support. This is a difficult time - and the sum we're aiming for here £7,000 in total - will make a massive difference to our young people. It will support those who would not otherwise be able to join us and it will help keep the building open. It will help us add further workshops, pay for leaders and ensure that we can continue to make a difference to the lives of young people from a variety of backgrounds, equipping them to make a successful transition into adulthood and enabling them to creatively take their next steps.
Please support us. We would really appreciate it! THANK YOU :)
How can it be March? How can it be the middle of March? How can there only be 64 training days left to our Great Manchester Run? Erm...
We are doing the Great Manchester Run (that's six miles) to raise funds for the youth theatre so please support us by following the link.
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/BYT
For those of you who don't know us - 14 adults have volunteered to take part in a bid to raise £3,500 (with a match of a potential match of £3,500), most of them new to running because they passionately believe in the value of the work we do here and they want to support us by discomforting themselves and training for the run.
Meet the Team:-
Meet our team captain Mr Daniel Armitage - renowned Santander employee of this parish. Daniel is an ex-member and he says that he's taking part because Burnley Youth Theatre has made a big difference to his life.
Poppy Cooper will be joining us directly from the US of A where she's currently based. She probably won't be green. I think she's secretly quite good!
Then there's Mr Davies - Gareth (below). He used to work for us, and in common with most people who have worked with us, Burnley Youth Theatre, as he says, keeps hold of a part of your heart forever. (I don't think he'll be wearing the Santa Claus suit although he is quite shy!) A good mate of Gareth's, Craig is running too.
The parents are muscling in - Dermot Patterson, Steve Martin, Tom and Sam Root are all running with us as well! When asked, Sam said, "Well, we've got legs!" I'm guessing all these guys are pretty fast to be honest (they won't be running with the fruit!) I'll upload pictures, just as soon as I've asked permission! Special thanks go to these for doing this when they are really busy - we really appreciate it!
These guys will be joined by Rob Howell - all round good egg, and stalwart of the arts scene in Lancashire. And when I last spoke to him - he hadn't even started his training! Thanks Rob!
Our intrepid Chair who has managed to avoid running for more than 40 years, she says, and who has taken up the challenge because she is passionate about the youth theatre and doing her absolute best to support us.
Then there's me. Already green with worry...
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/BYT
And why are we all discomforting ourself in this way? Well, because we all believe that the Youth Theatre is a great place and that it requires support. This is a difficult time - and the sum we're aiming for here £7,000 in total - will make a massive difference to our young people. It will support those who would not otherwise be able to join us and it will help keep the building open. It will help us add further workshops, pay for leaders and ensure that we can continue to make a difference to the lives of young people from a variety of backgrounds, equipping them to make a successful transition into adulthood and enabling them to creatively take their next steps.
Please support us. We would really appreciate it! THANK YOU :)
Sunday, 13 February 2011
DODGY CLUTCH - 25th February, 2011
Come to Dodgy Clutch's Xolisile's Song on Friday 25th February, 2011 - 7:30pm supported by Spot On rural touring - http://www.spotonlancashire.co.uk/
Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company are coming to Burnley Youth Theatre on 25th February, 2011 at 7.30pm - http://www.dodgyclutch.com/newsstory/?id=19 - Their work is original, accessible, entertaining, involving and family friendly. It looks brilliant! Tickets cost just £4 and £6 although we will accept a donation if that is more than you can spare. Please help us make this evening a success! Tickets are available from 01282 427767 - from 10:00 am onwards weekdays. We look forward to hearing from you!
Ambitions. We've got a few...
Burnley Youth Theatre has one of the few purpose built youth theatres in the country - it's a great building, and a fantastic space. The building was supported by the National Lottery, and the NWDA - and we know we're lucky to have it. It seats 158 - and provides us with an excellent space to play all our shows, run workshops, conferences, meetings and so on
The building is well used throughout the evenings of weekdays with workshops and projects. On Fridays and Saturdays we have fewer needs for the space ourselves, and are looking for ways to use the space that are beneficial both to our young people and to the wider community of Burnley.
Our absolute ambition is to encourage small and medium size companies to see us a potential venue when they are touring new work. We feel that we are well-placed to be this venue because very few other venues in East Lancashire are able to offer the size and quality of venue we can provide. And because we want our young people and their extended families to have access to high quality theatre of all kinds on their doorsteps. Being able to see a wide variety of shows extends young people's understanding of theatre (frankly it extends us all) and what might be possible... here - within our own space - and to say loudly and clearly that professional theatre is not other, or elsewhere but here. Now. And just think (we thought!) no drive to Manchester to see professional high quality and innovative theatre. Genius...
And so to Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company - on the 25th February, 2011 7:30pm
We saw the possibilities of this company and thought it was a great piece to really take a chance on developing our receiving house credentials. They are a great company - innovative and clever. Here is a clip from an earlier show 'Elephant'
Take a look - and then book your tickets for Xolisile's Song. You wouldn't want to miss out now, would you?
01282 427767 from 10:00 am every day ;)
Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company are coming to Burnley Youth Theatre on 25th February, 2011 at 7.30pm - http://www.dodgyclutch.com/newsstory/?id=19 - Their work is original, accessible, entertaining, involving and family friendly. It looks brilliant! Tickets cost just £4 and £6 although we will accept a donation if that is more than you can spare. Please help us make this evening a success! Tickets are available from 01282 427767 - from 10:00 am onwards weekdays. We look forward to hearing from you!
(Xolisile's Song photograph courtesy of Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company)
Ambitions. We've got a few...
Burnley Youth Theatre has one of the few purpose built youth theatres in the country - it's a great building, and a fantastic space. The building was supported by the National Lottery, and the NWDA - and we know we're lucky to have it. It seats 158 - and provides us with an excellent space to play all our shows, run workshops, conferences, meetings and so on
The building is well used throughout the evenings of weekdays with workshops and projects. On Fridays and Saturdays we have fewer needs for the space ourselves, and are looking for ways to use the space that are beneficial both to our young people and to the wider community of Burnley.
Our absolute ambition is to encourage small and medium size companies to see us a potential venue when they are touring new work. We feel that we are well-placed to be this venue because very few other venues in East Lancashire are able to offer the size and quality of venue we can provide. And because we want our young people and their extended families to have access to high quality theatre of all kinds on their doorsteps. Being able to see a wide variety of shows extends young people's understanding of theatre (frankly it extends us all) and what might be possible... here - within our own space - and to say loudly and clearly that professional theatre is not other, or elsewhere but here. Now. And just think (we thought!) no drive to Manchester to see professional high quality and innovative theatre. Genius...
And so to Dodgy Clutch Theatre Company - on the 25th February, 2011 7:30pm
We saw the possibilities of this company and thought it was a great piece to really take a chance on developing our receiving house credentials. They are a great company - innovative and clever. Here is a clip from an earlier show 'Elephant'
Take a look - and then book your tickets for Xolisile's Song. You wouldn't want to miss out now, would you?
01282 427767 from 10:00 am every day ;)
Wednesday, 2 February 2011
Shout out!
The thing is we really have to get better at shouting about all the amazing things we get up to in the course of a week. The problem is we're so busy doing all the amazing things that quite often we don't have time to tell everyone about them. I know, I know - we need to make time.
I used to have this idea that there could be a sliding door that I could whizz through and enter a virtual vortex where I could catch up on all the things I needed to do...but that doesn't really seem to be a practical option, unless anyone knows how to do that? Is there a virtual vortex? Can we squeeze through it into another world?
So, this week...
Our Arrow group are fresh from a trip to Derry where they worked, in tandem with another group from Active8, Bolton with a youth theatre there, on the business of challenging and working with difference. This is the first part of an exchange, and the group from Derry will be working with us at half term to create a piece of theatre that challenges stereotypes and enables young people from different cultures to get along. This only really tells half the story - the whole trip was preceded by a long drawn out process of getting a passport for one of the group. We were certain, in the end, it wouldn't arrive in time but it did - at 9:00 o'clock on Friday morning necessitating a last minute dash to the airport to get the young person concerned to the airport on time.
Aside from our regular 20 weekly sessions - we are also currently working on a number of other key projects:-
1) Healthy High - this sees us working in partnership with four schools to develop pieces of theatre around health issues that are concern to young people. There are weekly sessions in school(s) to develop the work. They will share this work in an event in March.
2) Cut Short - work is taking place with four youth and community groups in the development of four short films around the prevention of knife crime. One group have completed, the other three are ongoing with filming for another group taking place on Saturday.
3) We are working on a weekly project in a local primary school.
4) Different Strokes - a community cohesion project that we are delivering for Curious Minds, and in partnership with Sir John Thursby and Blessed Trinity schools.
5) We are contributing to an enquiry project in a school in deepest darkest Lancashire.
6) We are rehearsing two plays - a newly adapted version of The Selfish Giant - Greek Chorus with 10 year olds! And What if? a devised piece of theatre with our older young people. Both culminate in April.
7) The participant reps are visiting all groups, and beginning to generate interest in two upcoming events - firstly an art project that starts next Monday working with Shahida Ahmed and a double hander theatre trip to the Octagon to see Romeo and Juliet and the youth theatre to see Dodgy Clutch.
8) We are preparing a presentation with 6 young people to take to a Proud of Burnley event.
9) We have an ongoing session in Pendle with a group of young people.
10) We are working with five schools in Burnley and Pendle on the Start project, and beginning to deliver workshops in the run up to the next show they'll be seeing with us "Midsummer Night's dream" by The Faction Theatre Company.
11) A weekly session for young people with disabilities "No Limits"
12) Planning new work for next term around Aspirations, a film for the Samaritans, A Long Stand (a work experience project) and some work with the Mary Burberry Unit at the hospital, and with looked after children in Rossendale.
13) We've just taken part in a mini-youth theatre festival (weekend before last) and some training for our workshop leaders with NAYT.
14) Oh, you know just doing office type stuff. Paper work, and fundraising, and planning our Christmas show (yes) funded, our trip to Edinburgh, our summer school, our summer term shows, and two or three other big projects we're keen to get off the ground. And all the other stuff that's necessary but not as interesting as this...
There are only 3 of us in the core team. And our part time ops assistant. And an FJF assistant (who leaves us next week! We'll so miss him!) So we don't have time to tweet or facebook as much as we'd like to. We really need to get better at this. And hopefully we will. But if we go a bit silent, really just give us a bell or a kick or a punch because I'm certain we'll be doing something of interest that we haven't had time to shout about, or maybe have forgotten to mention.
On that note - I've probably missed loads of important stuff off the list. You know how it is.
I used to have this idea that there could be a sliding door that I could whizz through and enter a virtual vortex where I could catch up on all the things I needed to do...but that doesn't really seem to be a practical option, unless anyone knows how to do that? Is there a virtual vortex? Can we squeeze through it into another world?
So, this week...
Our Arrow group are fresh from a trip to Derry where they worked, in tandem with another group from Active8, Bolton with a youth theatre there, on the business of challenging and working with difference. This is the first part of an exchange, and the group from Derry will be working with us at half term to create a piece of theatre that challenges stereotypes and enables young people from different cultures to get along. This only really tells half the story - the whole trip was preceded by a long drawn out process of getting a passport for one of the group. We were certain, in the end, it wouldn't arrive in time but it did - at 9:00 o'clock on Friday morning necessitating a last minute dash to the airport to get the young person concerned to the airport on time.
Aside from our regular 20 weekly sessions - we are also currently working on a number of other key projects:-
1) Healthy High - this sees us working in partnership with four schools to develop pieces of theatre around health issues that are concern to young people. There are weekly sessions in school(s) to develop the work. They will share this work in an event in March.
2) Cut Short - work is taking place with four youth and community groups in the development of four short films around the prevention of knife crime. One group have completed, the other three are ongoing with filming for another group taking place on Saturday.
3) We are working on a weekly project in a local primary school.
4) Different Strokes - a community cohesion project that we are delivering for Curious Minds, and in partnership with Sir John Thursby and Blessed Trinity schools.
5) We are contributing to an enquiry project in a school in deepest darkest Lancashire.
6) We are rehearsing two plays - a newly adapted version of The Selfish Giant - Greek Chorus with 10 year olds! And What if? a devised piece of theatre with our older young people. Both culminate in April.
7) The participant reps are visiting all groups, and beginning to generate interest in two upcoming events - firstly an art project that starts next Monday working with Shahida Ahmed and a double hander theatre trip to the Octagon to see Romeo and Juliet and the youth theatre to see Dodgy Clutch.
8) We are preparing a presentation with 6 young people to take to a Proud of Burnley event.
9) We have an ongoing session in Pendle with a group of young people.
10) We are working with five schools in Burnley and Pendle on the Start project, and beginning to deliver workshops in the run up to the next show they'll be seeing with us "Midsummer Night's dream" by The Faction Theatre Company.
11) A weekly session for young people with disabilities "No Limits"
12) Planning new work for next term around Aspirations, a film for the Samaritans, A Long Stand (a work experience project) and some work with the Mary Burberry Unit at the hospital, and with looked after children in Rossendale.
13) We've just taken part in a mini-youth theatre festival (weekend before last) and some training for our workshop leaders with NAYT.
14) Oh, you know just doing office type stuff. Paper work, and fundraising, and planning our Christmas show (yes) funded, our trip to Edinburgh, our summer school, our summer term shows, and two or three other big projects we're keen to get off the ground. And all the other stuff that's necessary but not as interesting as this...
There are only 3 of us in the core team. And our part time ops assistant. And an FJF assistant (who leaves us next week! We'll so miss him!) So we don't have time to tweet or facebook as much as we'd like to. We really need to get better at this. And hopefully we will. But if we go a bit silent, really just give us a bell or a kick or a punch because I'm certain we'll be doing something of interest that we haven't had time to shout about, or maybe have forgotten to mention.
On that note - I've probably missed loads of important stuff off the list. You know how it is.
Sunday, 23 January 2011
All over bar the shouting...
I can't claim for a single second that this was my idea, but here is a wordle of BYT's main aims and its imagined future. (Thank you Marcus Romer, thank you Chris Hammond.) Now that the world is shaped differently, and the future is shifting and always tantalisingly out of reach, and whilst there are still things to attend to make it all happen, it seemed pertinent to share our wordle here too. What's interesting about this wordle are the five main words that jump out - youth work young people theatre. I have been trying for some time to pin down our USP and perhaps that covers it? That is what we do - youth work young people theatre.
Of course, that isn't all we do - as the wordle demonstrates... we're ambitious about technology, about engaging young people wherever they are and about extending our practice to include young people excluded from participation. We feel incredibly fortunate to have our amazing space - and are looking to develop it beyond ourselves as a hub of excellence for youth theatres in general. As a designated youth space, one thing we can do is encourage young people to get involved, have their say, and make their own work - and we can prioritise that here. We can say that the work of young people is central to what we do because it is. I extend an invite to any young person who wants to make theatre to come to us and talk to us about it... this is the place for you to do precisely that. Any young emerging young artist needs to look us up and get in touch. The space at BYT needs you...
But that isn't all we do. We are also about the bigger picture: opening up possibilities for young people to really grab hold of, to shake things up, try them on for size, shape the world, change it - think long and hard about what is possible. We say - at the youth theatre - you can imagine yourself differently - you can imagine the world differently.
My mother used to have a habit of using a phrase all wrong - of making her own world and superimposing it on the real one. Many of her sayings are far too rude and sweary to record here but she often used to say things that were uniquely her own. If for example, you said that food was hot she would say, "You sit with your backside in the oven, and you'd be hot too." Another favourite, in response to my saying, "I really wish I had...." was "Poo in one hand and wish in the other and see which gets fullest first." (Obviously she didn't say backside and she didn't say poo!) These sayings and half sayings have served me very well over the years. She is a pragmatic down to earth person, believing that your feet should be on the ground, and that there is a world of difference between need and want.
Young people need a space to become themselves. Young people need to find a way of responding to and exploring the world. Young people need somewhere safe, somewhere to express themselves, to be creative - young people need a gateway into the cultural possibilities that the arts and theatre in particular can offer. They have that here at BYT in pragmatic, down to earth ways.
I have spent all day with another of my mother's idioms floating around my head. This week has been particularly exhausting and the whole team have been striving to ensure that the youth theatre has the future we hope for - we strive every week for this, of course, but this week has been especially pressing. As we sent off a particularly important application, I kept thinking, "Well, it's all over bar the shouting..."
The way my mother used to use this, I always felt that the worst had passed - that we'd given it our best shot and that we'd done all we could - not that we'd win necessarily but that it was finished with. And that's how I feel now. Who knows whether we'll get exactly what we want? Who knows if the future we imagined is the future that will come - but there will be a future, of one kind or another - that is certain and in that sense, it really is all over bar the shouting - as sure as eggs is eggs the future will come.
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