Young Everyman Playhouse puts creative leaders of the future at the heart of the organisation
23rd January 2012
Young Everyman Playhouse (YEP) is an ambitious and diverse programme for young people, funded by Arts Council England’s Grants for the Arts and aimed at 11 to 25-year-olds. YEP will nurture the writers and actors, the technicians, the audiences and the cultural leaders of the future, putting them at the heart of the Everyman and Playhouse organisation.
On Tuesday 24 January the Everyman Playhouse launched a major expansion of the existing and renowned Youth Theatre, with hundreds of young people taking of the Playhouse building for performances, dance, music and film screening.
The evening began with three six foot lanterns in the shape of 3D letters of YEP processing on to Williamson Square. Each letter was accompanied by a samba musician leading each procession before a flashmob of YEP members converged on the square dancing to the samba music. Later in the theatre there were a series of workshops, sharings and performances.
The structure of YEP encompasses the existing Young Actors and Young Writers of the Everyman and Playhouse but will now provide opportunities for young people to develop their skills as Young Communicators, Young Technicians, Young Programmers and Young Directors.
YEP aims to put young people at the heart of the Everyman and Playhouse and enable all aspects of the organisation’s work and practice to become more youth orientated. It will increase accessibility to theatre for young people under 26 by offering £5 tickets to see shows, regular information on all the activities for young people, give guidance on careers in theatre and, crucially, offer a chance to meet new people and try new things.
YEP will comprise of numerous strands designed to engage with young people at varying levels, the first step being a YEP Membership Group, an online ‘virtual hub’ created with young people for young people. This will be open to any young person aged 11 to 25 years-old the ‘hub’ will enable two-way communication between young people and the Everyman and Playhouse.
The Satellite programme will ensure that young people can participate in a diverse workshop programme without having to join a waiting list, and Community Engagement Residencies will work with groups of young people who may never have experienced theatre before.
Artistic Director Gemma Bodinetz spoke at the launch, saying: “This launch signals a closer collaboration between the theatres and the young people of YEP that will help shape the future of theatre in Liverpool. It has been a long-held ambition to create a place for young people within the Everyman and Playhouse that goes beyond a Youth Theatre and is a more vital and elemental part of what we do. With YEP, we now have the chance to achieve this together”.
Young people wanting further information about YEP should email yep@everymanplayhouse.com or call 0151 706 9119
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