Our World, Live Theatre’s annual Youth Theatre Festival, runs from Thursday 6 to Sunday 9 August and features theatre productions and a short film, as well as an Edinburgh Festival Fringe comedy preview.
The Festival opens on Thursday evening with Big Talk, Small Talk, a selection of short pieces devised over ten days by groups of young people with support from some of the region’s leading theatre makers, giving an alternative perspective on what really matters to young people in the 21st century. It will be followed by Meet the Team, an after-show discussion in which some of the young people will talk about the process.
On Friday and Saturday, eight young people will take to the stage to give their personal and hilarious perspective on what it’s like to be 11 and 12 today. For them, being eleven is tough. And great. And weird. And confusing. And funny.
The show, 11 Plus, was curated by writer Laura Lindow (Rendezvous) with assistance from fellow writer, Lee Mattinson (Donna Disco). They held interviews with the young people involved to create a piece using the interviewees’ own words. They talked about school, their families and their hopes and fears.
Directed by Live Theatre’s Associate Director of Education & Participation, Paul James, 11 Plus is suitable for those aged 8 and over and will be performed at 7:30PM on both days with a matinée performance on the Saturday at 2PM.
On the same evenings at 9PM, Live’s all-female sketch group Your Aunt Fanny will be previewing its Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, celebrating everything that is funny and inappropriate in an evening of original sketches, some written by Lindow and Mattinson, accompanied by music from DJ Mariam Rezaei. The show, suitable for audience members aged 14 and over, contains strong language and strong women.
The Festival closes on Sunday evening with Invisible Cinema. Six Youth Theatre members will be working with directors Ian Mclaughlin and Bev Fox of Magic If to create six characters using improv techniques. Their new-found skills will then be put to the test during filming when the storyline will be revealed to the actors.
Audience members will also meet the characters in a special pre-screening performance which begins at 7:30PM. After the screening, the actors and directors will take to the stage to reveal more information about how the film was made and how the process was for them in a free Meet the Team talk.
Paul James, Live Theatre’s Associate Director of Education & Participation, said, “this year’s Youth Theatre Festival promises to be as diverse, eclectic and exciting as ever. A fantastic event with a wide range of new work and talent on display.
"Our World will be dedicated to our colleague Jackie Fielding who we had the pleasure of working with on at least 12 Youth Theatre Festivals. Jackie was an outstanding theatre maker and an inspiration to young people. She was able to draw amazing performances from the actors she worked with.”