A collaborative initiative between the New Wolsey Theatre, Birmingham REP and Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse is to receive funding from Arts Council England’s Strategic Touring Programme.
Called Young Theatre Makers, the partnership will see the participants of the venues' Creative Learning schemes working on new productions as writers, devisors, actors and producers.
The four pieces of new work will tour to each other’s region to develop new ideas and introduce the young theatre makers to new venues, audiences and experiences.
Rob Salmon, Associate Director at the New Wolsey Theatre says: ‘There’s a lot of exciting, challenging and high quality theatre being made for young people by professional theatre makers, and some incredible work being made in various versions of youth theatres across the country with young people—but following our own experience of tasking young people to make theatre for young audiences we realised, here at the New Wolsey Theatre, that there was very little of this happening elsewhere.
"With that in mind, we approached regular collaborators Birmingham Rep and Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse to explore whether together we can make a real difference to the landscape of work being made for young audiences.
"This work is about the theatre professionals of the future develop their skills, artistic voice and experience by making exciting, purposeful and relevant work for the here and now.’