The Royal Court Theatre has announced its plans for its 60th anniversary, revealing a host of schemes to put young people at the heart of its venue.
Acknowledging that the next 60 years lies in the hands of the next generation of theatre enthusiasts, the legendary new writing theatre’s Artistic Director Vicky Featherstone outlined a series of exciting projects and events to take place over the coming 12 months.
First up in its aim to put young people centre stage is the introduction of a Royal Court Youth Board, offering teenagers aged 15 to 19-years-old interested in a career in theatre the chance to find out more about how a theatre is run.
The newly appointed board is comprised of 15 Youth Heads of Departments. Over the course of the year, the board will meet fortnightly to develop a greater understanding of what each department in the theatre does and to programme events for young people.
One of these events will take place in March, when the theatre stages its inaugural Youth Theatre: a performance project for young people aged 14 to 21-years-old.
Summer 2016 will see an even bigger takeover by young people with the return of Open Court. While 2015’s Open Court saw a group of writers given the keys to the theatre, this year the power will be handed over to a group of young theatremakers.
Another return for 2016 will be the hugely popular Primetime, which sees primary school children work with writers to create a set of short plays that will this year tour around north and south London schools.
Completing its exciting young people’s programme is the addition of a brand new Young People’s Script Panel. With new writing and the discovery and cultivation of scripts so integral to the Royal Court, this unique opportunity will pass on the skills of script reading to a new generation. The lucky participants will take part in their own script meetings to discuss play submissions and take part in workshops by Royal Court directors, designers and the Literary Department.
For full details of all the events and workshops on offer, visit the Royal Court Theatre website.