At a Glance: Highlights of a year unlike any other

A letter from our Artistic Director Our impact in 2019/20

This year has been unlike any other.

Unsurprisingly, our work has been significantly disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic and we have been forced to reimagine how we can continue to have an impact in young people’s lives in a post covid world.

We have seen the theatre industry particularly badly affected, the education of our young actors was severely interrupted and, as lockdown continued, reports surfaced of teenage mental health deteriorating.

A large amount of planned work was cancelled without warning including our first international project LBA- Love, Beauty and Attraction which was scheduled for a Mumbai tour in April 2020 as well as schools’ touring work, creative lab and outreach projects.

Despite these setbacks, the Peer team rallied; we used all our creative energy to develop innovative new ideas, learned new skills and reached out to form new partnerships. The ideas and networks created during this challenging time will sustain long after Covid restrictions lift, and I feel sure will continue to enrich our work for many years to come.

During the most challenging months of 2020 we at Peer; • Migrated our Actor Development Programme online, retaining 100% of learners and delivered a digital showcase. • Developed a new online mini-series 50 Days: Alone Together telling the story of 10 teens and their first 50 days in lockdown. • Developed an online resource as part of our Generation Girls programme. • Brought together our first Creative Collective Motherline made up of emerging female creative leaders. • Strengthened our partnership as members of the Surrey Wellbeing partnership successfully tendering for a contract which provides Peer with much needed long-term funding.

I could not be prouder of what we achieved, and I am grateful to my colleagues, trustees and young actors for their continued hard work. In 2019/2020 we continued with our three pillar young person centred approach using peer education and theatre to empower three separate groups of beneficiaries: young peer educators, disadvantaged project participants and young audience members. We also extended our practice, and with support from Arts Council England, we supported a group of 8 emerging female arts leaders to develop their creative practice during this challenging time.

We did this by:

• Producing and touring original educational plays about the topics that are most important to young people in the UK. We delivered a tour of Hidden.

Our Losing It tour was ended prematurely and our planned new play As I

See It was postponed owing to Covid restrictions.

• Creating 50 Days: Alone Together – a new mini-series harnessing innovative prospero technology to tell the story of 10 teens and their first 50 days in lockdown and enable young audience members to access information, advice and guidance to support their mental health and wellbeing.

• Training the next generation of performers and theatre makers seamlessly switching to online delivery and retaining 100% of learners.

• Delivering drama outreach work and digital resources for marginalised and vulnerable young people through our groundbreaking Generation

Girls programme. This project uses drama to empower Autistic Girls and

Girls with Learning Disabilities improving their confidence and reducing their risk of sexual exploitation.

• Facilitating the Motherline – a creative collective of 8 emerging female arts leaders who came together to develop their practice.