NEWS RELEASE: Tuesday 30 June 2015
CHRYSALIS READY TO BURST ONTO THEATRE FESTIVAL STAGE Two UK theatre companies have been selected to take part in the inaugural Chrysalis festival on Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November in Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. This follows a selection process by an expert panel to whittle down a shortlist of seven to a final two new works that will be performed. The two successful productions are ‘Southside Stories’ by the Citizens Young Company from Glasgow and ‘Headz’ by 20 Stories High Young Actors Company from Liverpool. Companies from Scotland, the UK and overseas applied to be considered for the festival. Between March and June this year, the selection panel viewed seven shortlisted productions from Edinburgh, West Lothian, Glasgow, Perth and Liverpool. The panel then selected ‘Southside Stories’ and ‘Headz’ to join invited work at the first-ever Chrysalis festival in November 2015. The invited companies will be announced in July to complete a programme of exceptional youth performance. The Chrysalis festival is a new platform for innovative, and often provocative, performances by Scottish and UK-based companies. The festival will showcase emerging talent, spark critical debate and challenge perceptions of youth theatre. Chrysalis is also part of Call to Create season curated by the Roundhouse in London. The season combines the new ideas, energy and talent of young people with the experience of established artists to inspire audiences around the world. Together Chrysalis and Call to Create will help young people break through the creative glass ceiling by showcasing incredible artistic work. A programme of talks and events with invited speakers, which explores the position of youth theatre in an international context, will accompany this first Chrysalis festival.
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NOTES TO EDITORS CHRYSALIS Chrysalis is a new theatre festival and the only platform of its kind in Scotland for ambitious and provocative performance by young theatre-makers. Four selected shows will each be performed twice over the two days of the festival: Friday 6 and Saturday 7 November 2015 in Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre. An innovation from Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, Chrysalis aims to attract new audiences to youth theatre arts, inspire Scotland’s youth arts sector and enhance public perception of creative work by young people. CALL TO CREATE Call to Create is a global collective of cultural organisations which are coming together for the first time to shout louder about the great art young people make. Young people often tell us they hit a glass ceiling in the creative world due to their age. But we know that if we combine the new ideas, energy and talent of young people with the experience of established artists, we can create some incredible artistic moments which can inspire audiences and other artists. The Call to Create network was established by the Roundhouse, Camden, London. www.roundhouse.org.uk/calltocreate THEATRE COMPANIES: 20 STORIES HIGH YOUNG ACTORS COMPANY (Liverpool) 20 Stories High is an award-winning theatre company based in Toxteth, Liverpool, creating dynamic, challenging theatre which attracts new, young audiences while pushing the boundaries of what is theatre. Headz is a collection of monologues which gives a gritty, challenging and humorous insight to the contemporary lives of Liverpool’s young people. CITZ YOUNG COMPANY (Glasgow) th Citz Young Company celebrates its 10 anniversary in 2015. Over the years, the company has performed a very broad range of work, from Shakespeare to new writing. Based at Glasgow’s famous Citizens’ Theatre, the company offers opportunities to young people aged 18 to 22 in acting, writing and devising. Southside Stories is a new piece which draws on interviews with people who live and work in the dynamic and diverse Govanhill area of Glasgow and features original live music. YOUTH THEATRE ARTS SCOTLAND Youth Theatre Arts Scotland is the national development organisation for youth theatre. Our mission is to transform lives through youth theatre by developing inspiring participatory opportunities for young people in Scotland, and by connecting, supporting and training the professionals who work with them. We support a membership of more than 120 youth theatre organisations and freelance practitioners who engage around 23,000 young people in youth theatre activity across the country every week.
Further information and images are available from James Coutts, Press Office on 0131 538 0591 or email james@ytas.org.uk