The Stage

The bright young things

Published Friday 1 October 2010 at 14:31 by Stuart Mullins

Stuart Mullins, creative director of Theatre Is… argues that, while theatre for young audiences is on the up, England can learn from Scottish strategies

Now is the time to celebrate the incredible achievements of those who have made theatre for young audiences a jewel in the crown of the British arts. The legacy of increased investment means we have a new Unicorn Theatre, a canon of groundbreaking work for early years audiences and the best theatre-makers in the country producing anything from Fevered Sleep’s Brilliant to the National Theatre’s War Horse. That’s the legacy, but what of the future?

I courted the opinions of some of the leading artists who make theatre for and with young people - I asked them what they cherish from the last decade and how they might want to develop a bright new future. I did this because last May, I paid my first visit to the Imaginate Festival of performing arts for children and young people in Edinburgh and was overwhelmed, not just by the quality of the work, but the cohesiveness of the Scottish theatre-making community. Imaginate constantly juxtaposes Scotland’s theatre with the rest of the world’s. I observed this process with admiration and a touch of envy.

This is not just the case in Scotland. Look at the Tweetakt Festival in Utrecht or the innovative and groundbreaking work of Kopergietery in Belgium, and you’ll see a sense of shared purpose and leadership in continental Europe, which I don’t think exists in England. There is well-meaning activity, such as the creation of the National Campaign for the Arts’ recent drama and theatre manifesto for children and young people, or the tireless work of Steve Ball and the Theatre for Young Audiences steering group. But what we need is a national entity which would provide the strategic leadership and focus necessary to make theatre for young audiences in England consistently world-class.

In contrasting English work with our Scottish counterparts, Tony Graham, the inspired leader of the Unicorn, reflects that companies from Scotland face towards continental Europe and borrow from international experience. The brilliant Sarah Argent from Theatr Iolo reflects that a sizable Scottish contingent has developed from a theatrical, rather than an educational premise. The Scottish companies have emerged from vocational drama training and regard themselves primarily as artists. In England and Wales, by comparison, the emphasis has been on education.

What is most important - theatre for young audiences in an educational or instrumental context or theatre which excites and inspires the next generation of theatre-makers? Of course, theatre in an educational context is important. But, as Roger Lang, the former Independent Theatre Council’s young people’s theatre co-ordinator says: “We should not define children and young people purely in terms of education. We don’t do that for adult audiences, so why do it for children and young people?” Of course, the two areas of work do not need to live in opposition, but I would argue that we need to focus on the quality of the art and its potential to inspire young people - not just on the educational outcomes.

It’s an old argument and, let’s be honest, we will always have arguments because we care so much. But it’s an argument that has already been superseded by a new one. The fundamental change is the role our young audiences play in the creation of new work.

Baba Israel, the new artistic director of Contact, would like to see a sector where organisations value the input of young people and perceive them as collaborators and consultants, not simply beneficiaries or participants. I agree. Every day I become aware of a new initiative which sees the authentic voice of the young placed at the centre of an organisation. Theatre Hullabaloo’s new formalised strategy of child- centredness is one just example.

In 2006, I was asked by Arts Council England to create a new regional strategic organisation, Theatre Is…. The brief was to engage young people in regenerating communities, develop new and innovative work for young audiences, and encourage the best regional and national artists to make work for children. In taking this on, I wanted to make something that was a new kind of respect for the culture of the young. So my world is now one of hip hop, digital arts and circus. Every day I learn from a new generation of theatre-makers what their theatre is.

The arts council’s willingness to have an open and creative conversation about a bright new future in these uncertain times is refreshing. So this is my contribution: I want a new, non-building-based national hub for theatre for young audiences. The hub would create an international festival which brings together young people and the leading artists from around the world. In the development of talent, it would coordinate the outcomes of the various initiatives now taking place in higher education, drama schools and regeneration.

This approach would bring to England what the Scottish and our colleagues across the Channel already do so well. It would produce that sense of confidence and cohesiveness which England currently lacks. The model is not hard to find.

Hub, strategy, consortium - whatever we call it - at its heart would be our ambition, shared across the sector, to create a relationship with young audiences that ensures we are creating work which inspires the next generation of theatre-makers.

Without them, I fear a return to a bygone age where theatre was for the few and not the many. We all want, after all, great art for everybody.