West Lothian Youth Theatre
Salangundi
Boxstar
Funding
WLYT aims to enhance and enrich the lives of young people through a range of drama and theatre related workshops and high quality performance projects of a professional standard.
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Weekly workshops are delivered during term-time following a youth theatre curriculum designed to maximise the personal, social, educational and creative development of participating young people. |
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Over 50 workshops are delivered each week in towns and villages across West Lothian, East Renfrewshire and Angus, and include workshops designed for those with additional support needs. Workshops are delivered for children and young people aged from 5 to 25.
During holiday periods WLYT runs a range of projects, including Play and Film in a Week projects, productions, our own Annual Autumn Arts Festival, and participation in national and international exchanges. Holiday projects are open to young people from across all workshop groups, thereby promoting inclusion and integration of people from different communities and different backgrounds.
'Playing a Part', a 2002 study for the National Association of Youth Theatres has shown that youth theatre activities:
- are a key feature in developing self-esteem and confidence
- provide an informal and supportive context for personal and social development
- create a space for the use of imagination, allowing participants to be agents in their own development
- provide a safe environment for participants to take risks, assume responsibility and assert their independence
- provide an opportunity to explore self and experiment with personal identity in a supportive setting
- deliver opportunities to take responsibility in work-like contexts and develop a range of pre-vocational skills
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Therefore youth theatre activities give opportunities for participants to participate more fully in their communities and consider the consequences of the roles they play in the wider world.
Salmagundi was launched in 2006 to offer opportunities for young adults to develop their personal and social skills and using drama to empower those with learning difficulties and other additional support needs. During 2007 members of the Salmagundi Company have performed a reduced version of Shakespeare’s Hamlet at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh and have worked on a production of Aristophanes’ Women in Power.
Salmagundi Training Company, a group of 15 young people aged 14-21, are starting a new production: Monsters. The piece has been commissioned from Clare Duffy, who has been working with the Salmagundi Company since summer 2007 and has been helping with creating characters and plot lines for a piece of original and inspiring theatre that will explore the challenging subject of child militia.
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'Boxstar' is West Lothian Youth Theatre's video, new media production and training. Participants have the opportunity to take part in film and video workshops, produce films, and create documentaries. |
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The aim of this project is also to make fresh, creative and professional films for companies locally and nationally. Any profit made by the company will be used to develop film and drama activities for young people. Boxstar aims to provide members with an understanding of the media, as well as an introduction to, and advanced training in video production, such as camera techniques; lighting; video editing; short film making; documentary techniques and film education.
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West Lothian Youth Theatre received a National Lottery Capital Grant of £39,539 towards the cost of lighting and sound equipment to enable participants of the community to have an enhanced experience of drama. The grant contributed to the following: |
Lighting and sound equipment
- This has enhanced the facilities at the Playshed and means that WLYT can put on midscale performances in a secure environment. This has enabled participants to experience and learn about the technical side of theatre without having the pressures of a full theatre venue. This also means WLYT can bring lighting and sound equipment into community venues which will help us reach new audiences.
Enhanced schools work
- A previous Theatre in Education project, Life’s a Pizza toured without lights in primary schools and the Scottish Parliament but now we can include this in our future productions. WLYT have used the lights as the basis of a Continuing Professional Development course for teachers.
Enhanced software for Boxstar
- This keeps us abreast of cutting edge technology which improves the delivery of work to our film-making participants.
Office renovation
- New desks and new IT has been installed at the Playshed, WLYT’s base in Livingston. This basic infrastructure improvement has underpinned the developments in the last few years. Without them WLYT would not have been able to expand. Also the equipment has allowed for better in house marketing, plus internet based marketing.
The funding has been extremely beneficial to West Lothian Youth Theatre and its members, without it WLYT would not have been able to expand its delivery across Scotland.
| For more information please visit the West Lothian Youth Theatre website. | |