Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the UK's flagship venues, known for its annual summer festival season, and for showcasing productions that frequently transfer to London's West End. Another aspect for which it is renowned is its connection with its local community, through its Learning, Education and Participation (LEAP) department, which works with people of all ages.
Within LEAP sits an inspiring programme of activities, workshops, and projects for young people of all abilities, cultures and social backgrounds. The Chichester Festival Youth Theatre (CFYT) forms the largest strand of its work with 850 young people taking part each week in acting, dance, technical and musical theatre workshops. These run at CFT itself, and at other locations across West Sussex, within a satellite hub structure ‘in areas where we identified vulnerability or need for young people’ – says Dale Rooks, MBE, director of LEAP at CFT. It is an audition-free group with bursary places for young people who need financial support available.
New initiatives
CFT also offers a Prologue scheme to make its outstanding productions even more accessible for young people. Through simple registration, young people can get two tickets per performance (subject to availability). CFT even do a buddy scheme to pair young people up if they don't have someone to go to the theatre with, and they are extending this with a travel scheme to further help get the young people to the venue.
The theatre aims to capture and channel a love of the performing arts with those even younger too, with such initiatives as Festival Fridays where 15 Year 5 pupils from local primary schools come and spend every Friday for a year with the LEAP team at the theatre instead of going to school. The group spend their day taking part in a range of activities from acting, dance and movement, through to understanding the many jobs in theatre.
The latest cohort have just finished their year: ‘the feedback we've had from the sharing [group] we had last week … the parents could not believe how much confidence the children had built, the level of self-esteem they developed, and a lot have now signed up to join our YT’ reflects Rooks.
The key to success in much of their work comes from CFT recognising that the best way to learn, especially for young people, is through hands-on experience.
Evidence of success
Another example is their Young Practitioner programme running across the academic year providing mentoring, practical masterclasses and experience-based learning. Supported by CFT staff in a small group, the focus is on personal development, as well as specialised development into such things as technical aspects of theatre-making and stage craft. CFT also provides apprenticeships, traineeships, work experience placements and creative careers days.
The success of the YT and all the initiatives is evident in its alumni who end up working in theatre professionally all over the world; ‘about 90% of those young people [in our technical apprenticeships] go into the profession and then they do a full circle and often come back here and work on a show professionally’, Rooks comments. Among the many success stories, two of their previous students won Olivier Awards for their puppeteering and technical roles in the Life of Pi.
Wellbeing and community
It's not just theatre skills and personal development that are the focus; wellbeing is a key feature of CFT's programme design for young people as reflected in their team of staff which includes Shari A. Jessie, a US and UK trained person-centred therapist. The aim in her appointment was to provide well-being programmes and direct one-to-one support to Chichester Festival Youth Theatre members, as well as support and consultancy to freelance acting companies and creatives, schools and CFT staff.
In terms of schools, Angela Watkins, who is project manager for LEAP and its connected strand with Creative County West Sussex, says that a big part of the design for work within education is ‘about creating a legacy’ with longer term projects, so that they can see a progression throughout a period of time with individuals. CFT in its partnership with CCWS aims to bridge the gap between the educational and cultural sector, also offering CPD opportunities for teachers, and specific workshops connected to plays that run at CFT, with online toolkits for every show too for a teacher to be able to independently explore with their students.
What shines through conversations with Watkins and Rooks, and indeed by exploring the CFT and CCWS's websites, is the passion of all staff involved, and the pride and love for all its work with and for the community and young people: ‘everyone believes in the work and has huge respect for it’, Rooks explained, with Watkins adding: ‘it is a joy to be part of and a joy to see how [young people] grow and progress and flourish [with us]’.