Beth YeomansYork is home to many top venues playing host to many gigs and a variety of theatre productions. Pilot Theatre is bringing some new talent to the city with Youth Theatre groups from across the EU.
The project is at York Theatre Royal from 14 – 22 April 2012 as part of Through Our Eyes, an exciting youth exchange project, it involves young people from six different European countries.
The project has been put together with the support of the European Union and British Council. There will be 50 young people from UK, Estonia, The Netherlands, Norway, Hungary and Portugal performing for nine days.
Pilot Theatre is an award winning National Touring Theatre Company currently in residence at York Theatre Royal.
In a shared promenade piece of theatre on Friday 20 April, the group move through the City of York with workshops by directors, writers, photographers, film and theatre makers exploring society and culture from the perspective of a young person. There are also number of social and cultural events including a workshop by York Royal residents, Tongue Tied Theatre, a visit from National Railway Museum and a treasure hunt exploring York. The activities are designed to help the youngsters get to know each other and their countries much better.
Tom Bellerby, Pilot Theatre Associate Artist said “Pilot Theatre is delighted to be hosting the Through Our Eyes project at York Theatre Royal. For these young people to build networks throughout Europe is an extremely valuable and positive experience for all those involved – it can only be beneficial to The Arts in York.”
The school and theatre groups are exploring the topic Stories from European Schoolyards. They wanted to focus on exploring non-text-based storytelling, mixing both visual and performing arts, as well as using photography.
Before coming to York the participants took their location in their home countries as a starting point. The groups will use photographs and other media to tell their stories from their own countries and share them with everyone in York. It is hoped this will spark up discussion about themes and issues that concern them in their lives and societies.
Performances will take place throughout Yorks historical sites including, St Olave’s Church, St Martin’s Church and the Yorkshire Museum Gardens. The performances will involve visual content accompanied by music and singing exploring how tales can be presented without the use of a written text. Their will be a contemporary twist put to the traditional stories from all nations, with a short piece inspired by each of the nations traditional stories.
The performance will start at 5pm today, starting at St. Olave’s Church, Marygate, it is free to attend. Pilot Theatre has asked people to email them at infor@pilot-theatre.com as some of the venues have limited capacity.
To find out more about Pilot Theatre follow @Pilot_Theatre on Twitter or visit www.pilot-theatre.com.
