Published: 05/06/2020
In this blog, Programmes Manager Rachel Sears reflects on the work done by The Court Youth Company during lockdown and looks forward to what they will create next…
As we emerge from lockdown and enter our new Level 2 normal, it feels important to take a moment and reflect on what we have learnt and experienced during the eight weeks we were stuck in our homes.
We are particularly proud of the way we managed to move a large percentage of our work online. During the last two months, over 150 students have engaged with our online learning opportunities and our incredible youth company have continued to meet twice a week to play, get creative and explore their responses to what is going on in the world. This has been incredible, and it has been awesome to see a group of young people provide such fantastic support to each other during this time. When I think back to the work we made at the beginning and compare it to the more recent isolation creations, it shows such a huge leap and growth in the comfort of working and owning the online space.
The Court Youth Company will now begin the process of taking the work they have made during lockdown and forming their creative responses into a piece of live theatre. Safe to be performed in Level 1 or 2, this is programmed to be the first public piece of work staged at The Court Theatre as part of our reopening.
It's so exciting that the first show as part of our new normal will be a piece made and performed by young people creatively responding to what is happening in the world right now! These young people were children during the shock and rebuild of the earthquakes and, as young adults, they are now navigating a global pandemic. No one knows what they will have to deal with in their future, but I am certain that their creativity, community spirit and resilience will stand them in good stead for whatever the future might hold.