Creative Futures and The Borough Theatre in Abergavenny are set to host an exciting summer school that will give young people aged between 11 and 16 the time and space to share and develop their ideas about community through creativity. A unique opportunity, the summer school workshops will be held in the Borough auditorium, with seats retracted to provide a large and inspiring workshop space.

“The arts are such a powerful tool in helping us shape our ideas and building a better understanding of who we are. This summer school is all about creating something new and relevant, shaped by the most innovative artists around – young people!” says Katherine McDermid Smith, Creative Futures project lead. “We’re so excited to be able to host the summer school in such a fantastic setting and give the next generation of young theatre makers a chance to learn and develop in a professional theatre” continues Katherine. The summer school will bring together facilitators Junior Mujica and Mari Luz Cervantes, who will work with improv, devising, writing and physical theatre, to support young people in creating a completely new piece of theatre to be shared with friends and family on the final day. “Junior and Mari bring such energy to the workshops they lead. You can tell that the young people really trust them, this evident in the incredibly honest work that they produce with the groups that they work with” added Katherine. Each day of the summer school will consist of a series of different activities. On day one, young people will come together to ask the question, “what really matters to us and how can we create positive change through self-expression?”

Day two will bring these issues to life through theatre games and techniques with day three consisting of further experimentation and contextualising ideas within the auditorium space.

On days four and five, young people will use specific stagecraft and writing techniques to refine a script and bring their performance together. One of a series of programmes for young people, the summer school is part of the UKSPF Creative Futures project which has been running workshops over the past year. “I have loved learning new skills, bonding with other people and really just trying new things…” said one workshop participant. “I was scared I would be judged, but here, I’ve been more confident than ever,” said another. “This was the best way to spend my holiday!”

The Creative Futures Project is funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, Creative Futures and is a collaboration between The Borough Theatre, Dance Blast, Melville Centre for the Arts and Monmouthshire Youth Services.

Bringing together organisations committed to the arts and to youth, Creative Futures it aims to create a Monmouthshire wide community of spaces and opportunities through collaboration, shared knowledge, expertise and resources

If you would like to find out more or sign up visit www.boroughtheatreabergavenny.co.uk/whatson/ With support from Abergavenny Rotary, The Borough Theatre Summer School has five fully paid bursary places available, to find out more, please email [email protected]