http://www.immediate-theatre.com/index.php en rhian@immediate-theatre.com Copyright 2012 2012-01-10T13:21:48+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Immediate_Theatre_on_the_BBCs_Inside_Out_Programme/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Immediate_Theatre_on_the_BBCs_Inside_Out_Programme/#When:13:21:48Z News article 2012-01-10T13:21:48+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Coming_Soon_From_Immediate_Theatre/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Coming_Soon_From_Immediate_Theatre/#When:13:03:40Z The 2012 diary so far: Estate Based Youth Theatre’s begin in the week of January 9th 2012Monday 9th : Pembury Youth Club    8 -13 years: 5.30 – 7pmTuesday 10th : Advanced Youth Theatre at Springfield House    14 years plus: 6 – 8pmWednesday 11th : Shoreditch group at Bridge Academy    8 – 11s: 4 – 5.15pm, 12-19s: 5.30 – 7pmThursday 12th: Woodberry Down group at The Redmond Centre    8 – 12s: 4 – 5.15pm, 13-19s: 5.30 – 7pmNew group begins on Gascoyne Estate in February Meet the ParentsOur peer led interactive sex and relationships workshops for schools and youth settings are available for bookings. Please contact charmain@immediate-theatre.comNow you see meOur acclaimed road safety show goes out on tour around London schools from January. This is a performance with a participatory workshop aimed at year 6, pre that ‘rite of passage’ transition to secondary schools.Discover Young Hackney FestivalAdvanced Youth Theatre performance in Arcola Theatre Tent.  Thursday  16th: 6pm and Friday 17th: 3pmFriday 17th February at 7pm .Immediate Theatre’s benefit and pop up party at Arcola Theatre Tent.  Performance  by our Advanced Youth Theatre with a new play ‘Get the Greedy’. Plus food, more entertainment and a chance to become a friend of Immediate Theatre. Short breaksA week long  drama project  for disabled children and young people in partnership with Short breaks. To be based at The Redmond Centre on Woodberry DownMarch 2012 Launch of ‘2moro?’ 2012 - Peer Facilitators programmeFunded by the EU and in partnership with The Prince’s Trust Fairbridge programme and London Borough of Hackney.  We are looking to train and employ six new Peer facilitators. •    12 months of part time, paid work experience with Immediate Theatre •    Training in running drama sessions and working with our youth theatre groups plus work placements with other arts companies•    The opportunity to complete a BTEC Level 2 Award in Peer Education and Gold or Silver Arts AwardTo apply for one of these posts  or more information contact rachel.drew@immediate-theatre.com Hackney on a World StageChaz our champion of diversity, is a puppet who will be visiting community groups in the run up to the 2012 Olympics. One of the questions she will be asking is “How does your community/family welcome guests?”The answers are more diverse than you probably think and will feed into a new outdoor performance in July. Chaz and friends will also be involved in the Hackney leg of the Olympic Torch Relay (more to come on this). 5b Youth theatre Festival: June 30thOur youth theatre groups will be participating in the 5 boroughs youth theatre festival  at the Brady Centre along with youth theatre groups from across north and east London. This year’s 5 boroughs festival will then run through to July with shows on tour at various venues. The Immediate Theatre team are constantly fundraising in order to create more exciting projects for young people and we appreciate all offers of support and invitations to work in partnership to provide workshops and new projects. We wish you all a Happy New Year! News article 2011-12-14T13:03:40+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Hackney_Carnival_/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Hackney_Carnival_/#When:11:47:24Z Our youth theatre members participated in the Hackney Carnival on Sunday September 18th, processing from Ridley Road market to Stoke Newington School. A group of our young women were costumed by Ali Pretty from Kinetika, while the boys were operating puppets and waving flags. Chaz the ‘Diversity’ puppet met people in Ridley Road before the Carnival procession moved off but once on the road, Atom the eight foot puppet took over and entertained people along the route. Click here to find out more about our "World in Hackney" project. News article 2011-10-11T11:47:24+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Frenzy/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Frenzy/#When:14:42:51Z Frenzy is Immediate Theatre’s response to the recent riots. We brought together young people from our different youth/arts activities  into a creative meeting space for participants to explore what happened in Hackney on the 8th August and how it affected them.  The result was a devised Forum Theatre show which explores young people's involvement and presents an interactive opportunity for audiences to debate the whys and consequences of the rioting and looting. The group developed two short plays as stimulus for engaging the audience in an interactive discussion about   ‘choices, decisions and consequences’. Sarah’s story and Brian’s story: . Sarah’s story which followed a young woman who was prevented from going out on the streets by her parents but ended up in trouble after taking a gift of stolen goods from a friend and Brian’s story following an unemployed teenager who took part in the looting. News article 2011-10-05T14:42:51+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/2moro_Festival_is_all_about_now/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/2moro_Festival_is_all_about_now/#When:14:39:51Z A future vision of Hackney, cyber bullying, and youth drawn into adult crime were the themes explored onstage by young actors at the thought-provoking ‘2moro?’ Theatre Festival held at Woodberry Down Estate’s Robin Redmond Resource Centre 21 – 24 February 2011.  Three Estate Based Youth Theatres (EBYT’s) came together to create and produce a trio of original and timely scripts of hope, aspirations and intergenerational understanding. The ‘2moro?’ Festival was a Team Hackney funded youth theatre project and the Genesis Housing Group, delivered by Immediate Theatre in partnership with Fairbridge and the Council’s Young Hackney Service. The goal of the ‘2moro?’ Festival was to engage young people in addressing issues related to gun, knife and gang crime.    The cheerful and welcoming circular community hall at the Robin Redmond Resource Centre was transformed for the festival into the dingy inside of a foreboding concrete silo as imagined by set designer Mamoru Iriguchi -- a claustrophobic space shared by audience and actors alike. A dozen realistic security cameras glared down on the unsuspecting audience. Original video, sound effects and music supported multiple themes of repression, challenges, personal responsibilities and hope for the future.   The Road, written by David Lane, developed by the Fusion EBYT actors and directed by Rob Watt was set 11 years in the future in a dystopian Hackney fractured by barbed wire-encircled post code districts and controlled not by gangs, but by armed soldiers enforcing martial law. The young actors portrayed Hackney inhabitants struggling to assert their individuality while making the transition to adulthood and a better future in an East London community stripped bare of its present-day identity.  Juvenile, written and directed by Tony Gouveia in coordination with Shoreditch EBYT, devised their script after being inspired through discussions with a Hackney police officer. The story follows the fictional but all-too believable misfortune of a young man newly arrived on an estate who slips under the influence of a local gang and becomes implicated in a shooting. The script and the actors purposely left questions open for discussion amongst the audience after the performance. There’s More To Come, created and directed by Tony Gouveia with input from the Woodberry Down EBYT brought to light the subject of cyber-bullying, the stress it causes and the self-harm that sometimes ensues. Given the current real world Dispersal Zone status on the estate that prevents young people from congregating on the streets, cyber-bullying is seen by many young people as a growing risk. The actors brought a chilling believability to the performance.       In total, more than 50 young actors took part in the ‘2moro?’ Festival which was seen by approximately 60 youth group members, many of whom also took part in lively workshops, discussions and an expert panel question and answer session.  The panel discussion, which took place mid-way through the festival on Wednesday, 24 Feb was chaired by Immediate Theatre founder, Jo Carter. The panel members included Chief Inspector Jane Easton from Hackney Police; Cllr Rita Krishna, Cabinet Member for Hackney Youth Services; and Ian Levy who set up the Robert Levy Foundation in memory of his 16 year old son who was murdered in Hackney in 2004. The panel discussed thought-provoking questions and comments from the young audience for over 30 minutes.  The ‘2moro?’ Festival, produced by Immediate Theatre’s Associate Director, Tony Gouveia and Training Coordinator, Rachel Drew has been in preparation for the last nine months through workshops, script development, rehearsals and feedback discussions. Throughout this process, four ex-young offender Peer Facilitators have been instrumental to success of the ‘2moro?’ festival. Daniel Gordon, Ornella Hardie, Seyyid Ozicer and Terrance Smith received professional theatre training, enabling them to co-develop the festival plays and to lead other young people in using theatre to examine alternatives to gun, knife and gang crime as well as bullying issues.  Immediate Theatre’s aim of providing essential mentoring and training for Hackney’s young people continues despite ongoing government funding cuts. Upcoming interactive programmes will include youth theatre, road safety, relationship building, sexual health and anti-bullying. The work of the award-winning charity, which offered issue-based drama projects to more than 7,000 young people last year is becoming even more important against a backdrop of persistent social exclusion and poverty.  Support for Immediate Theatre programmes comes from a wide range of grants, sponsorship and donations. Individuals and businesses that are interested in supporting Immediate Theatre’s work may phone 0207 012 1677 for more information.      News article 2011-03-08T14:39:51+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/2moro_Festival_/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/2moro_Festival_/#When:16:11:59Z The Immediate Theatre ‘2moro?’ Festival is the result of a year long drama project with the young people of Hackney. Three plays have been developed by ex-young offender Peer Facilitators working with Estate Based Youth Theatre groups across the borough, looking at the consequences of youth involvement in crime from different angles. Each audience group saw two plays and participated in workshops and discussions with the actors and directors during the day. News article 2011-02-18T16:11:59+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/EBYT_actors_meet_Chaz/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/EBYT_actors_meet_Chaz/#When:12:48:09Z The EBYT Christmas sharings culminated on the 16th of December with the Woodberry Down group at the Robin Redmond Centre. More than ten young actors told the story of ‘An Anansi the Spiderman pantomime’ based on an African- Caribbean folktale which was accompanied by a catchy song and dance. The facial expressions of the young actors and audience members were priceless as they were introduced to a colourful and brightly lit Chaz - the ‘Champion of Diversity puppet.’ Chaz was shown the Anansi dance and happily joined in with the actors and audience. Amidst all the excitement the atmosphere was infused with a sweet scent and tempted many people to the Immediate Theatre bake sale stall. A variety of home made cookies, flap jacks, brownies, and cakes were sold and enjoyed by many.    Estate Based Youth Theatres are closed until the New Year but there are still available places. For more information please contact Tony Gouveia on 020 79141676 or tony@immediate-thatre.com News article 2010-12-22T12:48:09+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Champion_of_Diversity_to_inspire_Hackney_youth/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Champion_of_Diversity_to_inspire_Hackney_youth/#When:16:04:52Z The young people of Immediate Theatre’s weekly Estate Based Youth Theatre (EBYT) program in Hackney will have the opportunity to do just that: to tell a story about themselves as a gift to the other-worldly visitor called, ‘Chaz’, known as the ‘Champion of Diversity’. Immediate Theatre, an award-winning charity established in 1996, works in partnership to produce pathways which enable young people at high risk of exclusion, to participate in the arts. ‘Chaz’, an intricately crafted, four foot tall rod puppet, is the brainchild of Ali Pretty, Artistic Director of Kinetika, specialists in outdoor performance, and is operated by five people, giving Chaz the ability to display a seemingly unlimited range of human-like gestures and emotions. ‘Chaz’ (short for Chandrika, which means ‘moonbeam’ in Hindi), belongs to a ‘family’ of similar puppets who are all part of ‘Imagination Our Nation’, a five year national project inspired by the core Olympic values of Welcoming The World, Celebrating Diversity and Inspiring Young People. This award-winning contemporary and collaborative arts programme, initiated and incubated by Kinetika, has inspired tens of 1,000’s of young people over the last five years. Chaz is on a mission to meet people from as many different communities and nations in Hackney as possible, and to listen to their stories – she’s relying on young people to help make that happen. Immediate Theatre’s Estate Based Youth Theatre actors have completed preparations on the short plays for Chaz to be performed 13, 14 & 16 Dec (see times and locations below) which will reveal a narrative about their lives and in so doing, will reinforce the value of Hackney’s extraordinary wealth of diversity. But Chaz’ visits won’t stop there. Chaz, her fellow puppets and their young friends plan to drop in on schools, community events and businesses from January 2011 right up to the time of the Olympics in 2012 when they will come together in Hackney for a massive celebration bringing with them hundreds of young people to join the ‘World’ party. Groups are encouraged to contact Immediate Theatre to discuss the possibility of a visit from Chaz.     • Monday, 13 Dec 2010    EBYT Sharing – New Kingshold Hall    Ainsworth Road, Hackney E9 7JE    16:30 – show starts    - The show: A devised show about dreams, performed with choreographed movement    - Visit from Chaz, the Champion of Diversity        • Tuesday, 14 Dec 2010    EBYT Sharing – Lea View House Community Hall    Springfield, upper Clapton E5 9DX    18:00 – Show starts    - The show: What happens in a perfect day! A promenade performance using the whole       space at Lea View House Community Hall    - Visit from Chaz, the Champion of Diversity   • Thursday, 16 Dec 2010    EBYT Sharing – Woodberry Down    Robin Redmond Resource Centre    17:00 – Show starts     - The show: An Anansi the Spiderman pantomime, telling the traditional African Caribbean        folktale with songs, dance and over-acting.           - Visit from Chaz, the Champion of Diversity     - Bakesale. Delicious, home-baked goodies for sale in support of the Estate Based Youth        Theatre costume fund. Buy some to enjoy at the event or take them home to enjoy later.     - Immediate Theatre Merchandise will also be on sale. Promote and support your youth theatre.     • Kinetika partner web links: www.kinetikaonline.co.uk    www.imaginationournation.co.uk News article 2010-12-09T16:04:52+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Young_Playwrights_featured_at_the_Young_Vic_theatre/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Young_Playwrights_featured_at_the_Young_Vic_theatre/#When:15:37:12Z Four young playwrights, trained and mentored by Immediate Theatre, experienced the thrill of seeing excerpts from their own scripts performed on the stage at the celebrated ‘Young Vic’ theatre 20 – 23 Oct, directed and acted in by theatre professionals. Anna-Marie Descartes, Alexandra Joseph, Adela Galicianu and Sabrina Allicock, all teens from East London, honed their writing skills at an Immediate Theatre-led summer play writing course taught by writer-in-residence Penny Cliff. Once the teens’ short plays began to take shape, each young writer worked closely with professional directors to prepare the scripts for the rehearsed readings at the Young Vic in October. The short plays were performed by four young professional actors who played a wide variety of parts during the four night run of the program, called As it Goes. The plays were performed in rotation, two per night, in front of enthusiastic full houses which helped celebrate the accomplishments of the late Andrea Dunbar, a troubled young playwright who stunned the theatre establishment with her insightful, hard-hitting plays and movie scripts in the 1980’s. As it Goes also introduced audiences to short clips from the recently released, award-winning film, ‘The Arbor’ by Clio Barnard about Andrea Dunbar and her daughter Lorraine, plus selected readings by ‘The Arbor’ film actors from Dunbar’s scripts. Immediate Theatre was commissioned by Artangel to work in partnership with the Young Vic Theatre to discover and mentor the four new young playwrights who entertained the audiences so effectively during As it Goes at the Young Vic theatre. News article 2010-10-25T15:37:12+00:00 http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Festival_of_Light/ http://www.immediate-theatre.com/about/detail/Festival_of_Light/#When:17:23:30Z Around 125 adults, young people and children took part in the ‘Festival of Light’ with the goal of celebrating community diversity and participation in the arts. Friends and onlookers were treated to several hours of accomplished Turkish musicians, a lively family choir, a rambunctious rhythm band and imaginative series of short tableauxs entitled ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’ featuring young people directed by ‘Estate Based Youth Theatre’, a programme of Immediate Theatre and ‘In Toto Theatre’. One of the most extraordinary visitors to the event was ‘Chaz’, famous for her diversity champion ambassador skills. Chaz is a friendly, inquisitive four foot tall silver-coloured rod puppet created by Kinetica, an organisation dedicated to carnival creativity and responsible for training the five young people required to operate her. Chaz especially delighted the youngest members of the audience with her highly animated antics.   The free 'Festival of Light' celebration was the culmination of more than five weeks of preparation by East London young people and volunteers who joined in craft, choir, music, dance and theatre workshops as they readied themselves for the big night at the reservoir. Tony Gouveia, Immediate Theatre producer for the event commented, “children and parents working together, performing on the same stage – awesome!” The young actors from Immediate Theatre who acted in ‘East of the Sun, West of the Moon’, are members of the free, professionally-produced Estate Based Youth Theatre programme on Woodberry Down Estates which encourages budding actors from 8 to 19 years to discover their talents and performing skills on stage throughout the school year. The Festival of Light celebration was generously supported by The Big Lottery Fund, Manor House Development Trust, L’EST Projects and Well London. The Well London fund supports the ‘Be Creative, Be Well’ project which uses the arts and cultural activity to help engage communities and individuals in a process of change, to improve environments and provide accessible physical activities.     News article 2010-10-11T17:23:30+00:00