Bristol Old Vic’s ‘Made in Bristol’ – theatre for children and young people that’s transforming lives
“When it came to the end of my sentence, I had two choices: to either stay in London and be around the same people and get caught up in the same thing, or move to Bristol, work at the Bristol Old Vic and make work as part of the Made in Bristol scheme. It was the best decision of my life.”
When he was 16, Joseph Langdon was sent to a Young Offender’s Institution.
It’s not an unusual story. In 2016/7, according to the Youth Justice Statistics Bulletin, there were around 74,800 arrests of children and young people aged 10-17 in England and Wales.
The unusual bit of the story is what happened next.
Joseph says: “I was about 10 months into an 18-month sentence and a guy called Jesse Jones came in. He was from the Outreach Dept at Bristol Old Vic and he taught drama every Monday. They saw my GCSEs and they saw that drama was one I was good at. They said, ‘Do you want to start coming to this drama group?’ and I was, like, ‘Oh, yeah, alright, why not?’ I went to it and yeah, it’s changed my life.”
Although arrests of children and young people have fallen significantly over the past 10 years, the really mindboggling statistic is that over 42% of the children and young people convicted of crime reoffend. That’s compared with 28.2% for adults.
And that’s what makes Joseph’s story special.
“I was coming to the end of my sentence and I had a chat with Jesse and he said that the BOV do a scheme, it’s [part of] the Outreach Dept called Made in Bristol.”
Made In Bristol is a group of twelve young people aged 18-25 on some sort of gap year – be it having graduated from university, finished school or being in part time employment – who become resident at Bristol Old Vic for two days a week for one year. The annual scheme is designed to give young theatre-makers an opportunity to train together, to become workshop leaders, facilitators and theatre makers, creating work that can reach out across Bristol and the South West, engaging with other local arts organisations as well as performing their own piece of work at the end of the course.
The group gets the opportunity to work with freelance directors and arts practitioners (in the past these have included Tom Morris, Melly Still, Sally Cookson, Mike Shepherd and Emma Rice) as well as to participate in the wider Bristol arts scene through collaborations and touring work nationally.
For Joseph the opportunity was life-changing.
“I’d have the opportunity to work and get money as well as learn stuff and become a workshop leader…Throughout the BOV scheme they also offered me a job, so for two years I worked in the box office.”
Today Joseph is an actor and final year student at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts – “one of the best things that has ever happened to me” – and looking forward to the future. He’s hoping to come back to Bristol and continue working with the theatre that changed his life.
Bristol Old Vic - an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation – is a world-renowned theatre. Built in 1766 as a place where the people of Bristol could come together, it is the oldest continuously working theatre in the English-speaking world. The theatre is brilliantly placed to deliver education, outreach and participation work, and is recognised as a leader in UK theatre education.
One of their most important projects is the Bristol Old Vic Young Company, one of the largest regional youth theatres in the UK and home to over 350 young people aged 5-25 from across the South West who take part in an on-going programme of weekly sessions, theatre master classes, community projects and full-scale performances.
They are such a mix of young people from all different parts of Bristol, all different backgrounds and seeing them come together and sitting watching them…just being a really tight-knit cast, I think has been the most amazing thing for me. Just seeing them all come together and make this most amazing whole.
Sian Henderson, Former Engagement Producer
Director Lisa Gregan says: “We kind of cover a broad range of young people, starting with the really little ones where we just get to grips with the basics of theatre making and going all the way up to 25-year-olds where we really delve in to some quite deep scripts. We try and cover a huge curriculum of stuff within that time and the hope is that a child can come to us at 5 years old, stay to 25 and have learnt new things every year.”
Joseph isn’t the only graduate of the Young Company who has had their life changed for the better.
The ensemble theatre features large casts of young people of all ages and abilities, learning skills that can contribute to a future career in the performing arts or simply build confidence and self-esteem. There are also satellite projects across Bristol, connecting with those who find it difficult to participate in arts activity. It’s become a training ground for young people to find their voice, express creativity and make work that reflects the world they live in. People like Julia Head, who has dyslexia and ADHD and would have “laughed in your face” if you told her she would be making theatre for a living.
“Growing up I thought plays were really boring and I was rubbish at reading. Went to Bristol Old Vic when my school took me to see a show there called Jane Eyre by a woman called Sally Cookson and her company. And it was incredible. And it made me feel alive and it made my bones feel all excited.”
Julia decided there and then that she wanted to be in the room “where I could be part of that feeling” and to make her own work to make other people feel the same. She abandoned all future life plans and joined the Young Company before going on to be part of Made In Bristol.
Julia says: “The reason that Young Company is so valuable is that no matter where you’re from or your background or what’s going on in your life, they treat you first as an artist. They give you the space and the time and the support to create amazing work. It just so happens that you’re a young person but that’s not what’s important. What’s important is that you’re an artist with your own agency and your own creativity to make work.”
Given that ADHD has consistently been associated with poor academic outcomes, long-term mental health issues and low employability, Julia’s story is remarkable.
“Now I work as a director in Bristol and I work loads with the Engagement dept. And I work with incredible young artists all over the city including a group I’ve been working with for the past two years who, when I first met, they’d never been to a theatre or watched any theatre before. So we came and we watched every show at the Bristol Old Vic and we started making work together. And then, in October this year, we performed in the studio theatre for the first time. They were incredible and the show was amazing and I’m so, so proud of everything that they’ve achieved.”
They work with you and help you develop as an individual, even if you’re not going to go into theatre at all, there will be skills that are transposable for everyday life, being able to stand up for yourself, confidence and creativity, those are the things that I think I’ve taken away the most.
Dale Thrupp
Giving young people confidence and life skills beyond the theatre itself is a key part of what the Young Company is about. Another recent Made In Bristol graduate Dale Thrupp explains: “Everybody that’s involved will always come out the other end of a Young Company term much more confident in themselves. When we bring people into the theatre here it’s a chance for young people to see and speak to people from every walk of life. That is really interesting, when some people have never been outside their area before. It’s about bringing people in, it creates a hub where young people can come and express themselves and meet other people. Just gaining those connections with people you’d potentially never otherwise get to meet.”
It’s all part of the way Made In Bristol and the Engagement team at Bristol Old Vic are transforming lives, year in, year out.
As Julia says: “That’s why the Young Company is so precious and should be protected and supported. Because the work that they do for the young people of this city to give them a voice as amazing fierce young artists is so valuable. There is no way that I would be where I am now if it weren’t for the Young Company. Fact!”
You can read more about Made In Bristol and the work of Bristol Old Vic’s Engagement Team here. You can also watch Joseph’s and Julia’s full interviews done for the Big Give Christmas Challenge here and here.
