Join Youth Theatre Arts Scotland for an exciting Regional Hub featuring workshops, networking and lively discussions.

For our first Regional Hub in North Lanarkshire, we’ll be looking into improving facilitation skills, so understanding not only how to inspire participants, but practical things that nobody teaches, like how to command a room, structure exercises, and divide activities into achievable tasks. We’ll also be taking a deep dive into how we can use creative writing to support young people to tell their own diverse and unique stories, as well as learning some practical movement activities you can use in your own youth theatres and communities.

We’ll also have the usual networking, sector support, and the ever-fun games exchange! So, practitioners in North Lanarkshire, be sure to mark your calendars and join us in Airdrie Town Hall on Wednesday 9 October and in Bellshill Cultural Centre on Saturday 26 October for a fun few days of professional development.

The aims of the regional hubs are to upskill artists; share practice on specific creative areas; create stronger working relationships within regional youth theatre networks; support emerging youth theatre artists; identify future partnerships and projects; and help to shape YTAS’s programming.

Hubs are open to all levels of experience and can be accessed by anyone who uses art and creativity in their work with young people. We will lead with a focus on theatre and performance, but the activities explored can be utilised in many youth work or youth arts settings. So, whether you’re a volunteer, a theatre manager, a drama teacher or anything in between, you’re sure the come away with new knowledge and contacts from your region and beyond.

The North Lanarkshire hub has been programmed in partnership with the Artists’ Network and North Lanarkshire Council. More about the network here: Artists’ Network – North Lanarkshire Council (culturenl.co.uk)

Agenda

Wednesday 9 October: Airdrie Town Hall

• 10.30am: Intro from YTAS and the NL Artists’ Network

Learn about membership support and upcoming opportunities in 2024-2025.

• 11am – 5pm: Facilitation Masterclass (with lunch break from 1-2pm)

Facilitation is its own artform. Not only do we have to understand how to create art and inspire participants, but you need to know how to command a room, structure exercises and divide our activities into achievable tasks. Though most artists learn these skills through trial and error, Drew and Emma have pulled together a masterclass in facilitation basics to give you a strong foundation for any work with communities and young people.

Led by Drew Taylor Wilson (they/them) and Emma Barr (she/her).

With nearly 20 years’ experience, Drew Taylor-Wilson is a multi-hyphenate theatre-maker and screenwriter. As a director and writer, their productions have been seen at every major playhouse in Scotland. They are the founding Artistic Director of Performance Collective Stranraer, a founding co-director of Sanctuary Queer Arts, and they currently work freelance as a director, writer, and producer of live performance projects. In applied arts settings. Drew specialises in working with teenagers – specifically LGBTQIA+ young people – and regularly consults with organisations like Scottish Ballet and National Museums Scotland on queer-themed output. Drew is currently working with YTAS as our Next Generation Coordinator, focussing on training young facilitators.

Emma is YTAS’ Sector Development Manager. She has worked across the UK and Canada as a director and educator, specialising in making theatre for and with young people. With a background in applied theatre, she is particularly interested in how youth theatre can contribute to a young person’s sense of identity and creates a cultural community.

• 5pm: Dinner Break
• 6pm – 8pm: Creative Writing in the Community

How do you unlock words in your work with young people and communities? How can you support people to tell their own diverse and unique stories? In this workshop you will explore easy entry point exercises to start developing text for performance with non-writers, young people and even yourself! Take away simple excercises to inspire your own creative story-telling and excite those that you work with.

Led by Martin O’Connor (he/him), a performer, poet and theatre-maker from Glasgow. Martin specialises in playwriting and spoken word, with a strong emphasis on participation and working in applied contexts. His solo work includes The Mark of the Beast (Platform), Building a Nation (Glasgow Life), and Theology (The Arches). Martin often writes in Glaswegian Scots and is a Gaelic learner.

Martin is an associate artist with Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre where he works as a mentor in pathways, employment and opportunities for young people. He is the director of the Tron Theatre Young Company and works with many other creative organisations across Scotland.

If you would like to attend the evening workshop only, please email emma@ytas.org.uk directly and we will see if this is possible.

Saturday 26 October: Bellshill Cultural Centre

• 10.15am -11.45am: Games Exchange and Networking

Got drama games? Every practitioner’s bread and butter!
Running regular workshops with young people involves keeping things exciting and keeping them engaged. But when you are starting out it can be easy to get stuck delivering the same ones over and over again. In this one-hour swap shop early career practitioners (under 25) will spend the time experiencing games from colleagues and leading the group through your favourites. You should come prepared to share and participate. You might come away with a list of new activities, a refresh on the games you’ve forgotten or some twists on the classics. Led by YTAS’ Emma Barr (she/her).

BONUS: For those who attended the facilitation masterclass, this is a great chance to practice your leadership skills in action!

• 11.45am: Break
• 12noon – 2pm: Let’s Get Moving!

How can you use movement as the building blocks for creating work with young people and communities?

Join Artists from Dundee’s Shaper/Caper in a two-hour workshop to get your blood pumping and to inspire you in your own practice. Take away practical movement activities you can use in your own youth theatres and communities.

Shaper/Caper is a multi-award-winning dance company and a registered charity, based in Dundee, Scotland. Set up in 2015, they are all about work in communities. Shaper/Caper have worked with over 59k children and young people over the last 7.5 years. They focus on creating excellent art that connects with real people, ensuring that as many people as possible, despite their socio-economic backgrounds, race, and/or gender, can access high-quality arts for free.

Who is it for?

The event is for everyone who uses drama and theatre in their work with young people. This could include: youth theatre leaders, drama teachers, youth workers, community learning professionals, theatre practitioners, students, and emerging young leaders (aged 16+).

1-2-1 Business Development Surgeries

Looking for business support with a project or your organisation? Why not take this opportunity to catch up with YTAS’ Membership Support Coordinator, Anthony to talk about the important work outside of your creative practice.

Anthony will be able to take you through YTAS’ MOT checklist for organisations and introduce you to our support portal which covers topics such as safeguarding, governance, policies, business development and fundraising.

Athony will be available throughout the events on Wednesday and Saturday, so feel free to let him know if you would like to book a meeting some time and discuss development for your organisation.

Ticketing info

Practitioners attending our North Lanarkshire Hub may choose to join for individual days or for both. The choice is yours!

The ticket options are as follows…

• YTAS Members: £10 per day or £15 for the full event
• North Lanarkshire Artists’ Network Members: Free for the full event
• Non-Members: £30 per day or £50 for the full event

When you go through to book, you’ll have the option to choose which day you’d like, or to book for both days. You can also indicate if you’d like to book a surgery session with our Membership Support Coordinator at this stage.

We’ve tried to keep costs as low as possible to enable more practitioners to attend, so we won’t be providing catering during the event, other than refreshments.

YTAS Membership

Our membership is made up of independent youth theatres, arts organisations with their own youth theatre provision, volunteer-run charities, freelance practitioners of youth theatre arts, and many more. If you’re interested in joining a national network of like-minded people, be sure to read more on our membership page.

North Lanarkshire Artists’ Network Membership

This Regional Hub has been co-produced alongside the North Lanarkshire Artists’ Newtork. The Network is for professional creatives living in, and/or artistic organisations based in North Lanarkshire. You might be a dancer, choreographer, director, community drama facilitator, painter, writer, film maker, podcaster, craft specialist, musician, sound designer – whatever your artform, this is the network for you!

NL Artists’ Network members are able to join this event for free. Interested in being part of the network and attending this event? Sign up by completing this form and someone from the NL Arts Development Team will be in touch.

*please note you must have an NL postcode or an NL registered address to be part of the Network.

Bursaries

Thanks to funding from Creative Scotland, the Gannochy Trust, the Macrobert Trust, the Foyle Foundation, the People’s Postcode Trust, the Stafford Trust, the Hugh Fraser Foundation and the JTH Charitable Trust, we are delighted to be able to offer bursary places to attend our Regional Hubs.

Bursaries are available to any YTAS Member or North Lanarkshire Artists’ Network Member who requires financial support in order to attend this Regional Hub event, and will cover any fees and/or expenses associated with the training. You are welcome to submit an application for multiple sessions at a time.

Read more and apply here.

This is a safe space and all identities are welcome

YTAS strives to create and hold events and spaces where everyone feels welcome and the safety of others is valued. This commitment applies to all our online and in-person services, activities, and communication channels.

We have a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour which creates feelings of unease, discomfort, offence, embarrassment, humiliation, or intimidation, whether intentional or not. This includes but is not limited to; transphobia, homo or biphobia, racism, ableism, sexism, or class discrimination. For more information about YTAS’ commitments to safety and best practice, see the Our Values and Commitments page.