Take a look behind the scenes at Zest Theatre to find out more about what we do and how we do it.
Zest is taking over Lincoln! For 8 weeks this summer, Zest will unleash 80 vibrant artworks on posters, banners, and billboards around every corner of the City Centre. Today we’re announcing the full details!
Refresh Lincoln is set to reclaim the city centre for young people, placing their voices at the heart of Lincoln’s re-opening and recovery following a year of being in and out of lockdown.
Read MoreZest Theatre has been awarded £25,000 from the Culture Recovery Fund to ensure they continue to meet the needs of young people. Receiving this funding means that Zest will be able to survive the effects of the pandemic on our industry, and develop further to meet the increasing needs of young people and the changing cultural landscape. In addition to supporting our core costs, this funding will support the Research and Development of a new production and continue Zest’s financial and developmental commitment to antiracism and accessibility.
Read MoreThe last 12 months have taken their toll on Young People. They are facing a mental health crisis. Young people need culture and creativity more than ever before. Zest, therefore, has to respond with impactful work that can happen despite the pandemic, whilst serving the needs of Gen-Z. We’ve always worked outside the box, fearlessly pushing preconceptions of form and what a small-scale company can achieve. This new work for Spring / Summer 2021 is no different. This is the beginning of our response.
Read MoreAt Zest, our Maxims underpin everything we do. These short statements share our key values and shape the work of our trustees, staff, creatives and performers. In December 2020, we asked Future Proof what they thought our maxims might be. As participants, they had never seen our maxims document before. The thoughts they shared were solely based on their experience of working with us. We soon realised there were 4 reoccurring themes that we hadn’t recognised as being key components of the Zest experience. Together we set about re-writing Zest’s Maxims.
Read MoreFuture-proofing a product, system or organisation gives it the ability to continue having value into the distant future. It stops the item becoming obsolete. But in these unprecedented times of continuing change, is it possible to be future proof? The young people from Zest’s new Youth Advisory Consultants have been discussing that question in recent weeks - discussions that indicate where they may lead Zest, whilst also giving an insight into how young people feel about their own future.
Read MoreWell, 2020 has been quite a ride! It’s definitely not been the year we’d planned. At times we’ve cried about the projects we’ve lost, whilst at other points we’ve relished the opportunity to experiment and try new things. 2020 may have been the worst, but there is still so much for us to celebrate. So here goes…
Read MoreZest Theatre has been awarded £50,000 as part of the Government’s £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF) to help face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and to ensure they have a sustainable future, the Culture Secretary has announced today.
Read MoreAs the confetti falls on our 2019/20 national tour of Youthquake, we reflect on the entire process and hear from a selection of the Young People, Cast and Creative team that have made it all happen.
Read MoreDuring the afternoon of the vote for the 2019 General Election, #youthquake was trending in the echo chamber of Twitter, with hundreds of thousands of tweets sharing expectant excitement of the outcome the next generation could bring. Like 2017, we know the rest of the story. The majority of voters aged 18-24 did actually vote for Labour, but were outnumbered by the older generations. So what is the story for those young people?
Read MorePart show, part TED Talk and part party, Youthquake by OFFIE-award-winning Zest Theatre gives a powerful insight into the hidden lives and minds of Teen Britain and questions what it actually means to change the world.
Read MoreZest’s Artistic Director, Toby Ealden, has been making theatre for young audiences for over sixteen years, including youth theatres, school tours and national touring. His past work includes working as the youth theatre director for Nacro, the national crime reduction charity, before establishing Zest Theatre in 2007. We chatted to Toby to find out more about Youthquake and how it came to be.
Read MoreZest Theatre are currently Researching and Developing a brand new show based on the honest voices, thoughts and opinions of young people across the UK. So how do we do this? How do we genuinely unlock young voices to allow them to talk so openly? Read our 5 Tips to find out.
Read MoreOur second week of Youthquake research and development brought us to Hartlepool. The young people in Hartlepool had a strong sense that the system is stacked against them and apathetic to their needs. Within these stories, however, there was a determination that the narrative of deprivation in Hartlepool would not be an endless cycle. Not all young people want to leave their home city for something better – they wanted to solve the problems and change their home for the better.
Read MoreCatch up on our first week of Youthquake Research and Development, as the Zest Creative Team headed to Norwich and Lincoln to delve into the lives and minds of teen Britain. We were excited. We were nervous. There’s nothing quite like starting to write a new show. The possibilities of what you could create are almost endless. At the end of R&D phase, the blank white page you started with is full of stories, all crafted together to make a proper script.
But where do we start?
Read MoreHaving wowed audiences across the country at the end of last year, we're delighted that What Once Was Ours has won the Best Production for Young People 13+ at the Off West End Awards!
Read MoreWhat do we do when all our artistic experience and knowledge is challenged? On a recent participation project, Zest had to rethink everything they knew about making theatre, shaking the foundations of their process to its' core. What we discovered about ourselves and our participants has changed our practice for the better.
Read MoreFor the last twenty years or so, psychologists have studied the incredible strength of character that can emerge in a minority of people when they face painful events. Twenty years of research tells us that these events needn’t destroy us – in some cases, they can make us stronger. Some people become wiser, others kinder, others more connected. Pain develops people in all kinds of ways. This field of research is called Post Traumatic Growth, and forms the basis of the psychology surrounding the characters in Thrive.
Read MoreYou can wake up in one city, deliver a workshop in another and do an evening performance in another before heading back to another hotel. Most of the work I have done has been for young people and it isn’t unusual to engage with over 500 people in a day. A lot of the time, we take theatre to people that may never have experienced it before and it’s great to hear their stories when you chat to them afterwards and see how they connected with the work. For me, that’s a pretty powerful feeling.
Read MoreAs an actor, I’ve been very comfortable with immersive theatre for a while. In 2014 I took an immersive one-on-one piece (one performer, one audience member) to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. And I performed it a lot. I’m talking 5 hours a day, 6 days a week for a whole month. Audiences laughed with me, cried with me, shared food with me. One person even asked me out on date. (I didn’t realise it was actually a date until I was on it – yep, that was awkward.) I was pretty sure I’d totally sussed out the immersive theatre vibe and nothing could throw me. But of course, immersive theatre with younger audiences is a whole different game.
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