A Year Like No Other
Well, 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.
We crunched the numbers to write this blog post, and were surprised to discover that, despite it all, we’ve still managed to engage 16,694 young people, and employ 22 freelance artists across the year. Not bad for a pandemic!
2020 may have been the worst, but there is still so much for us to celebrate. So here goes…
January
Youthquake: Tees Valley Tour
2020 began with the final leg of the 2019/20 national tour of Youthquake. We toured the show to 5 venues across Tees Valley in just 3 weeks. 86 young people made their voices heard to our audiences, thanks to an exciting partnership with Tees Valley Combined Authority 💥
February
First Person: Salford Tour
In February, First Person completed a special tour of youth and holiday clubs run by Salford Community Leisure! These were the biggest crowds this show had ever performed to, with a capacity crowd of 100 children and young people watching every show! Look at this photo 😲 Remember those days when we did have to keep 2m distance? 🥇
March
Until It’s Gone
Until It’s Gone is a hard hitting production based on the experiences of young people facing homelessness. The show has toured nationally to schools every year since 2009. Little did we know that the 2020 tour would get cut short when lockdown hit. Never the less, we still impacted 3,300 young people, in a year when the show’s message couldn’t be more relevant. ✊
April
Youthquake in Lockdown
With the country in lockdown, we tasked our Youthquake Youth Casts to recreate the show’s finale in isolation. Our hope? That this 2 minutes of joy would spread a bit of confetti in the darkness. 🎉
May - July
What Once Was Ours: Streaming
The unexpected surprise of 2020 was the online re-release of What Once Was Ours, our 2017 co-production with Half Moon Theatre. This gave the show a second life, with thousands of people watching at home, for free, in lockdown. The show received brand new critical acclaim, and also won an OnComm Award for digital theatre during the pandemic! Look out for more What Once Was Ours news coming in January. 🔥
August - October
*untitled
In August, we reunited with Youthquake Youth Casts from across the country on Zoom. Over 3 weeks our professional creative team co-created with 27 young people to create *untitled. Released on YouTube in October, *untitled is a 21 minute visual EP that has gone on to win an OnComm Award. Made up of music videos, monologues, poetry and conversation, the piece explores the experiences of young people, what they need, and where they are going next. It’s still available to watch for FREE! 📹
November
Culture Recovery Fund
Back in October we received news that we’d been successful in our application to the Culture Recovery Fund. In November, Zest’s recovery began! This funding supports our core costs and bolsters our outdoor work to be COVID compliant. But most importantly it allows us to make a financial and developmental commitment to antiracism, and ensure that young people become active participants in the organisation and its future.
December and beyond…
Shhh
This month we secretly began something new with our young people from *untitled. It’s a project that is tackling the big stuff, giving young people agency, and allowing Zest to be in the strongest position to really impact the lives of young people long into the future. Keep your eyes peeled for more info in the New Year. 🌍