New work for Spring / Summer 2021
/The last 12 months have taken their toll on Young People. They are facing a mental health crisis. But how can Zest meaningfully respond when live theatre remains almost impossible? By continuing to listen and amplify their voices.
We can see a world where Zest will one day be back on the road touring. But for the foreseeable, we’ve taken the difficult decision to not deliver any live performance. Firstly, we need to ensure our work is fully safe and COVID secure to protect our staff, artists, and young people. Secondly, we don’t want to waste any public funding on touring work that has the potential to be canceled or not take place.
Our current consultation with Future Proof demonstrates that 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.
Refresh Lincoln
A city-wide installation
Workshops in Lincoln Schools → March 2021
Installation across Lincoln City Centre → July to September 2021
This is the big one! Frustrated by being locked down, isolated and unheard, the words of Children and Young People are about to be unleashed across Lincoln City Centre.
The pandemic has reminded us all of the importance of our local community. This is also true for Zest when we think of our home city. In this time of crisis, Zest needs to invest in our own community and enrich the lives of children and young people across Lincoln. The closure of Lincoln Drill Hall has left a huge dent in our city’s cultural provision, and we feel the responsibility to provide some solutions. Introducing, Refresh Lincoln.
Throughout March, we will lead 35 FREE workshops in schools across Lincoln, for up to 1000 young people aged 10 – 19 years old. Our aim? To create space for young people to reflect on their year and release the voice of a generation. Workshops will be facilitated by a team of Zest’s Creatives and young people from Future Proof.
Later this summer, the words we gather will be turned into 40+ vibrant artworks, ready to be found on flags, banners, and billboards in every corner of the city centre. Refresh Lincoln is set to reclaim the city centre for young people, placing their voices at the heart of Lincoln’s recovery.
Refresh Lincoln will share the questions, advice, and hopes of Lincoln’s children and young people, bringing colour and conversation to the place they call home.
Refresh Lincoln is commissioned by Here & Now.
Supported by DCMS through Culture Recovery Fund, public money from the National Lottery through Arts Council England, and Lincoln Business Improvement Group.
Never Was a Normal
A music video to mark one year of lockdown in the UK
Released on YouTube | IGTV | Facebook → 23rd March 2021
“Ideas are immune and feelings forever
And you tell yourself it’s gonna get better
But you just don’t know.”
The young people from Future Proof have joined forces with Zest to reflect on a full year of living through the pandemic. With lyrics and visuals inspired by their COVID experiences and released exactly one year since the start of the first lockdown, Never Was a Normal captures the resilience of Gen-Z in a world of uncertainty.
Get ready, this is a banger.
Made remotely in Ashford, Barnsley, Frome, Brighton, Darlington, Guisborough, Hartlepool, Ladock, Lincoln, Liverpool, London, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Sittingbourne, Skelton, and Whitley Bay.
Future Proof is Supported by DCMS and Arts Council England through the Culture Recovery Fund
Ongoing Work ↓
Future Proof
Future Proof is Zest’s Youth Advisory Board
This group draws on the diverse voices of 26 young people from 15 towns across the country. Future Proof meet remotely as paid consultants, tasked with helping us re-imagine the Zest of the future. Originally scheduled to come to an end in March 2021, Future Proof will now carry on indefinitely as a central part of Zest’s delivery.
Still Available ↓
*untitled
A Visual EP
*untitled is still available to watch for FREE on YouTube. Made remotely, and filmed entirely on young people’s phones, *untitled is a 21-minute visual EP, made up of music videos, monologues, poetry, and conversation. The piece explores the experiences of young people from across the country, what they need, and where they’re heading next.
