Take a look behind the scenes at Zest Theatre to find out more about what we do and how we do it.
What a year 2023 has been! As we lock up Zest HQ and head off on our well-deserved festive holiday, join us as we reflect on the last 12 months: an epic year of graft, changes, and growth. A year that saw Zest go BIG, reaching over 424,000 people with our work! Let’s look at our 2023 best bits…
Read MoreFor the first time since the pandemic began, Zest is back with a brand new show!
Written by Bush Theatre’s Young Company Director, Katie Greenall, with new songs by Loop Artist Koko Brown, Camp Phoenix is a show packed with adventure, new music, and vital life lessons, featuring a dynamic cast of professional performers and local young people who helped develop the show.
This new show has been commissioned by Lincoln Arts Centre, Barnsley Civic, and ARC Stockton and will be our first touring production since becoming an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.
Read More2022 was another year of big lows but, thankfully, even bigger highs. We’re still here, we’re still open, and still thriving for the communities we serve. And thanks to the news that we’re becoming an NPO, the future has never looked brighter!
Read MoreZest is spending the first 3 months of 2022 facilitating an ambitious new research project with over 1,000 young people across our home city!
Commissioned by city-wide partners in Lincoln, Zest will meet 1,250 young people between January and March 2022. Over 50 workshops will be delivered in schools, colleges, and community groups, making space for Lincoln’s children and young people to share their vision for the future of the city.
Read More2021 has been another interesting one, right? For Zest, it’s been a year of big highs, big lows, and many unexpected pivots. We’re still here, we’re still open, and still thriving for the communities we serve. But it seems that unexpected pivots create unexpected results.
Read MoreZest 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 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 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 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 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.
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