Chrysalis, Scotland’s groundbreaking festival for ambitious performance by young theatre-makers launched in 2015, returns to the Traverse Theatre this November. Audiences can look forward to three days of innovative, thought-provoking and challenging performances from the UK’s best youth theatres.
An innovation from YTAS (Youth Theatre Arts Scotland) Chrysalis is the only platform of its kind in Scotland for ambitious and provocative performance by emerging artists, aiming to attract new audiences with engaging, inspiring theatre to inspire Scotland’s youth arts sector and enhance public perception of creative work by young adults.
This year’s Chrysalis Festival brings together seven theatre groups of talented, young artists from across the UK to stage new work. Each piece, created by the young companies themselves, will be performed over the three days of the festival at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh’s home of new writing.
The 2017 Chrysalis performing companies include Manchester’s Contact Young Company, Firefly Arts from West Lothian, Reading Rep and the Beacon Young Company from Inverclyde, all looking at a range contemporary concerns of young people.
In addition to the main programme, Chrysalis offers an Emergence strand showcasing three new 20-minute experimental works-in-progress. Taking on the challenge this year are Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre Young Co, Performance Collective Stranraer and Lyceum Youth Theatre working with Jo Sharp, winner of the Emergence Young Director Award, a prize jointly funded by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, the Traverse Theatre and the Saltire Society. Audiences are very much part of Emergence with the opportunity to provide feedback towards future development of this new work.
The creative conversation continues over the festival weekend with a series of curated workshops, talks and events which will explore themes, artistic approaches, and politics surrounding the work, its creation and relationship to the wider world.
This year’s participating companies and events are:
Beacon Young Company/Inverclyde with
How to Save The World…Ish
Firefly Arts/West Lothian with
Dark Mechanics
Contact Young Company/Manchester with
There is a Light: Brightlight
Reading Rep/Reading with
Queer Fish
EMERGENCE featuring :
Hard Times: Citizens Theatre Young Co./Glasgow
Mr Blue Sky Jo Sharp with Lyceum Youth Theatre
Remote Control: Performance Collective Stranraer/Stranraer
Workshops, Talks & Events
A series of curated opportunities run alongside the main Chrysalis programme including:
The World in Me: Writing for Youth Theatre with Beacon Young Company & Firefly Arts. 17 November 3.00PM – 5.00PM.
Directors Forum: Approaches to Making New Work with Contact Young Company. 19 November 11.00AM – 12.45PM.
Tickets and festival ticket packages are available via the Traverse Theatre Box Office at www.traverse.co.uk or 0131 228 1404.
Friday 17th to Sunday 19th November 2017