TYPE OF WORK
Theatre and cross-artform performance

TARGET GROUPS
Young people aged 13-30, with a particular emphasis on socially excluded young people, young people from diverse backgrounds and under-represented communities, black and Asian youth, gay and lesbian youth, disabled young people, young refugees.

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT
UK

COMPANY POLICY
To create dynamic new work with and for young people that explores and responds to their lives and aspirations. At Contact, theatre can involve a mix of drama, poetry, music, dance, physical theatre, multimedia and visual arts.

Contact reaches young people through partnerships with a wide range of artists, organisations, agencies, educators, and community leaders. The company provides advice and support for a variety of artists and has delivered training in techniques for work with young people.

Contact provides a meeting place for local, national and international artists and companies to work and socialise together and to interact creatively with young people.

SCALE OF PROJECTS
Number of practitioners: 2-20
Number of participants: 5-500
Preparation time: Varies
Contact time: 1 day - 1 year

PERMANENT STAFF: 25
John E McGrath, Artistic Director
Jon Morgan, Executive Producer
Shabnam Shabazi, Associate Producer
Ekua Bayunu, Head of Community Involvement

Contacting The World (UK/international, 2002)
Six UK groups of young people were paired with six groups from other countries (India, Nigeria, Trinidad, Malaysia, Sri Lanka). Each pair communicated with each other through various media over a six-month period and developed performances in their home locations inspired by this exchange. All 12 companies then came together at Contact for a week of performances, workshops, discussions, open mics and parties.

Lyrical Flavas (UK, 2002–ongoing)
An annual project bringing together young people as MCs, poets and playwrights to create a new style of theatre reflecting young urban life. It provides a voice for urban youth in a performance language that they have created.

Young Refugees
Physical theatre project with young asylum seekers. (UK, 2003)

Queer Contact
Performance project for gay and lesbian youth. (UK, 2003)

True Brit Lab
Exploring young Asian identity. (UK, 2003)

Contacting The World
Connecting young people from the UK and Islamic countries. (UK, 2004)