Y Touring Theatre Company

Y Touring Theatre Company
Address One KX building, 120 Cromer Street
Kings Cross, London
England
Coordinates 51°31′39″N 0°07′28″W / 51.527561°N 0.124527°W / 51.527561; -0.124527
Owner Central YMCA
Current use Community centre, rehearsal space, gym
Website
www.ytouring.org.uk

Y Touring Theatre Company is a national touring theatre company which produces original plays and debates exploring contemporary issues. It was founded in 1989 by Nigel Townsend. The company is based in Kings Cross, London, England and is a former operation of Central YMCA.

Mission statement

Y Touring's website states that the company's mission is 'to create high quality theatre, drama, and digital media to engage our audiences, young people and adults, in an informed debate about often complex and challenging issues.' [1]

Y Touring Theatre Company history

Y Touring has produced 54 regional, national and international tours of plays by professional playwrights including Judith Johnson, Judy Upton, Jonathan Hall, Nicola Baldwin and Rhiannon Tise, reportedly reaching over 2 million young people in schools, youth clubs, community venues, studio theatres, prisons and young offenders centres.

Y Touring's first production was 'The Inner Circle' by Patricia Loughrey,[2] originally commissioned by The New Conservatory Theatre Centre in San Francisco, adapting it for British young people’s audiences. This play told the story of a group of four friends, one of whom had been infected by HIV and went on to develop AIDS and die.

Theatre of Debate

Y Touring's projects generally follow a 'Theatre of Debate' model. Each project consists of a play aiming to engage its audience in an informed debate about a specific subject. The play is followed by a live debate between the actors (who remain in character) and the audience.

Y Touring Theatre of Debate Productions

2011
Y Touring are currently developing a new play by Abi Bown called Dayglo which will explore the ethical and scientific issues around Pharmacogenetics. The play is expected to go into production shortly and begin touring in the autumn of 2011

2011
Mind the Gap * by Abi Bown
(Revival of 2004 production)
Was performed at Royal Albert Hall as part of National Science & Engineering Week [3] Mind the Gap was filmed and broadcast in 8 cinemas nationwide, click here [3] for details. This production won the Runner-Up of the National Science and Engineering Week 2011 Best Science Event category [4]

2009
'Breathing Country' by Ben Musgrave[5] is a play which explores the issues raised by the use of electronic patient records in medical research. The production was developed in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and was supported by the Wellcome Trust and Central YMCA.
The play was shortlisted for the Brian Way Award 2010 for best play for young people.[6]
The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

2009
'Starfish' by Judith Johnson[7] is a play which explores the issues raised by clinical trials.
The project was funded by the Wellcome Trust. The Daily Telegraph article about 'Starfish' commented on that the play that, 'The heartfelt response to this tear-jerking story of love, romance and grief was all the more surprising given that the play was also an attempt to explore the issues surrounding clinical trials in medicine.'[8]

The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

2008
'The Projectionist' by Laura FitzGerald is an audio play/podcast exploring social, moral, scientific and political questions posed by the rise of a privacy and surveillance society. The production was developed in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

2007
'Nobody Lives Forever' by Judith Johnson,[7] exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by stem cell research. The production was developed in partnership with the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) and was supported by the Medical Research Council (UK) (MRC), the Department of Health, Action Medical Research and the Royal Albert Hall. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

2007
'Full Time' by Rachel Wagstaff[9] is a play that explores racism, homophobia and sexism in football. The production was developed in partnership with the Football Association and the Women’s Sports Foundation (WSF). The project was supported by the Football Foundation and Central YMCA. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

2006
'Every Breath' by Judith Johnson,[7] exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by the use of animals in medical research. This production was developed in partnership with the Association of Medical Research charities. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

* 2004
'Mind the Gap' by Abi Bown,[10] exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by advances in neuroscience. This production was developed in partnership with The European DANA Alliance for the Brain. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

2000
'Learning to Love the Grey' by Jonathan Hall,[11] exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by advances in Cloning and stem cell therapy. Developed in partnership with, and supported by, the Wellcome Trust.

1999
'Sweet As You Are' by Jonathan Hall,[11] exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by the Genetic Modification of crops. Developed in partnership with, and supported by, the John Innes Centre and the Teachers Scientist network. The play won a fringe first award at the Edinburgh festival 1999 [12]

1997
'Pig in the Middle' by Judy Upton,[13] exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by advances in Xenotransplantation (animal to human transplants). Developed in partnership with the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

1996
'Cracked' by Nicola Baldwin,[14] exploring the biological basis of mental illness and depression in particular. Developed in partnership with The Mental Health Foundation, supported by the Wellcome Trust. The project's Advisory Panel included the following:

1995
'The Gift' by Nicola Baldwin, exploring the social, moral, scientific and political questions raised by advances in Genetic selection. Developed with Prof Bernadette Modell supported by the Wellcome Trust.

Digital Media

Y Touring produced, in partnership with Maverick Productions, a three-part adaptation of 'Learning to Love the Grey' and a three-part drama 'Making Astronauts', a drama which complements the Nuffield Council on Bioethics’ report on the ethics of research into the relationship between genes and behaviour. Both of these dramas were commissioned by the Open University’s Open Science programme.

Patrons

Actors Y Touring have worked with

References

  1. ↑ http://www.ytouring.org.uk
  2. ↑ "Patricia Loughrey - Playwright". doollee.com.
  3. 1 2 http://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/national-science-week/default.aspx
  4. ↑ http://www.britishscienceassociation.org/web/NSEW/GetInvolved/NSEWEventAwards/Winners2011.htm
  5. ↑ "Ben Musgrave - Playwright". doollee.com.
  6. ↑ "Theatre Centre". theatre-centre.co.uk.
  7. 1 2 3 "Judith Johnson- Playwright Dramatist". doollee.com.
  8. ↑ Sophie Petit-Zeman (17 February 2009). "Medical ethics meets kitchen-sink drama". Telegraph.co.uk.
  9. ↑ "Rachel Wagstaff". doollee.com.
  10. ↑ "Abi Bown". doollee.com.
  11. 1 2 "Jonathan Hall". doollee.com.
  12. ↑ "mypriestley.org.uk". mypriestley.org.uk.
  13. ↑ "Judy Upton". doollee.com.
  14. ↑ "Nicola Baldwin". doollee.com.
  15. ↑ http://www.theatreofdebate.com/Projectionist/Projectionist/Story/characters.html
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