Funded by the Leicestershire Fund, the 14/48:Takeover project involved thirteen young people taking part in a five day creative writing workshop and writing four brand new ten minute plays for a young audience under the guidance of two professional playwrights.
The project took place during May Half Term week last year and was part of Leicester’s Spark Arts Festival for Children.
The plays written by the young people were subsequently given to a team of thirty professional theatre-makers who ‘staged’ them during a 10 hour rehearsal process, which culminated in a family friendly evening performance to close the Spark Festival.
The project was a huge success, and stood out as being the only such opportunity for young people in the local area, whereby young creative writers were able to see their work professionally staged and valued by an audience. Locally the majority of theatre-making opportunities are solely about performance, and there is little available to encourage creative writing among young people.
14/48 UK is a community interest company which oversees the UK operations of the world’s quickest theatre festival, 14/48. The organisation produces festivals in Leicester, London and Wolverhampton, with the aim of promoting cultural and creative activity, bringing new audiences into traditional theatre and performance spaces, and connecting artists in order to encourage future collaborative activity.
The festival originated in Seattle, USA.
A thirteen year old involved in the Leicester event said: “I think that 14/48 is a really good place for starting writers to go and it has helped me learn and see more about the theatre.”
If you’d like to set up a local giving fund to help local good causes, please contact Katy Green at Leicestershire & Rutland Community Foundation on 0116 262 4916 or email:katy.green@llrcommunityfoundation.org.uk.
