Drama project You, Me and a Cup of Tea unites older and younger generations

6th February 2024

The New Vic’s Youth Theatre and Ages and Stages Theatre Company joined forces this month for performances marking the culmination of an intergenerational drama project involving participants aged 10 to 94.

The project began back in April 2022, when the Youth Theatre (aged 10-12 group) took part in a workshop with the Ages and Stages company and were inspired. They’d noticed a disconnect in the local area between the older and younger generation and wanted to create better understanding, and more opportunities for connection.

With the help of funding from the #iwill fund which aims to support young people engaging in social action, Youth Theatre Director Amy Fletcher got to work helping the young people shape their ideas into a verbatim performance, capturing the stories of both groups.

Eight hours of audio footage were recorded using questions that the youth theatre put forward regarding life experiences that interested them; school days, games, school subjects and aspirations. Following this the youth theatre devised a performance which included a combination of experiences from both young and old.

In January 2024, 26 youth theatre members and 10 Ages and Stages members performed You, Me and A Cup of Tea, first at the New Vic and then at Newcastle-under-Lyme Library. The Youth Theatre encouraged the audience to think about ways they themselves could engage in social action, with 51 audience members pledging help to the community as the project’s legacy.

Take a look back at some photographs of rehearsals for the show here:

Photo credit: Andrew Billington

Photo Gallery

You, Me and a Cup of Tea by Andrew Billington

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