ABOUT THEATRE FOR LIFE CIC
Our aim at Theatre for Life CIC is to encourage social inclusion through community theatre projects that enrich the young lives of our company members aged between 14 - 25 years of age. The FREE youth and community groups reach out to young people from low income households and other minority groups such as BAME, young carers and for those that have limited access to the arts.
Our ethos is to create inspiring and challenging theatre that is unique to our actors, helping them to build confidence, self esteem and theatre making skills whilst raising aspiration.
As a community company we have formulated links with the National Mental Health charity MIND, a charity dedicated to improving services and raising awareness on Mental Health. We are supported by Southampton City Council, Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy, Itchen Sixth Form College working in collaboration with these organisations to fight for better mental health awareness.
2018 Theatre for Life Youth Theatre Production - 'Burying Your Brother in the Pavement' by Jack Thorne
'The cast were fearless on stage, successfully communicating hard hitting themes such as sexuality, male suicide and grief which left their audience members empathetic and moved by the storyline'
(Daily Echo Newspaper, 5th August, 2018)
PROJECT AIMS: WHY SILENT MIND?
‘The realities of the mental health crisis we’re facing are becoming clearer every day’
‘In the UK, one in four young girls are self-harming’
‘Around eight million of us are diagnosed with anxiety’
‘Globally one person commits suicide every 40 seconds’
Huffington Post UK - 10th October, 2018
On World Mental Health Day (10/10/18) figures in mental health rose both in the UK and globally.
We want to support our audiences watching 'Silent Mind' through powerful storytelling with practical advice.
With a rise in mental health statistics we feel more confident than ever our piece ‘Silent Mind’ is relevant to audiences of all ages across the UK. As a society consumed by social media and device addiction, being able to switch off and control overthinking is imperative for good mental health. Creating the ultimate ‘Silent Mind’ is very hard to achieve, however promoting mindfulness and meditation in our piece may act as early intervention for some of our audience members to introduce into their lives.
Our audience members will not only be able to engage with our actors and their personal storytelling, they will have the opportunity to address their own lives and how to manage triggers that can lead to mental health issues. This will include exploring beliefs and values, using interactive meditation and breathing exercises that may help to reframe anxiety, negative thoughts and emotions. As a cathartic and informative piece of theatre we hope we can make an impact upon our audiences lives long term.
‘Silent Mind’ is important not only to enrich our actors experience of the arts, but to create an open forum thats supports mental health awareness.
EMPOWERING THE MIND -
'CREATING SILENCE AMONGST THE CHAOS'
Mindfulness is an integrative, mind-body based approach that helps people to manage their thoughts and feelings and mental health. It is becoming widely used in a range of contexts. (Mental Health Foundation)
By providing techniques that can be practised beyond ‘Silent Mind’, we are providing aftercare which we hope will improve our audience members wellbeing long term. Our ultimate goal is to tour ‘Silent Mind’ with young actors aged 18-25 yrs old, reaching out to wider audiences of all ages and backgrounds across England.
WHY WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT?
As a Community Interest Company (Not for profit) we receive no core funding and are reliant solely on grants, donations and fundraising to be able to run our community projects. We have received previous funding from People's Postcode Lottery Trust and are currently supported by Southampton City Council.
We are raising money to enable us to continue running the FREE Youth Theatre Company for young actors who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and who have limited access to the arts.
Running weekly rehearsals for our local youth community will help to create engaging and creative environments, this can help to build self esteem and a sense of belonging.
To enable this to happen we need your support to help us secure the following:
- Designated performance spaces
- Technical support
- Costumes
- Props
- Scenery
- Marketing and audience development
- Free Communal performances for audiences who are non theatre goers or who cannot afford to attend the theatre
REACHING AUDIENCES
We want to reach out to a wide range of communities as we feel 'Silent Mind' is an accessible piece for all ages and backgrounds. 'Silent Mind' will not only empower our young actors through their storytelling and strategies for mental health, but equally it will help to educate others who have limited knowledge or access to this information.
We are raising money to help us book community venues, technicians, set design, props, costumes, transportation and marketing materials to help us reach out to audiences across the South of England and London.