The Belonging Project

The Belonging Project is a research project aimed at developing an outreach toolkit for touring theatre companies who wish to engage young people (YP) in East Anglia (ages 16-25). Using the central theme of ‘Belonging’, we explore how we can build young communities through theatre making and play, and why this is necessary today.

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Between January - June 2024, we carried out research and worked closely with a focus group of YP who shared their experiences and tested theatre exercises; vocal / movement / games / devising / world building. We were keen to find activities that encourage YP to feel connected, confident and collaborative.

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Our aim is to strengthen our offer for local YP by co-designing a toolkit of outreach approaches that directly addresses their needs and experiences. By focusing on the theme of ‘Belonging’, YP had the chance to express in what ways they feel socially isolated while discovering how play can be used to address this.

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This report outlines why we wanted to tackle this, how we went about it, what we found. Our aim is to develop an approach to youth engagement that will become the foundation for our future engagement work. We plan to update this on an annual basis hereafter. This research is coloured by audio captured from voices of those we spoke to along the way which can be found as Case Studies toward the end of the report.

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This research was commissioned by the Norfolk and Norwich Festival as part of their Artist Bursary fund, to whom we are incredibly grateful.