Throwing out the rulebook

Zest Theatre’s production of Gatecrash is an interactive theatre production for young people aged 14 and over. This touring production takes place within a huge 10m by 10m enclosed set that looks and feels like the downstairs of a real house – we even have a downstairs toilet. Performances have a capacity of 60 people who wear wireless silent disco headphones that allow them to choose scenes to listen to at the press of a button.

Gatecrash takes place at a surprise seventeenth birthday party. Our audiences knock on the front door, step inside the four walls of the set and spend the next hour taking on the role of party gatecrashers. While the action takes place, the audience is free to watch, dance, play games, eat, drink and even rummage through drawers. The story follows five characters over the course of the night, from sober awkwardness, through to the drunken trashing of the house and the inevitable fights, fallouts and tears.

The show was developed in response to a commission from Lincolnshire One Venues (LOV), a network of ten arts venues which is developing the sector across the county. In 2013 we were commissioned to create a production that fitted alongside LOV’s other work for young people to engage them as audience members. We began by consulting young people about their perceptions and experiences of theatre. Those who were not regular attendees saw theatre as boring, irrelevant and stuffy. It was clear that there was a perception that theatre had a social etiquette they felt was a barrier to attending. We therefore wanted to throw out this ‘rulebook’ and create a show that was the exact opposite of these ideas – an experience where they could quite literally do and say what they wanted (as long as it was respectful, safe and legal).

It was clear that there was a perception that theatre had a social etiquette they felt was a barrier to attending

I founded Zest back in 2007 and soon found myself delivering a range of community-based arts projects for young people in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. We developed Gatecrash in 2013 with 80 young people across Lincolnshire in our summer outreach programme. We shared our ideas for characters and storylines with the participants whose creative responses influenced the show we are now touring. Since its inception it has been seen by thousands of young people throughout the country, but we can still see the essence of those original ideas from young people in rural Lincolnshire.

Gatecrash creates a fun and invigorating environment where young audiences feel free to participate on their own terms and truly engage. Often we find audiences forget where they are and really get involved. I love standing in the foyer at the end of the show and seeing the audience’s euphoria and excitement as they rush out of our set (they are running away from the police who are raiding the party) and back into reality. It is our hope that this excitement does not disappear at the end of the show and our partner venues can harness this excitement to encourage an ongoing engagement in their programming so young audiences keep ‘gatecrashing’ those venues with a sense of ownership and belonging.

Our national touring work sits alongside our educational work in schools and community outreach projects in Lincolnshire. We are currently booking a second national tour of Gatecrash for spring 2016 and we have created a smaller outdoor show called ‘Boy meets Girl’ that uses the same audio technology. This year we will also be developing an immersive production for venues in collaboration with psychologists. The show’s working title is ‘Thrive’ and will investigate how young people deal with trauma, using our interactive approach and humour to unpack a challenging topic in a fun and accessible way for young audiences.

Toby Ealden is Artistic Director of Zest Theatre.
www.zesttheatre.com