Concrete Youth join us as an Associate Theatre Company

We’re really happy to announce a new partnership today, with the brilliant Concrete Youth joining us as an Associate Theatre Company.

Concrete Youth is a multi-award-winning, Hull-based company dedicated to creating ground-breaking and exciting multi-sensory theatre for audiences living with profound multiple learning disabilities (PMLD).

Established in 2019 after CEO & Co-Artistic Director Daniel Swift, a drama teacher in a specialist school at the time, noticed the lack of cultural provision across the industry for people with PMLD, the company was founded to give much needed provision for this audience, promote inclusion, upskill artists in inclusive theatre, and raise awareness on the lack of access for audiences with PMLD in theatre.

 

Talking about our new partnership, Daniel said:

“We’re delighted to be joining Back to Ours as an Associate Company!

“As a long-term admirer of their work, we started working with Back to Ours around a year ago on a number of sensory stories and projects, so I’m delighted to officially formalise this relationship in the form of an Associate Company.

“Back to Ours are determined to provide the arts to people who don’t regularly access it. The audiences that we work with suffer a severe lack of cultural provision, so we’re chuffed to be working with such a fantastic organisation who shares our drive and determination for arts engagement.”

Concrete Youth join The Herd Theatre as an Associate Theatre Company of ours, alongside digital partners Davy & Kristin McGuire and circus partners Casus and Lost in Translation.

Our Director Lou says:

“It makes absolute sense that Concrete Youth would be an Associate Company of Back to Ours.

“They’re doing amazing, ground-breaking work both nationally and internationally, and it’s really exciting to see what they’re devising and how they’re working with audiences, scientists, academics and theatre partners to explore and develop new experiences for people with PMLD. We can’t wait to support them and learn from each other along the way.

“There’ll be updates on our quarterly newsletter, so sign up and keep up with the journey.”