York’s budding artists get trained up
Preparations underway for a unique TakeOver arts festival in the National Railway Museum
TakeOver, York’s annual arts festival run entirely by young people, will find itself a new home this October in the National Railway Museum, capitalising on York Theatre Royal’s residency at the museum in 2015 during the theatre’s £4.1m redevelopment.
A York Theatre Royal initiative, the TakeOver Festival involves young people aged 12-25 ‘taking over’ the theatre and replacing all staff, including the artistic director, production manager and front of house team, for a week every year.
TakeOver’s Board, which replicates the York Theatre Royal’s Board of Trustees, meets throughout the year to guide the development of the festival, which has given new generations hands-on experience of running a theatre every year since 2009. It has inspired the development of similar TakeOver projects in cities across the UK and Europe.
In 2015 TakeOver will be a unique multi-arts festival, created in collaboration with the National Railway Museum. It will immerse its audiences in the museum’s vast collection, which forms a vital part of York’s rich heritage. The festival’s mission is to welcome the inquisitive, the adventurous and the imaginative, and to challenge spectators of all ages to expect the unexpected.
It will run from October 24th to October 31st, taking place throughout each day and during some evenings. A second TakeOver week is planned next spring in the new York Theatre Royal building.
The programme of performances in this year’s festival will respond to the unique playing spaces of the National Railway Museum, with commissioned work planned to consider subjects such as travel and journeys, real and allegorical. Because the festival concludes on Halloween, spine-tingling displays are also promised.
Following the critical acclaim attracted by York Theatre Royal’s community production In Fog and Falling Snow, which in its first act saw audiences guided around several areas of the vast museum, the TakeOver planning team have chosen to use the National Railway Museum’s existing exhibits wherever possible.
Lizzy Whynes, who graduated from York St John University this year with a first-class degree in Theatre, will be the festival’s Artistic Director. Her theatrical experience ranges from performance – in theatre, dance and art installations – to being a facilitator, dramaturge and manager in arts projects. In the run-up to the festival she will shadow Damian Cruden, Artistic Director at York Theatre Royal, who will help her develop and materialise her vision for a festival of this scale.
“I’m so excited to be curating a festival at the National Railway Museum. It allows me and the team to be imaginative, creating and programming work within unexpected spaces and transforming the museum into a hive of creativity,” said Lizzy.
“I want to make a multi-arts festival, showcasing something from every art form to be displayed alongside the museum’s fantastic collection and allowing our audiences to be immersed in everything they see. This is a once-in-a-lifetime mentorship and I’m thrilled to be a part of it,” she added.
TakeOver’s Festival Producer will be Rebecca Phillips, whose theatre festival experience across the UK includes a stint at the Birmingham Cabaret Festival. Rebecca will be mentored by Liz Wilson, Chief Executive of York Theatre Royal, and Liam Evans-Ford, Associate Producer, as she manages the production of the festival.
Paula Clark is York Theatre Royal’s Creative Skills Promoter and co-ordinates the festival team. She said: “This is a new and exciting challenge for the TakeOver Festival but, as has always been my experience of the young people who’ve worked on the festival over the years, they are not the slightest bit fazed and are full of energy and ideas.”
The festival team are all set to take over the National Railway Museum this autumn, creating the liveliest and most exhilarating celebration of youthful artistic expression that York has ever seen. Watch this space!