VIDEO: Company Three Celebrates Closure Of Coronavirus Time Capsule

Company Three today announces and celebrates the closure of the Coronavirus Time Capsule, a creative digital record of an 18-week period in the lives of 3,225 young people from 215 youth theatre companies across 18 countries. The time capsule is a collection of insightful and personal accounts from young people about their experiences of lockdown and the effects of the pandemic, as told through their eyes. At 5.30pm UK time today, Company Three will host a giant online Capsule Closing Party for the young people who have taken part, and Jamael Westman, the star of Hamilton in the West End, will formally close the project and the time capsule will launch online.

Company Three, a leading force for change in The Youth Theatre sector, started the Coronavirus Time Capsule project with their Islington-based young company in March 2020, facilitating a digital space for their young members to be creative during the lockdown. In formulating the project as a free shareable blueprint in partnership with theatre publisher Nick Hern Books, Company Three have collaborated with 215 youth theatre companies globally to create a comprehensive, permanent digital record of 1,735 videos exploring how young people experienced the pandemic.

From across the UK and Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, the Czech Republic, to Kenya, Thailand, the USA and Canada, youth theatre groups used the weekly resources from Company Three as a framework for exploring subjects including their hopes and dreams for the future, family, mental health, education exercise and the Black Lives Matter movement. The time capsule reflects the change and upheaval that young people experienced during this time, but also their humour, creativity and resilience in the face of the pandemic and their engagement in the social and political landscape around them.

The project has included research partnerships with the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and the Wellcome Trust, who used one of the weekly topics to support their work around adolescent depression and anxiety. A report by the Childhood Trust indicates that the impact of the lockdown and coronavirus on young people may be monumental, including serious mental health conditions as a result of the severe isolation and loneliness, and widening educational disadvantage. Similarly, a recent survey by Barnardos found more than a third of teenagers have suffered from an increase in stress, loneliness and worry. During this time, the Coronavirus Time Capsule has provided a structure for social connection, creativity and self-expression, having a major positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the young people involved. Regular online gatherings of young people from across the project have forged new connections and conversations.

This global youth theatre collaboration, spearheaded by relationships with the Unicorn Theatre, National Association of Youth Theatres, Scottish Youth Theatres and Youth Arts Network Cymru represents the beginning of a network of youth drama groups united by their belief that youth theatre is, more than ever, a vital place for community and expression where young people can be listened to and supported. Working with the generation who will inherit the decisions made during this pandemic, Company Three and these youth theatre groups will continue to provide spaces where young people can communicate their experiences and produce radical art about their present and future.

Company Three member Kezia Adewale, 16, said: "The Coronavirus Time Capsule has pushed me to stay creative and keep making connections with the outside world. It's allowed me to be part of something bigger than myself. Getting together with other young people in different places have been the best part of it. It's really important for young people to have their voices heard and right now we're in a position where I feel like we should be able to make decisions about the things that affect us. The Time Capsule gave me a space to speak up in lockdown."

Ned Glasier, Artistic Director of Company Three said: "Everyone's talking about all the theatres being shut, but throughout the lockdown youth theatres have been working so hard to provide their members with support, connection and a space to express themselves. That's so important when we're making these huge decisions about the future, so many of which will affect today's teenagers in a really profound way. We need to listen more to our young people - about education, society, equality, the environment - and the Coronavirus Time Capsule has helped thousands of young people speak out about lockdown and what they want a post-Covid world to look like."
The Coronavirus Time Capsule is supported by Arts Council England, Islington Giving and the Sumners Foundation.

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