We work weekly with our Core Company of 90 young people, who join aged 11 and are invited to have a home with us until they’re 18 years old.
We work closely with schools and local organisations in Islington to meet new Company Three members, and many of our member are nominated to join us by teachers and other adults in their lives.
Our Core Company is split into various smaller groups of mixed ages, who work together for a year to co-create a new, first draft play. These new plays are presented together at C3 Festivals during the Easter holidays. From this, we find the performances we develop into full-length, public flagship performances at professional venues with full creative teams.
We work with our Core Company on various other projects, including Adventures, where we invite external artists to come in and share their practice so that we can learn and develop new skills; Summer Project and Residential, where we dig into the ideas and themes that our young people are interested in exploring; and Den Nights, spaces to come together as a company to hang out and have fun.
We work hard to make sure our team of facilitators, artists and core staff - who work closely with our young people - are made up of people who share the backgrounds to them.
‘The stuff I was saying was being listened to…
I really enjoyed it, because my own input was included.’
C3 Member.
Affinity Groups.
Affinity Groups are spaces for our young people to talk and creatively explore parts of their identity with other members and artists who share their identity.
We’re clear that we are not therapists - this is a space to speak unfiltered, creatively exploring conversations, traditions, stereotypes and nuances through mediums like poem, rap, monologue, scenes, dance, and visual art. It can also be a space free of these conversations to actively seek out joy during difficult times, to connect as a community with an understanding of why we might need a time out together. There isn’t a set outcome - it could be that due to current events, specific groups need a space for wellbeing or joy, or a group could last months, a year or longer.
We’ve noticed that providing space for these groups allowed them to find the words to articulate their stories authentically, get validation from the others in the group who connect with the same experiences, gain confidence, comfortability and normalise speaking unfiltered. When this accrued, themes, topics, and stories began to spill out into our main groups and company.
“I can speak and every individual in the room will get how I’m feeling and get the experience that that I’ve gone through.”
“It creates a sense of community, support and understanding… and it creates a sense of security because you know that there are other people who go through similar things to you.”
“A space where I can be me without the judgement of the outside world and relate my thoughts and experiences with other members.”
Getting involved.
All Company Three members are nominated to join us by teachers and other adults working with young people in Islington, North London.
If you are a teacher, youth worker, social worker or other adult working with young people and would like to nominate someone to be part of Company Three, please contact us to find out more.
