How we make theatre with young people

BBT’s community work has grown over four programs since 2022. Each one built on the last, shaped by applied arts research and delivered by trained BBT Teaching Artists.

How the work has grown

Regrowth, 2022 to 2023

Regrowth began after the Black Summer bushfires. BBT spent a week in each of five bushfire-affected towns on the NSW South Coast, working with The Family Place. Young people aged 11 to 17 learned drama skills, shared stories about growing up, and made a site-specific performance for their families and local community. It was funded through the NSW Government’s Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund.

Kindred Kollective, Moruya and Merimbula

We went on to run theatre and film weeks in Moruya and Merimbula for Kindred Kollective, The Family Place’s creative wellbeing program for young people in the Eurobodalla and Bega Valley.

ReGenerate, 2023 to 2024

ReGenerate took the same week-long model to young people aged 12 to 17 in the Ryde and Ku-ring-gai local government areas, with funding from Sydney North Health Network through the NSW Ministry of Health.

TheatreConnect, since 2024

A short film about what TheatreConnect is.

TheatreConnect brings around 25 young people aged 11 to 18 in Liverpool and Campbelltown together for a week of drama and theatremaking. It is led by the CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney and funded by Multicultural NSW through the COMPACT Program. BBT Teaching Artists deliver the workshop, supported by Bachelor of Education students.

Built on research

The CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney evaluated Regrowth. Professor Emerita Robyn Ewing AM, Professor Michael Anderson and Eliza Oliver wrote the report, The Regrowth Workshops: An Evaluation. It found that participants felt a greater sense of community and social connection, and that they felt listened to, with their voices heard in the workshops and in the public performance. Read the evaluation (PDF).

Regrowth is also the subject of Thomas De Angelis’s PhD at the University of Sydney, completed in 2025, which found increased self-confidence, deeper engagement with environmental concerns, and stronger bonds with other participants and with their local community. TheatreConnect is now being studied by University of Sydney researchers. The thesis, the papers that followed it and the TheatreConnect Study are on our Research page.

BBT Teaching Artists

Every BBT workshop is led by trained BBT Teaching Artists, professional theatremakers who teach ensemble-building, theatremaking, acting, movement and devising. What they learned in each program has shaped the next.

The week

Every cycle begins with a community consultation drawing in local schools, families and community groups. We choose a room that belongs to the community, such as a hall, a surf club, a community centre or a school hall, so the performance is made where the audience already is.

On the first day the group writes its own ensemble agreement, and the adults keep to it too. Over the week young people learn drama skills and develop a brand new show from their own ideas. They choose what of their own lives goes into the work, and they give feedback every day.

The week ends with a performance for friends, family and community, staged with professional lighting and sound.

Keeping young people safe

BBT follows the 10 NSW Child Safe Standards. Before each program the lead artist completes a child safety risk plan, every adult holds a current NSW Working With Children Check, and there are always at least two checked adults with a group. Families receive an information sheet and make separate permission choices, for example about photography. On day one the lead artist explains who the adults are and who to talk to if something feels wrong, including someone outside BBT (Kids Helpline, 1800 55 1800). Read the full Child Safe Policy.

Bringing a project to your area

BBT Teaching Artists can bring a week-long workshop to your community, usually in the school holidays. Young people make their own original performance, staged with professional lighting and sound for friends, family and community. To talk about one, get in touch.