Blyth Family Pride- Saturday 24th August (12 pm- 4 pm) at Central Blyth Family Hub 

Pride Action North and Central Blyth Family Hub are coming together for this celebration of LGBTQIA+ people in Northumberland!  

We have been invited to run a colourful flag-making activity encouraging visitors to explore and celebrate all the wonderful things that make them unique. Come along to try out this fun activity and enjoy a cosy chat.  

Across the event there will be something for everyone with craft activities, face painting, live music and lots of info about welcoming social groups and support available for young LGBTQIA+ people and families in the area. 
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Find out more on the Pride Action North Website  ​

And join us for…  

Sounding Board: Live 13th July at Riding Mill Parish Hall 

Sounding Board: Live is a joyful celebration of music, activism and creativity, showcasing performances that our youth theatre groups have been creating this term.  

 Sounding Board is a Mortal Fools project, created to give our Youth Theatre members opportunities to explore the expressive power of music. This bold and hopeful project is inspired by the DIY music scene, and based on the belief that young people can use their voices to speak up about what matters to them through music.  
 
Our Mortal Fools Youth Theatre members have transformed Riding Mill Parish Hall into a vibrant DIY Creative Music Hub for this immersive live event. Feast your eyes and ears on dynamic music videos, inventive stories, and powerful spoken word performances.  

Leave behind the humdrum of everyday life and let your imagination run wild as we see what a youth-led future could be... 

Find out more on our Sounding Board Project Page 
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This Autumn we will also be holding community screening events of the imaginative films created by our youth theatre groups. Keep your eyes peeled for more details! 
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And finally, we want to share this fantastic collaborative map!  

Across 2023 and the first half of this year, at various Ashington events and across projects, we've been asking young people what they want the Ashington of the future to look like.
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It’s been so eye-opening to see what people currently value and the creative ideas people have for the future.  ​

Have a fantastic summer, and we hope to see you soon, along with some warm summery weather! ​

​Across March and April, our Mortal Fools Ensemble Young Company brought their original new production, Inevitable? to venues across the North in a highly anticipated Spring tour, delighting audiences and selling out performances.
 
Nearly 350 audience members joined us to watch the unfiltered, funny, and thought-provoking show exploring a very universal part of life: becoming an adult. We’d like to take this opportunity to give a huge shout out to our Inevitable? touring venues YMCA Northumberland, Gosforth Civic Theatre, Burnley Youth Theatre & Theatre Porto. Thank you for having us!
 
“As a 12-year-old, I found it really relatable because it touched on topics like friendships changing, facing responsibilities and figuring out who you are. The actors did a great job portraying the emotions and challenges with growing up. The show made me think about my own future and what changes I might face.” – Inevitable? audience member
 
“Having the opportunity for our young people to come and see a show is amazing, as going to the theatre is often an inaccessible experience for many young people. But to also see a show that has been created and performed by other young people was just fantastic. Showcasing stories from young people with similar lived experiences is SO incredibly important and powerful. Our young people were welcomed into the space and benefitted from all of the access provisions in place, making it a brilliant day out for everyone!” - Ailís Lord, Comics Youth CIC

Devised and performed by a group of Northumberland young people, Inevitable? was an honest and poignant exploration of the phenomenon of growing up, drawing on the real lived experiences and feelings of the young company members involved in the production.
 
"Inevitable really made me smile and cry. The characters were so relatable and the topics and subjects they went through really helped me prepare and know what to expect in the future. Every character had their own sparkle and their own aspect of the show that really gave it life. Would watch it again 100%." - Inevitable? Audience Member
 
11 Northumberland Young People from Ashington and the Tyne Valley worked with Mortal Fools and our associate artists since September 2023 to create the show from scratch.
 
“As a young person led production the messaging was beautifully pitched to connect with a wide range of people of all ages in a hugely engaging way. The stage craft and effects were highly polished and professional and further amplified the enjoyment of the performance without it being eclipsed. It was of the highest quality and better than some professional productions in Edinburgh and London.” - Wendy Scott, Northumberland Council Culture Manager
 
Ensemble Young Company is Mortal Fools' dedicated youth theatre group for Northumberland young people aged 13-19 offering the experience of making and touring theatre, as close to a professional process as possible!
 
Kiz Crosbie, Mortal Fools Artistic Director and CEO shared:
 
“Northumberland is one of Arts Council England’s Levelling Up for Culture areas, meaning that the county is recognised as having a significantly lower level of arts and culture activities available for people to take part in than the national average.
 
Mortal Fools’ work has always been focused on Northumberland and gives exciting artistic opportunities to the young people who live there. Inevitable? gave our Ensemble young company members the chance to make a high-quality original theatre show through a process of deep collaboration with a range of professional artists, to showcase their work and voices to public audiences and as a beacon for change.”

The current group worked alongside a team of professional theatre practitioners, directors, designers, and technicians to create a full production with sound, lighting, set, costumes, and original music. In the making of Inevitable? They then had the experience of performing to audiences across the North in professional theatre venues, to paying public audiences. This was a unique, high impact opportunity for those young people, many of whom have intersectional needs, mental health difficulties and face challenges in their lives.
 
“Mortal Fools has been such a lifeline for me. It gives me a space to truly be myself and I have met the most amazing, genuine people. The way Mortal Fools gives the young people a voice, is honestly special.” – Ashington Ensemble Young Company Member
 
The production was part of the national Grow Up! Project, created and co-led by Beyond Face, Company Three, Mortal Fools and Prime Theatre. The Grow Up! Project supports youth theatre across the country, drawing on its ability to spark and create radical, transformative change for young people.
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Due to the success of the Inevitable? production and its impact on audiences, we are busily planning what’s next and exploring the possibility of transforming it into a film, so that the lived experience of Northumberland young people can be seen and heard on a bigger scale.

Kiz Crosbie concluded: “We know that it’s not always easy for audiences to access live theatre performances, so we’re excited to be developing a digital content strategy. As part of that, we’re busy working on plans for a filmed version on Inevitable? which will be proudly produced in Northumberland, providing a longer legacy and much wider audience for this brilliant piece of work.”
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Any young people aged 13-19 interested in joining Mortal Fools Ensemble Young Company are invited to take part in taster workshops in Ashington this Summer term, ahead of joining one of the groups in Ashington or Riding Mill. Young people can register their interest via: www.mortalfools.org.uk/register-with-mfyt
 
Now of course, none of the above would have been possible without our Inevitable? Tour funders Arts Council England, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Youth Music, Northumberland County Council, Community Foundation Tyne & Wear and Northumberland & BBC Children in Need. Huge thank you to them for their continued investment in our work and children and young people.
 
Bringing back Inevitable? feels rather…….inevitable? Watch this space!

A brand new thought-provoking contemporary theatre show capturing the lived experience of young people is touring across the North East and North West this Spring.

Mortal Fools Ensemble Young Company are bringing new production Inevitable? to venues across the north in a highly anticipated spring tour.

The tour will begin in the North East, starting with daytime and evening shows on Saturday 23rd March in YMCA Northumberland in Ashington. The production will then come to Gosforth Civic Theatre in Newcastle upon Tyne on Wednesday 3rd April.

The show will then come to the North West, showing at Burnley Youth Theatre in Burnley on Thursday 4th April, before the final tour show at Theatre Porto in Ellesmere Port on Saturday 6th April.