With the support of The Arts Council of Northern Ireland's Small Grants Programme and Ulster Garden Village, we were able to tour our annual 'A Day With Bruiser' full-day crash courses across NI.
Despite a broad network of arts venues across Northern Ireland, consecutive funding cuts to the arts sector in recent years has led to limited arts activities available to young people in regional areas. Through this project we managed to bring live theatre and participatory workshops to locations across Northern Ireland: Belfast, Omagh, Lisburn, Newry, Downpatrick, Enniskillen, Armagh and Derry-Londonderry.
“This day has opened my eyes and made me realise this is something I want to go and do more in the future.” - Teenage Participant
These full-day crash courses helped young people develop the skills they need to create exciting devised pieces, gain knowledge on Bruiser’s ensemble style, develop confidence, and boost self-esteem as performers. In light of the Covid-19 pandemic and detrimental effect it has had on the wellbeing of young people, our focus was to use drama as a means to build confidence and develop interpersonal skills.
“I loved the energy levels within the groups. It was good to observe pupils interact with students from other schools - a great confidence builder. Leaders of each group were very encouraging to all involved. Pupils were fully engaged throughout the sessions.” - Teacher
