Scotland's Youth Theatre and Drama Sector

Scotland’s youth theatre and theatre for young audiences has its own unique and distinctive voice which is internationally recognised. This chapter will outline, discuss and critique this distinctive voice by outlining the current political and practical approaches taken to promote and facilitate theatre and drama for, with and by young people in Scotland. This will include Scotland’s first National Youth Arts Strategy – Time to Shine (ages 0-25) and will discuss how this and other policies and directives (historical and current) have been implemented in practice. In turn, a discussion will be had regarding the funding allocation of theatre companies who make work for, with and by young people. Finally, the chapter spotlights the work of key theatre for young audiences’ companies and highlight potential gaps between theory, policy and practice in relation to theatre for, with and by young people.