Young Vic: Learning, Participation and Neighbourhood Theatre

The Zilberman Foundation supports Young Vic Theatre's work in community engagement and young talent development across Lambeth and Southwark — the two boroughs the theatre calls its greatest stakeholders and its source of inspiration. Young Vic's own programme materials record that its Taking Part activity engages 15,000 participants annually, including more than 5,000 free tickets distributed each year to people who might not otherwise attend the theatre.

Taking Part runs across three strands. Learning is a schools and colleges programme: each year Young Vic works with 15 local schools on creative projects and workshops for ages 11 to 25, and is completing a two-year flagship project, INNOVATE, built with Royal Holloway to bring cultural learning into the wider curriculum. Participation is aimed at 14- to 25-year-olds and includes the Young Associates scheme, placing four aspiring theatre-makers aged 16 to 25 in a nine-month placement at the theatre. Neighbourhood Theatre serves the 25-plus community, anchored by an annual production from the resident Neighbourhood Theatre Company and a Neighbourhood Play programme for people aged 55 and over.

For the Foundation, Young Vic is a model of what cultural access can look like in practice — not a single grant, but a standing pipeline running from a first free ticket through to a nine-month professional placement.