Artistic Director, Jenni Mason, shares her experience of visiting Dundee for the National Convention of Youth Drama along with some of LGBT Champions:

As part of our LGBT Charter journey, we were extremely excited to be asked to speak as part of the Youth Theatre Arts Scotland (YTAS) National Convention of Youth Drama 2024 at Dundee Rep.

We were excited to share our charter journey so far with those in the sector who were interested in doing the charter or who just wanted to find out more about it.  Alongside myself and our staff LGBT lead artist, Murray Keir, we decided to invite two members of our LGBT Young Champion group to join us for the day. We felt that as our Young Champions have been so crucial to our Charter journey that is was important that their voices were heard as part of the event! Niamh Bertram and Jamie-Reece Lyle have been heavily involved in the charter journey since the beginning, and they agreed to come along with us and share what their young champion journey had been like.

We had an early start, meeting at 7.30am at Paisley Gilmour Street and heading to Glasgow for the train to Dundee. The journey wasn’t wasted though as we spent some time going over our presentation for the event and eating our huge picnic of snacks that we had bought!  

When we arrived in Dundee, time was tight, so we had to make a quick dash to Dundee Rep. Neither Niamh or Jamie had been to Dundee Rep so it was great to show them what a cool theatre and venue it is. We (just) made it to the Rep in time to grab a drink for the welcome chat and YTAS introduction. The day got off to a great start with an inspiring presentation from YTAS Chief Executive,  Kenny McGlashan, before we had a coffee break and a chance to say hello to some familiar faces (and meet some new ones too!). I always find it really inspiring to attend YTAS events and to meet so many people who are passionate about youth theatre and advocating for young people; there was such a great, positive energy at this event.

After the break it was time for our own session and it was lovely to see Emma from YTAS and Lucy from Eden Court (in real life and not on zoom!) who we’ve been sharing our Charter journey with.  It was lovely to hear in more detail what Lucy and Emma had been up to and to get the chance to share our own story so far – including the challenges and triumphs we have experienced along the way. Niamh and Jamie both gave some brilliant input – telling the group about what the Charter journey had been like for them as a young person and why it was important for them and for PACE. It was nice that the group had lots of questions and were so interested in hearing more about what the Charter was about. As a youth theatre organisation, we can sometimes feel quite isolated but the YTAS events really help you to feel connected to what is happening across Scotland and there is so much learning to be done from connecting with and listening to the experiences of others. YTAS always put on an excellent programme of workshops and talks which get you thinking, connecting and feeling inspired. After our session, we had the privilege of listening to Jess Thorpe and Tashi Gore about their inspiring youth theatre work in prisons and it was great to hear directly from the participants too.

By the time this session was over it was time for lunch (thanks YTAS/Dundee Rep for putting on such an excellent spread) and we got to chat to more practitioners and youth theatre leaders from across Scotland. And then it was time for another session – this time it was nice to be a part of the workshop and listen to stories about the inspiring work others are doing. It was great for Niamh and Jamie (and Murray!) to go to a session specifically for young practitioners and to connect with those at a similar stage of their development.

Due to the timings of trains, we had to leave before the day ended and the massive downpour of rain just as we left the Rep meant we got absolutely soaked but we made the train and after more snack purchasing, we were happy to chill out for the journey and reflect on so many things from the day. 

Our trip to Dundee will remain a highlight of the Charter journey for us and we are so grateful to YTAS for giving us a platform to share our experience and be part of such an inspiring day.