TAKEOVER
    FESTIVAL 2012

A note from our Artistic Director, Andra Catincescu ...

On behalf of TakeOver’s new Senior Management Team and Board, it gives me great pleasure to introduce the third edition of this tremendously exciting and edgy festival, which is also an exceptional scheme nationally whereby a dedicated group of young enthusiasts are given the run of a theatre for nearly a month.

For TakeOver 2012, we have an exciting line-up of entertainment and enjoyments of all kinds, ranging from theatre to comedy, music to dance. We will be organising a variety of parties, workshops, open-mic evenings, and Q&As. We are also inaugurating two new devising projects for young people: one lead by our Associate Director, Henry Raby, and a creative Forward Theatre Project Residency, which will see a young company of theatre artists travel to York and spend three weeks working with local youth to develop a new play aimed at younger audiences. With so much going on, there will be more opportunities for the community to get involved in the Festival than ever before.

Our TakeOver programme is aimed at audiences of all ages, and we pride ourselves on offering the sort of theatrical diversity that can be summed up in one simple motto: something for everyone. We want to embrace the community that has so willingly given us the ability to act as fully-fledged theatre practitioners while most of us are still at school or university!

In light of recent events, everyone at TakeOver believes that it is currently a matter of crucial importance to give young people a voice and to enable them to engage actively and constructively within their society and respective communities. York Theatre Royal would like to thank you for joining us in this worthy endeavor, and supporting TakeOver in strengthening the bond between York’s youth and its theatre audiences. The Forward Theatre Residency has been kindly sponsored by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, whose support has made TakeOver possible this year, and for 2013.