The Project (producer: Giles Stogdon; artistic director: Ray Harrison Graham) is a theatre and film company engaged in innovative work involving some of the most disadvantaged and disaffected youths (particularly those educated in Pupil Referral Units) in various boroughs of South and West London. In 2011, a cast of young people performed The Girls at the Warehouse Theatre in Croydon as part of this programme of work. They are now funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to develop this further, with new theatre performances, including a tour.
Working closely with Giles and Ray, and with the support of the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, we conducted an in-depth research investigation focusing on the issues faced by the young people involved in the theatre work. Fidelma Hanrahan was the PhD researcher working on this project, under the supervision of Robin Banerjee and Rupert Brown. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches (including interview, questionnaire, and experimental designs) were used to address three key objectives:
- To describe and evaluate the social, developmental, and emotional features that characterise the lives of the young people concerned;
- To illuminate the psychological changes experienced by young people as they participate in the workshops, rehearsals, and drama productions;
- To determine the personal and social impact of the theatre experience on young people, both in terms of their personal development and in terms of their relationships with others in their community.
More information about The Project
Panel Discussion Event on 20 March 2013: Programme and Report
Selected extracts from Fidelma Hanrahan's PhD thesis