Join us as we celebrate the Young Vic’s 50th birthday with a year-long programme of work entitled We Are The New Tide.
The beginning of our 50th birthday year sees three commissions: a projection project on the front of the building to celebrate the past people and productions who have contributed to this unique theatre over the last five decades; a commission called The Unforgotten which speaks entirely to the present moment and the urgent conversations which are taking place right now; and finally The New Tomorrow, a chance for brilliant writers and artists to take a look forward at what the next 50 years might hold for us.
'The beginning of our 50th year marks a moment of change for everyone, but it is a year I go into with absolute optimism, for We Are The New Tide.' - Kwame Kwei-Armah, Artistic Director
50th Projection Project
From 11 Sep – 3 Oct, 7.30pm-10.30pm (Mon-Sat) | Free
From today, each evening the front of our building will become a giant canvas, illuminated by a video projection celebrating the past people and productions who collectively represent five extraordinary decades. With video design by Duncan McLean, the projection captures the spirit of the Young Vic, including decades of world-leading productions under the leadership of seven artistic directors, inspiring work made for and with the local community, and hundreds of emerging and established creatives and artists who have each found a place and home within the theatre’s four walls to make their art. The projection is a homage to the entire community who make up the DNA of the Young Vic.
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The Unforgotten
From 11 Sep | Free
A free interactive art installation participating in the ongoing conversation within the Black Lives Matter movement regarding whose image we uphold and elevate, offering our community an alternative view of leadership. This interactive art piece adorning the Young Vic building is created by artists Sadeysa Greenaway-Bailey and Anna Fleischle and features statues commemorating three trailblazers of the Black community: Mary Seacole, Marsha P. Johnson and Ulric Cross.
You are invited to contribute to the installation by submitting your own nominations in writing on the side of the building and online, using the hashtag #YVUnforgotten.
The Unforgotten is generously supported by The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation (UK Branch) and an anonymous donor.
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The New Tomorrow
Sat 3 & Sun 4 Oct, 4pm | Free
This free weekend event- the first piece of live theatre at the YV since we closed in March - will include short commissioned performances and activist speeches exploring what the next fifty years might hold. Writers and artists including Jade Anouka, Marina Carr, Jasmine Lee-Jones, Ruth Madeley, Amy Ng, Stef Smith, Jack Thorne, Isobel Waller-Bridge and Steve Waters will explore the change that has come and is coming. The performance will be streamed online, with a limited number of FREE in-person tickets also available via ticket lottery.
The New Tomorrow is co-produced with Benjamin Lowy and Emily Vaughan-Barratt for Wessex Grove
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