Find out more about our Consent project.

Emyr John has worked for the organisation for 16 years. We sat down with him to find out more.

Describe the role of the Creative Engagement Team:

We are the face of the theatre in the community, we’re advocates of how the arts can truly change the lives of anyone. We’re here to engage and work with every age and background, to prove that the arts really are for all.

What’s your role at the theatre?

I moved up to Clwyd in 2006 as Outreach Worker for the theatre. I worked as an actor facilitator for Theatr Clwyd’s Theatre for Young People and became Assistant Director on several shows with Tim Baker.

I worked across the county and beyond, from Youth Clubs to Community Centres. I also worked a lot with our Sponsorship manager, and created The Justice Programme and Bright Sparks, which have been running for over ten years.

Since then, I’ve written and directed a trilogy of Welsh shows, and translated them to be performed in English too. I have been an Associate with Tamara Harvey on Curtain Up, as well as worked with our Cwmni 30 and Cwils groups.

You are currently creating and directing an interactive project called Consent that will be touring into schools. Tell us about the project.

We are working closely with Flintshire’s Youth Provision, creating a performance workshop about sexual Consent. On the first day of our rehearsals, it was reported widely, that the latest statistics by the ONS put North Wales as the area with the largest proportion of sexual offences recorded outside of London. For us it proved the need for education around issues of Consent that need to be taught from the earliest, and most appropriate age. Our story follows the blossoming relationship between two teenagers that turns to tragedy, we follow the events, and the team help the young people to navigate, learn and debate all the issues the story raises, and bring them to an understanding of what consent means in terms of any relationship.

What are you looking forward to most about the re-development?

I think having our own dedicated spaces to do all the community work will be amazing, as well as the huge improvement to our access needs. To have a building fit for the purpose of looking after its participants, as well as its workforce. No more buckets under leaky roofs!

What are you most looking forward to this Autumn?

The return of our community groups, and welcoming new faces as well as our regulars. I will be devising and directing an interactive show about consent to secondary schools, with our partners in Flintshire Youth Service. I am also, really enjoying the prospect of adding another branch to our Justice Programme.