Go Live Theatre Launches Play It Forward and Rebrands To Mark World Theatre Day

To mark World Theatre Day 2025, Go Live Theatre - the charity dedicated to enabling children and young people across the UK to access the power of live performance – has announced a new initiative, Play it Forward.

One of the cornerstones of the company's work is their subsidised all-Education Matinees for state schools and pupil referral units, especially those with a high percentage of pupils on free school meals. In some instances, over 80% of the students that attend, set foot inside a theatre for the first time. To enable greater access to these performances, Go Live Theatre are launching Play It Forward which will raise vital funds to make these performances entirely free - for every £10 donated a child goes free.

Chief Executive of Go Live Theatre Sita McIntosh said today, “World Theatre Day seems like the perfect moment to announce a new chapter at Go Live Theatre with a new initiative in Play it Forward, a new team, a new logo and a new website, as we host one of our all-Education matinees at TINA – The Tina Turner Musical with 1000 children in attendance.

“We are a charity that serves to bring the joy and power of live theatre to children and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with special educational needs and disabilities. Up to 80% of the young people that we work with have never experienced live theatre before and don't enjoy any access to the arts or culture at all. We exist to redress that balance because we believe that not only is theatre for everyone but the “soft skills” that it helps to develop, such as communication, empathy and creativity, have never been more important or necessary for our young people.”

Go Live Theatre also announce today the new senior leadership team joining newly appointed McIntosh - Michael Berg (Development Director) and Sarah Coleman (Commercial Director), with Emily Standring (Development Manager), Aran Cherkez (Programmes Manager – Schools & Education), Nancy Turner (Programmes Manager – Children and Families), June Basham (Finance Manager), Andreas Smoilis (Social Media & Marketing Executive) and Josh Moore (Development Officer). Also unveiled today is a major rebrand of the company with a new logo and website by FEAST reflecting the new direction of the organisation.

Since its inception as Mousetrap Theatre Projects in 1997, Go Live Theatre, has enabled more than 250,000 children and young people to experience the joy of live theatre, with that number growing exponentially. The company work with those from disadvantaged and/or vulnerable backgrounds and SEND and for whom a trip to the theatre is out of reach because of economic or physical reasons or quite simply, relevance. Working on a wide variety of programmes with producers and venues, Go Live Theatre exist to change that.

In addition to the all-Education matinee, through their Family First Nights programme they extend that experience to families from low-income backgrounds enabling parents and guardians to treat their children to a night out at the theatre which for many is a pipe-dream. By enabling parents and guardians to access theatre, it allows them also to experience the transformative power of live performance, and therefore to bring in further into their children's lives.

Envision and Stage Seen are their programmes aimed at children and young people who are blind or visually impaired and D/deaf. They prepare them with pre-show touch tours of the set and workshops to explain and enhance everything from the music in the show, to the characters and plot. Then they experience performances that are audio described, captioned or BSL interpreted so their disability is not a barrier to enjoying theatre.

Go Live Theatre pioneered Relaxed Performances for young people with sensory, learning and physical disabilities who find mainstream shows too overwhelming. These are now practically standard up and down the country but were a Mousetrap Theatre Projects first.

These are some of the many initiatives spearheaded by the company to increase access to theatre. The company are committed to cultivating the next generation of audiences of creative talent by igniting a passion for theatre from an early age through trips to the theatres, impactful programmes and inspiring workshops.