New Arts Space for Leeds
A new arts space for young people has opened in Leeds City Centre. It has been created by West Yorkshire Playhouse (WYP) at a cost of £617,000 and is called First Floor. It is located next to the WYP and is part of the St Peter’s building.
The St Peter’s building was originally the theatre’s props store but now has a wide range of facilities including meeting spaces, a green room and studios for both visual and performing arts.
There are already many planned events which include street dance, storytelling, workshops, script development and even a community radio station.
The programme for First Floor has been worked out as far as Easter. There will be drop-in sessions on a weekly basis designed to allow young people to try their hand at a variety of art forms. There will also be an arts foundation course designed to cater for people who do not have access to education, training or employment of some sort.
There are eight young people who have been formed into the First Floor Young People’s Panel. They are to meet regularly to advise WYP on what the Playhouse needs to do to engage young people.
Meanwhile, theatre tickets are available for ‘The Hounding of David Oluwale’ which runs until the 21st of February in the Courtyard Theatre at the WYP.