hidden route work with young people to create theatre that explores and tells stories that need to be told. 

Our weekly theatre group, hidden route ensemble, is for 17-26 year olds and runs on a Thursday evening from 6.30-8.30pm.

This group focuses on developing  theatre-making and performance skills in a space that is inclusive, playful and supportive. The company work collaboratively where each member has the opportunity to contribute to every part of the theatre-making process from acting to costume, directing and writing.

The group meets at Gilfillan Memorial Church, Dundee.

To find out more information or enquire about joining hidden route ensemble please email hello@hiddenroute.co.uk

Fees

The cost for each twelve-week term in 2022 is £68 full price, £55 concession. Concessions are for participants/families who are in receipt of Universal Credit, PIPs, ESA, JSA or students in Further or Higher Education. We offer a 20% family discount.  We can also organise staggered fee payments should this be useful to any participants and their families. 

We never want cost to be a barrier to anyone therefore we offer free bursary places for our group. Please email hello@hiddenroute.co.uk if you would like further information.

Previous Performances 

just…blue created and performed by hidden route ensemble

In June 2022, hidden route ensemble presented their first in-person performance. A devised, site responsive piece of theatre that asked questions about our worth, our relationships, what we choose to believe and what matters most to us.

In this building workers are busy. Time is ticking on, as it always has and always will. There are jobs to be done, in a specific order, at a specific time, everyday. This is important. It's all very important. It's the most important thing. Isn't it?

Absolutely amazing! I loved every second of it, the plot was great and the performances were very strong. I felt very inspired to create my own work. Can’t wait to see what you do next. Audience member, just…blue

The Raven by Hannah Lavery

hidden route young company presented their version of Hannah Lavery’s The Raven in April 2022, presented as part of the international participatory arts project Positive Stories for Negative Times by Wonder Fools in association with the Traverse Theatre. 

Four friends who have drifted apart since starting secondary school are visited by the mysterious Raven. The Raven leads them into a world which they soon discover they can’t escape. They will need to overcome their differences if they are to find a way home. The piece is both an adventure and exploration of what shapes and what divides us.

WHEN THIS IS OVER

WHEN THIS IS OVER is a play in which teenagers tell their life stories. The things that have happened to them already, and the things that might happen for them in the future. Through these modest predictions for lives not yet lived we see ourselves for who we are right now - and how we want the world to change.

In January 2021, we collaborated with Company Three and 18 youth theatre from across the UK to develop the first draft of this play. Each company is workshopped their own versions in a process which helped create a blueprint (devising guide) so that youth theatres everywhere can perform it as a collective expression of teenage voices. More info here.

Tay²

In December 2020, we performed our first live, online show Tay². This was the culmination of a collaboration between hidden route young company and a group of young people from Perth Theatre. 

During this collaboration both groups worked from the same stimuli, met-up to share ideas, experiment and create new material. The result was two brand-new pieces of online theatre. Watch our performance here.

Positive Stories for Negative Times

In March 2021, hidden route ensemble performed Bad Bored Women of the Rooms by Sabrina Mahfouz live via Zoom. This performance was the culmination of our participation in Positive Stories for Negative Times, a brilliant international project by Wonder Fools in association with the Traverse Theatre.  Watch the full performance HERE!

A lyrical adventure through the centuries of women who have spent a lot of time stuck in a room and who have not necessarily been very ‘good’. From Nesmut, raider of Ancient Egyptian tombs to Madame Ching, the most famous pirate of all time, here are historical and contemporary stories of women who have been ‘bad’, bored and often trapped in a room. Fused with fictional or real-life tales from the performers themselves, this is not only a narration of doing epic, noble or naughty things, but that extraordinary thing of getting through the days as best we can, in a room.

A selection of previous production and rehearsal shots from performances directed by Gemma and Lisa for Dundee Rep Theatre.

Photo Credits Viktoria Begg.