Supporting Creativity: Cutting Edge Theatre

Cutting Edge Theatre is a charity based in Edinburgh which aims to advance education for public benefit by the promotion of the arts. Cutting Edge Theatre runs specialist programmes to increase the diversity of people accessing the creative industries in Scotland. It achieves this by creating high quality productions relevant to its audience which are accessible and inclusive. Trefoil awarded Cutting Edge Theatre a £2,500 organisational grant in 2024 to support these aims.

Cutting Edge Theatre used the grant to pay for specialist tutors to work with their learning-disabled young people taking part in Scotland’s only youth theatre for learning disabled young people aged 13 to 17. The funding also went towards Cutting Edge Theatre’s Young Company, Scotland’s only part-time training company for learning disabled young people aged 18 to 25.

 Trefoil is delighted to support children and young people with additional support needs accessing creative organisations and allowing them to learn about the arts and performance. Cutting Edge Theatre allowed 27 young people across its Youth Theatre and Young Company groups to perform, express their creativity and learn new skills.

One parent of a participant said:

“Our son has been attending your workshop for two years. He has Down syndrome and as a young teen we noticed that he was becoming isolated and lonely. Making meaningful friendships in high school has been much more difficult than his early years. Finding this group has been life changing for him. The theatre group has given him the confidence to try out for a play at his high school, something he would never have had the confidence to do before. It has opened a new world to him; one in which he is willing to take more risks, is making great strides in overcoming his shyness and is simply just happier, which means the world to us as a family.”

Cutting Edge Theatre reported that “the Youth Theatre is especially important as it's Scotland's only Youth Theatre for learning disabled young people. To be able to offer these opportunities to learning disabled young people in Scotland is amazing.”

Congratulations to all of the young people who took part in Cutting Edge Theatre!