How The Courtyard Youth Theatre supports mental health

The Courtyard Youth Theatre is fantastic for your child’s mental wellbeing! This week sees the triumphant return of our #TalkAwayDontWalkAway Mental Health Showcase. Schools and performers from all around the country will come together to share live theatre, performance and film all produced in response to mental health workshop by the courtyard.

To celebrate, we’re sharing how The Courtyard Youth Theatre can support members’ mental health and wellbeing!

Following our 5 steps to positive wellbeing, here’s how Youth Theatre can help.

Positive Wellbeing Step 1: Be Active

There’s a reason why we do stretches at the start of each youth theatre session! Youth Theatre can be a great way to stay active, with lots of physical games and movement exercises, it’s a great way to get those endorphins pumping and lift your mood!

Positive Wellbeing Step 2: Engage

Youth Theatre isn’t just about drama! It’s about engaging yourself creatively in any way you wish. Each term we cover a different topic or theme and give you the opportunity to engage with it in creative style that suits you. From writing, arts and crafts to directing a prop making, there’s plenty of ways to engage!

Positive Wellbeing Step 3: Interact

One thing we often hear about our Youth Theatre sessions is how it brings our members a sense of community. As soon as you walk into your first Youth Theatre session, you’ll be part of a group that works together to help everyone achieve their full protentional. Interacting with others is a great way to improve your well-being and you’ll have the chance to chat, play and create with a group of like-minded people.

Positive Wellbeing Step 4: Notice

‘Notice’ means just taking a minute to relax – noticing your own feelings and making sure that things aren’t getting overwhelming. It can be great to know that there is a part of your week when you can come to Youth Theatre and be away from any of the things that may be causing your stress, like schoolwork. We hope that Youth Theatre can provide a welcome (and fun!) distraction and give you the time to sit back and notice.

Positive Wellbeing Step 5: Give

Performing can be a great way of giving back. Even if you didn’t start as the most confident performer, we promise that, after a term of fun and making theatre, it’s a great feeling to be able to put on a fantastic show for an enthusiastic audience.

In 2019 we launched a brand new mental health project #TalkAwayDontWalkAway. The project aims to open up the discussion around mental health with young people. And, to support them with ways in which they can help themselves and one another. We are delighted to be able to offer this project to schools and youth groups, either in person or digitally. 

Find out more about our Mental Health Project