We are delighted to reveal our first Associate Artists ‘The Basement Bunch’
The Basement Bunch also known to us as Hannah, Addie and Charity.
Addie has worked for NGYT and is a current member of our Dance Company.
Hannah currently teaches for NGYT in schools across the town as well as our Monday to Friday classes. Hannah is also a part of our Theatre Company.
Addie, Hannah and Charity have all appeared professionally as part of NGYT’s community outreach work.
We are so proud of their decision to form a local Theatre collective but we are even more proud of their first commission as part of the Imagine Luton Festival.
Here’s what they had to say when we caught up with them earlier this week –
So who are The Basement Bunch and what involvement have you had with NGYT?
Addie– So, The Basement Bunch are myself, Hannah & Charity. We’re a collective of young creatives in Luton. Having studied a Performing Arts Degree at Bath Spa University, we’re all from a predominantly theatre background.
Myself and Hannah are both very proud NGYTers. I’ve had the pleasure of teaching drama classes to little ones as well as performing David’s award winning play ‘The Butterfly Catcher’ at Brighton Fringe Festival. Hannah currently teaches drama for ages 4+ and is the most senior member of the theatre company. Hannah also works as a Drama facilitator and admin assistant for NGYT. Charity has also performed in NGYT’s play ActivHate, a short piece exploring Hate Crime and Islamophobia.
So what can we expect to see from The Basement Bunch? I hear you are at The Imagine Luton Festival.
Hannah- Our vision for The Basement Bunch is to collaborate with other artists and creatives to produce quality work. Expect to see vibrant, physicalised pieces of theatre with larger than life characters! We aim to create work that not only entertains our audience but delivers an important message that people can connect to. And that’s right! We’ll be performing our piece ‘Mundane Blues’ at the Imagine Luton festival. The piece is about adults losing their sense of adventure and play during adulthood and our piece asks the question ‘How do we rediscover those feelings?’
We will be performing at the festival on the 24th June at 1.30pm and 6.30pm. We hope to see lots of the NGYT family there!
Luton isn’t known for having many professional Theatre companies so how do you intend to make your mark and how will the support of NGYT benefit your journey?
Charity- The Basement Bunch intends on making its mark by creating relevant stories that resonate with audiences, as well as ourselves.
Collaborating and working professionally as three young creatives has been an eye opener; Being from different backgrounds and cultures, our work is led by the way we view things as a collective and as individuals. We’ve found this experience refreshing as we believe the industry is in need of greater diversity and cross cultural work.
Having the support of NGYT is a privilege because they’re a well established company that actively engage with young people and have successfully managed to connect their work to our community. We aspire to have the same impact as them.
Addie, Hannah and Charity, as you know we are big believers in Luton so what 1 place should visitors to the town be sure to stop by?
We would have to say The Bear Club! It’s a brilliant live music venue where you can enjoy jazz and blues music. It has a really relaxed atmosphere and the staff are lovely! For anyone who hasn’t had the pleasure of going, please do! It’s fantastic.
Be sure to catch The Basement Bunch at the festival and we look forward to sharing many more stories of their future successes.