Bringing The Outside In - 2026
Bringing The Outside In is a powerful theatre tour inspired by Southampton’s urban landscape and the folklore of the New Forest. Through music, puppetry, and digital storytelling, the show explores climate anxiety in young people and local issues such as air pollution, giving voice to the environmental challenges shaping their lives.
ABOUT:
Amber is alone.
She’s not turned up for the first day of her final year of sixth form.
She’s terrified of the climate crisis, and everyone knows it.
Enter Yerna - a three thousand year old “giant” she accidentally summons, who turns her stuffy flat into a forest oasis.
But can their intentions be trusted?
What can an ancient story teach a girl that she doesn’t already know?
Bringing The Outside In is a soul-stirring exploration of fear, hope, and the importance of community in a changing world.
Theatre for Life’s Bringing The Outside In comes as part of the Youth for Climate and Nature (YouCAN) scheme – a partnership project supported by the National Lottery Community Fund and match funding with the New Forest National Park Authority as a lead partner.
CURRICULM LINKS
PSHE Physical health and mental wellbeing, Health and Wellbeing, Relationships and Living in the Wider World. GCSE Drama, Science and Geography.
Supported by New Forest National Park and National Lottery Community Fund
READ GUARDIAN NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
I WAS ALWAYS HERE We’re delighted to share that Theatre for Life, in collaboration with Beyond Reflections has received £87k in funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to develop a new intergenerational verbatim theatre project, performance & theatre tour celebrating Trans+ stories, lived experiences, and histories. Building on our previous project, The Feeling, this work centres Trans+ voices across generations. Through theatre, it addresses health inequalities while creating space for care, connection, and community across generations from 18-99+. This funding enables us to work directly with Trans+ performers and communities, using real stories to create meaningful, inclusive performances for wider audiences.
2026 THEATRE TOUR
“All the times you see yourself feel like the first time.”
Theatre For Life brings their next and biggest project yet, in collaboration with Beyond Reflections. I Was Always Here is an electrifying journey through trans+ histories. From the first trans surgeon, to the green rooms of the 90s club scene, through 1920s speakeasies and gothic literature, we celebrate the lives of trans+ people that history so often forgets.
Our company of LGBTQ+ theatremakers blends music, digital storytelling, and cabaret, in a trailblazing verbatim play developed from personal narratives in creative workshops, interviews, and conversations with trans and gender-expansive people across Hampshire and beyond.
In a time where trans+ lives are called constantly into question, these stories are more important than ever. This intergenerational story will make you laugh, make you think, and give you hope when hope seems hard to find.
DATES
Mayflower Studios, Southampton
29 August 7.30 pm
30 August 11 am & 2.30 pm
BOOK HERE
Pleasance Theatre, London
22 & 23 October
ON SALE SOON
Supported by National Lottery Community Fund
CREATE AND INNOVATE: 2
Youth social action video campaigns supporting our 2025 "Your Brain Explained" theatre production.
Empowering young campaigners aged 16-25 yrs with lived experiences of neurodiversity to engage in advocacy & youth social action.
Explore and enhance access to arts and culture for neurodivergent young people in Hampshire & how we can support long-term mental health and well-being through inclusive creative opportunities.
As part of the
#BeeWell
funded project, they are currently researching ways to enhance participation in arts, culture, and entertainment specifically for SEND groups, which currently has limited data in our local area.
Using research findings, the campaigners will create a two-minute & creative social media video aimed at promoting and sharing current arts & cultural opportunities available for Hampshire's neurodivergent communities. Additionally, the video will highlight ways in which decision-makers and organisations can enhance future access for these groups.
Final Video Campaigns released in May, 2026
Filmed and edited by James Henderson and BA Film and animation students at Solent University.
CREATE AND INNOVATE: 1
In our inaugural CREATE & INNOVATE youth social action programme, we engaged with our local youth community in Southampton from May to September 2024.
Youth-driven creative initiatives aimed at exploring cultural views on menstruation and addressing the stigma and societal disparities surrounding female reproductive health with local Asian and Muslim groups.
Youth-led creative campaigns to tackle healthcare inequities and barriers impacting our LGBTQIA+ community (including gender-affirming care).
The final goal was to advocate for accessible healthcare, normalise discussions, and promote a more equitable society for future generations through youth-led video campaigns which were shared with local stakeholders and decision-makers from the NHS, Public Health, researchers and LGBTQIA+ charities.
This youth-led programme was supported with funding by Young Southampton (UKSPF fund).
The Feeling of Knowing Something is Wrong, But it Isn't (2025)
At its core, the play was a cry for help from a community of voices who have felt silenced. The performance aimed to increase understanding around female reproductive health care and LGBTQ+ health care inequities, as well as generate discussion around the language we use to make healthcare in Southampton and England not just accessible, but equal to all.
After the performance, policy makers, healthcare professionals, the cast and the audience discussed the topics raised and how they can be used to tackle health issues in Southampton and across the south.
Emily Bridges, Head of English, said the performance had a profound effect on those who went to see it, adding:
“The response from all of our young people was brilliant – they really enjoyed the show and loved the way the story was told. The music and singing were mentioned a lot – this was a real highlight for some students. It was lovely to hear them enthusing about it.”
Fran White, Associate Director of Policy, Innovation and Partnerships at Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board, was also in the audience. She said:
“The play was amazing and helped me as a local policymaker, to reflect on people’s experiences related to gender-based care and women’s health services and what we could do locally. There was a quote about healthcare professionals which really resonated with me. It helped to re-energise me and remind me why I do what I do.”
Supported by Southampton Institute of Arts and Humanities, Propel Associate Artist Programme at Mayflower Studios and Young Southampton (UKSPF).
When the Clouds Come (2025)
Working with local youth and SEND communities in Southampton and Portsmouth, this project drew on creative workshops and discussions exploring brain health and dementia from a neurodiverse perspective. Insights shared by young people directly informed the development of a new play.
The project aimed to empower future generations and challenge misconceptions around neurodiversity and dementia within a neurotypical society. Through a joyful, human-centred narrative, the work highlighted both the potential to flourish and the barriers faced by neurodivergent people and those living with dementia, including the heightened isolation experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About the Play
When the Clouds Come written by Emily Hindle was a powerful two-hander exploring connection, brain health, and perspective. Eva, a neurodivergent young woman striving for independence, formed an unexpected bond with Sian, who was coming to terms with a degenerative disease. Set during the pandemic, their relationship revealed shared sensory experiences and mutual support, demonstrating how freedom and understanding could emerge through empathy and acceptance.
Engagement & Support
The project engaged over 15 schools & youth organisations across Hampshire, including Autism Hampshire, worked with local SEND audiences, and was performed for the wider community at Mayflower Studios.
Supported by Alzheimer’s Research UK and the #BeeWell Fund.
