Box Clever Theatre is a charity of which the actor Tom Burke is a Patron and which he worked with as a teenager.  He says of the charity:  “Box Clever encouraged me and fed an appetite within me for complexity. I would very much recommend that we do what we can to support Box Clever and its vital work with young people”.

This page is set up so fans of Tom’s can come together to support a new piece of work that Box Clever are developing - a new play, called ‘The Edge’ to take into schools focusing on young people’s mental health.

This is an issue that is brought regularly to their attention by schools as well as one that is receiving greater coverage by the media. It is becoming ever more evident that increasing numbers of young people are suffering from anxiety for a variety of reasons at key times during their secondary education.

Box Clever wants to respond to this concern by developing a new piece of work that can tour to schools across the UK. ‘The Edge’ would combine a series of short, dramatic scenes with interactive discussion and practical exercises with the audience. The purpose of the piece would be to highlight dramatically specific stressful and pressured situations and to suggest strategies students could use to minimise or defuse the levels of anxiety. 

The first stage of project would take the company to Oxford, to a research and development residency in a school there, so that, once again, they can involve students fully in the creative process, as they did with the rehearsals in residence for Romeo and Juliet we in Team Burketeers supported last year.  The production would then be piloted to young people in three schools initially with the aim of a more extensive tour the following year.

Funding permitting, they are looking to run the project in the summer of 2017. The majority of the money needed to fund the project would come from the schools themselves but that will still leave them with a shortfall of around £4,500.

This Just Giving page is set up to help them reach that target – we are aiming initially to raise £1000 to help them get there. 

You can also donate directly to them if you prefer (https://mydonate.bt.com/charities/boxclevertheatrecompany) saying you are donating for ‘The Edge’…. and if you become a Clever Friend (http://www.boxclevertheatre.co.uk/?page_id=2554) you will receive newsletters and invites to selected events – including invites to performance previews.

Many thanks for reading and donating.

Nikki. xxx