When we were in London (en route to Ireland for the IDIERI conference), we had the good fortune of meeting with Cath Greenwood, a member of staff from the Unicorn Theatre, one of the leading theatres for young audiences in the UK.

Much like us, the Unicorn Theatre does a diversity of programming for and with young people, from children to young adults. We wish we could have stayed to see some of the shows in their 2012-2013 season, but our time at the theatre was too brief. We were, however, able to see a little bit of their new theatre. While the company has been around since 1947, it has been operating in this new building just since 2005. Cath took us on a tour of this amazing space, which holds two beautiful theatres, one of which – much to our delight – is named for Dame Judi Dench, an honorary patron of the theatre and one of its strongest supporters.

An extremely nerdy and embarrassing photo of us outside the theatre. (L-R: Lois Adamson, YPT Educational Services Coordinator, and Karen Gilodo, YPT Educational Services Director)

To learn more about the Unicorn, check out this blog post from A Younger Theatre in which Holly O’Mahony speaks with the theatre’s new Artistic Director, Purni Morell. Morell discusses the value of regular attendance at theatre, particularly for young people, the promise of learning from artists who work in theatre for young audiences around the world, and the special learning experience provided by the live theatre experience.