Youth theatre production of Medea at Leeds City Varieties
Every time a theatre director, particularly one working with young people, steps into a rehearsal room, they know that all eyes are on them. For Lizi Patch, that’s going to be truer than ever with her latest production.
Patch is the artistic director for Leeds Heritage Theatres Young People’s Theatre. In the role she is at the head of Leeds Actors in Training and the Leeds Grand Youth Theatre company. When LAIT opens her version of Medea later this month, it will be the last production Patch will helm as artistic director of the company she’s worked for for over a decade, with the final LGYT musical following a month later.
“After 14 years leading and developing the programmes as freelance artistic director, I’ve been informed that this will be my final season with the organisation,” she says. “While I respect the organisation’s choice about their future direction, I am heartbroken. LAIT was my passion project and I am so proud of how it’s developed since 2018. LAIT and LGYT have been a huge part of my life for 14 years. Anyone who works in young people’s theatre will know that the work is about so much more than delivering shows.”
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Patch chose Medea as her swansong before she discovered that it would be her final production with LAIT. The Greek tragedy tells of Medea, married to Jason (of the Argonauts fame) and who, when he tells her he is going to leave her, murders their children. It’s heavy stuff from seasoned actors, let alone young people of LAIT who are, as the title suggests, still in training.
“Medea was particularly ripe for this LAIT cohort - mainly women – because I saw an opportunity to write an abridged adaptation that gave all actors plenty to get their teeth into by exploring her in fragmented form: Mother, Wounded, Exile, Strategist,” says Patch. “Four performers take on those strands, so her huge and complex internal conflicts are externalised and turned over and over for the audience. Alongside the four stranded Medea are the Women of Corinth, echoing, supporting, questioning and ultimately judging Medea.
“The timing also feels rather coincidental as this has been an extraordinarily challenging period in my professional life. Directing Medea while navigating significant change has meant that themes I might once have approached intellectually have felt much closer to home. That hasn’t changed the production itself, but it has certainly deepened my understanding of the questions the play asks about resilience, identity and what it means to keep moving forward when circumstances are beyond your control.”
Patch has long campaigned for young people’s rights and been vocal about their access to the arts and often espoused - sometimes in these pages - the transformative power of theatre for young people. She says it’s what she continues to focus on, even through this period.
“My focus has remained firmly on the young people, the work and ensuring that I do my best to conclude this chapter with the same care, ambition and professionalism that have always defined my work with and for the young people,” she says. “Over 14 years I’ve had the privilege of working with hundreds of young people, many of whom arrived with little or no self-belief, struggling to find their place or purpose and left with confidence, friendships, skills and a stronger sense of who they are.
“Some have gone on to drama school and professional careers, others into completely different fields, but all of them have contributed to and shaped the community we’ve built together. At the same time, I feel immense pride. I’ve watched young people discover their voice, take creative risks, find lifelong friends and realise they are capable of more than they ever imagined. I’ve seen careers launched, confidence restored and lives changed through theatre. It’s an honour and privilege to be part of their journeys. Nothing can take those things away.”
She does admit that it will be a tough time ahead of the production opening at Leeds City Varieties for just two performances on June 26.
“There is grief, certainly. But there is also gratitude, pride and a determination to ensure that these final productions are everything the young people and the brilliant creative and production team deserve them to be,” she says. “Ultimately, I hope the legacy of the work isn’t found in any one individual, but in the countless young people who leave knowing that their voice matters, that they belong in creative spaces, and that the arts are something they have a right to be part of.”
Medea, Leeds City Varieties, June 26, 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets leedsheritagetheatres.com