The Run Free project is a participatory arts program designed and implemented through collaboration between the National Theatre of Scotland, the British Council and Manifesto Jamaica. The mission is to engage vulnerable youth, by fusing the movement aesthetics of Parkour (otherwise known as Free Running) with Physical Theatre. In 2014 we staged a 10-day pilot project. Since then, we’ve come a long way.
Impact
Team Run Free, comprised of 15 young men from Parade Gardens, Kingston, has been invited by the National Theatre of Scotland to perform Run Free at the Home Away Community Arts Festival, as part of the theatre’s 10th anniversary celebrations. The immediate goal, prior to the festival, is polishing the show and staging it for a home audience on August 6, Jamaica's Independence Day.
In 2 years, the Run Free project has: trained & certified two Jamaican Parkour coaches (Level 1), given 50 young men from Parade Gardens over 300 hours
of mentorship, Parkour and physical theatre training, enrolled 15 of them in skills training programs of their choice, and created an opportunity for them to travel to Glasgow, Scotland in October. Take a look at some of the images of the performers gearing up for their upcoming performances
