Edinburgh’s First Bite Youth Theatre is a warm community that enables young individuals to develop their confidence, sociability and linguistics in a safe environment. Integrating young people from different backgrounds and walks of life creates a very rich community for weekly drama classes. During both workshops and performances, First Bite projects somehow manage to balance a fun and energetic atmosphere with a high quality artistic product.
In my time at First Bite, we wrote several plays dealing with various difficult themes. The skill of engaging young individuals with complex and often dark social and political issues is done incredibly well at First Bite. Writing plays from scratch allows the class to understand issues of this nature well enough to translate them effectively to the stage.
At the helm is Rebecca Kilbey, who is an incredibly talented and patient woman. With 5 years having passed since my time under Rebecca’s teaching, I can safely say that I would not have the same level of patience with my younger self, as well as many of my peers. This patience, coupled with healthy constructive encouragement, made us all feel challenged enough to work hard, but also safe enough to be comfortable. Rebecca respected the opinions of the individuals in my class and clearly recognised that, if you treat young people like adults, they will act like adults. From building 6 wooden fences and a remote-control cooking pot to acting on stage as an angry, overweight Italian man, First Bite provided me with many laughs, some great friendships, and the confidence to be myself.
Jamie Fullerton (2007 – 2014)
