Pegasus Theatre is delighted to welcome its Patrons Bill Lucas and Sir Philip Pullman, Chair of Arts Council England Sir Nicholas Serota, journalist and novelist Lyn Gardner, Artistic Director of Mashi Theatre Trina Haldar and Co-chair of the Pegasus Youth Board, Lucy Gibbons to take part in an evening of discussion about the importance of creativity in the lives of young people. The evening will also include some short pieces from Pegasus young performers.

The event on is being held in support of Pegasus’ Change Makers campaign which helps the East Oxford theatre to offer outstanding creative experiences for young people from all backgrounds, nurture exciting new talent and remain inclusive, accessible and affordable for all.

Bill Lucas who was, for ten years, the first Chair of the Pegasus Theatre Trust and is now Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester, said:
“Creativity is one of the defining aspects of what it is to be human. In countries across the world it is increasingly seen as a core role of schools to cultivate it in young people. But for some strange reason it is being squeezed out of schools in England. This has to change or we will be left in the slow lane while others race ahead to develop the imagination and curiosity of their citizens.”

Jo Osborne, Pegasus’ Development Director, said:
“many people don’t realise that Pegasus is a charity and needs to raise around £200,000 a year. The support of our friends and audiences is crucial to our success and now is a great time to give as all donations are being matched £1 for £1. Funds raised support projects including free weekly sessions for young people with challenging life circumstances, our schools touring programme creating new plays tackling issues facing young people today, our SPARK Supported Artists Programme and bursaries to ensure that all young people are able to participate at Pegasus.”

More about the speakers:

Bill Lucas is Professor of Learning and Director of the Centre for Real-World Learning at the University of Winchester. Bill is a prolific, award-winning researcher, speaker, campaigner and writer who has authored over forty books about learning and creativity. In his recent book Educating Ruby: what our children really need to learn, written with Guy Claxton, Bill makes a plea for a school system in which creativity is central. Bill is the co-chair of the OECD’s strategy group advising on the new PISA 2021 Test of Creative Thinking and an adviser to the Arts Council on creativity in education. Bill was, for ten years, the first Chair of the Pegasus Theatre Trust.

Sir Philip Pullman was the first Pegasus patron in 2000 but his relationship with the theatre began many years earlier when he was a teacher at a local middle school. Philip is one of the most acclaimed and best-selling writers at work today. He is best known for the His Dark Materials trilogy which has been named one of the top 100 novels of all time by Newsweek and one of the all-time greatest novels by Entertainment Weekly. These books have been honoured by several prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, the Guardian Children's Book Award, and (for The Amber Spyglass) the Whitbread Book of the Year Award, the first time in the history of that prize that it was given to a children's book.

Sir Nicholas Serota has been Chair of Arts Council England since February 2017 and is a member of the Board of the BBC. He is currently Chair of the Durham Commission on Creativity and Education and is a Board member on the Cultural Cities Enquiry. He was

Director of Tate between 1988 and 2017. During this period Tate opened Tate St Ives (1993) and Tate Modern (2000 & 2016), redefining the Millbank building as Tate Britain (2000). Tate also developed its national role by creating partnerships with 35 regional galleries across the UK in the Plus Tate network.

Lyn Gardner is a journalist and novelist. She is currently associate editor of The Stage and has recently joined Stagedoor. She has written about theatre and performance for The Guardian and The Independent, and she was a founder member of City Limits, the largest publishing co-op in Europe. She currently writes a strand of articles for the British Council on Culture After Brexit. Awards for her work include the 2013 Action for Children’s Arts Award for Outstanding Contribution to Children’s Arts and the 2017 UK Theatre Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre. Her novels for children include Into the Woods, Out of the Woods, the Ghastly McNasty series and the Olivia Stage School series.

Trina Haldar is the Founder and Artistic Director of Mashi Theatre which was set up in response to the lack of diverse work on offer, particularly for young people. As a Director, Trina’s credits include productions at Curve Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, Tara Arts, Soho Theatre and Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai. She was recently awarded the Naseem Khan commission with Curve, Bristol Old Vic and The Lowry to develop a new piece of theatre for adults. Mashi’s next show Stripey Honey…is very yummy! for ages 5+ is set on the border of India and Bangladesh and is a new commission by Big Imaginations, in partnership with The Spark Arts of Children. Trina is on the board of Theatre-Rites, an award-winning company and leader in the creation of experimental theatre for children.