Full details ofLike Flying, Nic Green’s first full project as National Theatre of Scotland’s Artist in Residence, have been announced today. The project, which is presented in partnership with SAMH (Scottish Association for Mental Health), in association with East Ayrshire Council and the City of Edinburgh Council and with support from Aberdeen Standard Investments, will see young school pupils star in a unique piece of aerial performance.

Moving through the familiar ground of the Scottish school from the assembly hall to the playground, the classrooms to the gym, Like Flying is an interactive performance taking place in both Craigmount High School in Edinburgh and Auchinleck Academy in East Ayrshire in June 2019 involving young people from both schools.

Led by Nic Green, with movement direction from All or Nothing Aerial Dance Theatre, Like Flying takes the form of a promenade performance through the school corridors and multiple spaces both indoors and out. Weaving through a surreal and dream-like curriculum, young people educate adults in this mirror-image world where roles are reversed, power is flipped and authority is inverted.

Pupils from S2 (Craigmount High School) and S2 and S3 (Auchinleck Academy) have been trained in aerial performance methods leading up to these public performances including, hoop, aerial cocoon and harness work. The young people will present a number of encounters using these forms, as audiences make their way through the corridors of a school after hours.

After the performances, SAMH will deliver a symposium discussion on positive mental health in each school involved in the project, and the young people involved will be given the forum to ‘speak back’ to school management in the pursuit of improving mental health resources in their school and contribute to positive mental health in the school community.

Billy Watson, Chief Executive of SAMH said: “SAMH is delighted to be working with The National Theatre of Scotland and other partners on this project, which will use theatre performance to teach young people about anxiety. It’s vital that young people learn about mental health and wellbeing and how to keep themselves well. SAMH is taking action by charitably funding an extensive programme of activity in schools, in colleges, and with specialist mental health teams – all aiming to help young people and the adults in their lives. Like Flying is an important part of this, and we’re looking forward to seeing the results.”