Following the 1991 riots in Ely and subsequent social upheaval experienced in cities throughout the UK, Small World Theatre (SWT) worked with pensioners and teenagers to explore tensions in the community.

Three theatre projects between 1995 and 2000 used the media of puppetry and participatory theatre to explore differences and build trust between pensioners and teenagers.

This site documents the process. It offers an innovative approach that can provide an exciting way forward for communities experiencing intergenerational conflict.

The purpose of this site is to:

1. document the experience of using the creative arts to work intergenerationally in the community
2. show how the tools, techniques and methodology of the creative arts can be used in a social context
3. evaluate the effectiveness of participatory theatre and puppetry in an intergenerational context
4. provide a large print version of this site

In 1995 Bill Hamblett was 'Artist in Residence' at Herbert Thompson Junior school with an intergenerational brief.

In 1996/7 the community raised the money for Bill Hamblett and Ann Shrosbree to return to work with a wider group of young people to look at intergenerational issues in more depth than had been possible with primary schoolchildren.

In 2000 they returned to build on the work of the previous two projects and to focus particularly on the participatory research process which feeds into a performance.

Site Guide

The site is very simple to use:

At any point click on the large banner to return you to the main site index page

Large banner

Arrow button

The smaller "Arrow" button, when present will return you to the index page for the section you're in.

This Video Clip icon will take you directly to video clips related to the text. The clip will open in a new window in your browser. Close the window to return to where you were.

Video Clip

Any sections of the site with multiple pages will have navigation links at the bottom of the page to allow you to navigate the section without having to return to the index

This project has been sponsored by the Nationwide Foundation with support from Age Concern, Cardiff and the Cardiff County Council Leisure and Lifelong Learning Department.