Pyramid Theatre Company was founded in 1993 as a specialist Theatre-in-Heath Education company, covering health issues in the broadest sense. The Company became a charity in 1996.

From its inception, Pyramid worked nationally, providing a unique service throughout the UK and Ireland, reaching all sections of society and all ages. Pyramid has gained an enviable reputation for the quality of its work and holds the distinction of being the only company, of its kind, to receive European funding, not once, but twice. Reports of these extensive tours have been disseminated throughout Europe and Pyramid personnel have taken an active role in European conferences on health issues.

The company has three main activities, touring its own productions, community drama projects and training in the use of drama techniques.  It fully evaluates each and every activity and copies of these reports are available on request.

Pyramid productions are carefully constructed, in consultation with Service Providers, to ensure accuracy, and to maximise their impact and appeal to all sections of the community.

The Company uses professional and experienced writers to develop new work and an enormous amount of research and consultation is involved in this process to ensure that the resultant production attains optimum effectiveness.

The Company auditions actors from all over the UK and Ireland in order to guarantee that the most experienced, talented and committed actors are employed. Pyramid now has a team of actors who are totally committed to the ethos of theatre-in-health education, and who work regularly for the company.

The play is constructed to act as a catalyst for the following sections of the programme. It normally lasts around 45minutes.

This section is an important part of the package and allows audience members to question the characters in the play, (as opposed to the actors) in depth, about their motivations, feelings, opinions and needs. Hot-seating extends and underpins the play, and gives Service Providers a clear indication of the mindset of the audience.

This section of the programme enables Service Providers to enter into a dialogue with audience members. Depending on the size of the audience and the desired outcomes, it can be run as a Question and Answer session with Service Providers, or small group workshops, which can be followed by a plenary session.

The whole package affords audience members a unique opportunity to discuss health/social/emotional issues, directly with providers and, as a result of previous performances, there have been immediate changes, which have had a long term effect on the health and well being of the community. Examples of this are:

A breast health awareness production.

A production for families about intergenerational conflict and lack of communication over the drugs issue.

A mental health awareness production.

A production about the social, emotional and physical problems associated with ageing.

A production for young people concerning the issue of cigarette smoking.

 

A production about diabetes awareness.

 

A production about bowel cancer awareness.

 

A production raising awareness of heart disease and stroke 

All the productions are suitable for all age groups from secondary school onwards, and have been shown in a variety of settings, including schools, community centres, church halls, the workplace, hotels, arts centres etc. Because of the nature of the work and the fact that many audience members are non theatre-goers, Pyramid uses venues that are familiar to audience members and where they feel comfortable.

Pyramid Theatre Company is self-contained, with its own lighting rig and sound system, thus ensuring that, whatever the venue, the audience benefits from a totally professional and visually memorable theatrical experience.

Surveys have shown that, for every person who benefits directly from seeing a theatre-in-health-education production, at least eight others will benefit indirectly from hearing about it in great detail. This word of mouth recommendation ensures that the messages, contained within the production, are disseminated throughout the community and endorses the efficacy of theatre-in-health-education as a health promotion/education tool. 

Pyramid Theatre Company has enjoyed great success with Community Projects. The first of these, entitled Face to Faced, dealing with the drugs issue, won a Health Promotion Wales award for the best young peopleπs health promotion project of that year.

Community projects involve working intensively with a community group for three weeks to give participants a voice and the drama skills necessary to effectively use that voice. Over the three weeks, Pyramid personnel facilitate the production of a piece of theatre, which is showcased on the final night of the project.

The resultant production can be toured locally, and Pyramid can again help in this process, or it can be filmed, by the Company, as a permanent teaching aid.

Community projects have, in the past, had far reaching effects, not only for the participants, but also for the community as a whole. An example of this is the ≥Stand By Me≤ project in Co Donegal, which resulted in the participants working closely with the Mental Health Association and the Health Board to review and change the strategy on young peopleπs mental health issues throughout Ireland.

Issues covered in Community projects include; drugs, bullying, teenage pregnancy, peer pressure, homelessness, body image, suicide, homosexuality and intergenerational conflict.

Projects are not exclusive to young people and a very successful project in Galway involved and equal number of sixteen year olds and people aged over sixty-five. The closeness that developed between the participants during the project is still apparent over two years later. 

Pyramid also offers subject specific workshops, which can be run in conjunction with or independently of productions.  The Company also offers training for Service Providers who would like to use drama techniques/activities in their day-to-day work.

Every aspect of Pyramids work is recorded and evaluated. A comprehensive report is then sent to our booking partners. 

Pyramid Theatre Company believes in the importance of detailed reports, which enable booking partners to assess the efficacy of the work and to plan future strategies.

Pyramid Theatre Company has worked, regularly, with every Health Board in both Southern and Northern Ireland. The Company has also formed partnerships with every Health Board in Scotland and has worked with Health Promotion Units throughout England and Wales. The Company has also worked closely with other statutory and voluntary bodies including the Probation Service, the Prison Service, Local Councils, Breast Cancer Care, Mind, Age Action Ireland, Age Concern, The Irish Mental Health Association, Scottish Association for Mental Health, Irish Cancer Society, etc

Major funders have included: the European Commission, Department of Health, Welsh Office, Lloyds TSB Foundation, Home Office Drugs Prevention Initiatives, the Arts Council of Wales, Dyfed Probation Service, the Foundation for Sports and the Arts, Arts Council Lottery Fund.