We asked LGBTQIA+ young people in our community to create artworks that represented them, inspired by our heritage.
Queering The People’s Archive
Across April and May 2025, the King’s Theatre Heritage Project worked with a group of young people from LGBT Youth Scotland to create artwork inspired by the People’s Archive, combining their identities with our theatre’s history. The group, made up of 15 queer young people aged 14-25, met for art sessions every week for a month, ultimately creating a patchwork piece that will be displayed in the new King’s.
Alongside other materials, the young people were given copies of a wide variety of specially identified archival materials. There were key pieces of design and documentation from the King’s history, materials from shows with queer themes and famous faces from the LGBTQIA+ community. We also wanted to build on the theme of ‘Destruction and Reclamation’, in line with the redevelopment of the King’s, so the young people chose collage as their medium.
A digital version of the exhibition is at the bottom of this page.
Introductory sessions
The art sessions were very successful, with each young person contributing two or more collages to create a two-sided patchwork style art piece. While the young people worked, we facilitated discussions around the impact queer culture has had on the theatre industry, how we could best share queer stories, and how the young people thought the theatre fit into their community today. This made the artwork more meaningful, and helped the young people learn about how the history of the theatre impacted them in the present.
Our talented artists told us what their artwork means to them, and what they aimed to express:
This piece showcases the creativity of individuals and how it collaborates together to make something spectacular!Anonymous Participant
This project has made it clear that anyone, no matter their identity or sexuality, can take part in theatre. Performance can be an outlet for all!Anonymous Participant
The making process
This was an exciting chance for us to uncover and share the queer stories held within the archive and to allow this vital audience to make their mark on the heritage of the King’s Theatre. The young people were given total freedom in the sessions to express themselves however they wanted – both through creative mediums in groups and independently.
We even had a budding young drag queen, Lucky Lititzz, who was keen to have their moment in the spotlight. Alongside another member of the group, J, a brilliant photographer, Lucky came into the Festival and Studio Theatres and was given the chance for a full glamour photoshoot complete with dramatic theatre lighting and free reign of our spaces. The photos taken by J and Lucky were then used in the artwork.
The artwork created by these incredible young people will be the first piece of community artwork displayed at the King’s Theatre when it reopens in 2026. In the meantime, you can see the work for yourselves in a pop-up exhibition at the Festival Theatre, on the F2 level, until the 12th of December.
To accompany this pop-up, we have created a digital gallery of the young peoples’ art work, combined with some of their quotes about the project.
You might be interested in
Young people
Youth Advisory Board
25 and under tickets
