About Zest

Zest exists to make space for young people to be heard, using creativity to amplify their voices through arts and culture.

Founded in 2007, Zest is an artist-led theatre company working with and for young people aged under 25. We create productions, touring youth spaces, and public art installations commissioned by theatres, arts organisations, festivals, local authorities, schools, youth services, and cultural partners, and delivered primarily in public space, alongside selected digital work.

Our work places young people at the heart of the experience – as audiences, collaborators, and leaders. It has been described as “unpretentious” by The Stage and “essential” by The Guardian.

Making space for young people

Everything we do starts with listening.

We create brave, welcoming spaces where young people feel safe to speak, trusted to share their views, and supported to be themselves. That might happen through a theatre show, a workshop, a conversation, a piece of public art, or a youth space like The Zone.

This work is needed now more than ever. Young people consistently tell us they feel unheard, disconnected, and under pressure, while opportunities to access arts and culture continue to shrink. Zest exists to respond to that reality – creating space for connection, expression, and belonging at a time when it matters most.

Making space is about how it feels to take part. Trust, care, and safety sit at the heart of our practice, supporting young people from across the community to access culture in ways that feel relevant, welcoming, and high quality.

What we make (and how we make it)

Zest’s work includes:

• Youth-led theatre and live experiences, often made for and performed in public space, inviting participation, conversation, and shared ownership

• Youth spaces in public settings that remove barriers to access and offer free, welcoming places for young people to spend time, connect, and create on their own terms

• Public art projects that place young people’s words, ideas, and perspectives into everyday community life

Our practice is rooted in youth work principles and trauma-informed approaches. We prioritise trust, safety, choice, and consistency, creating environments where young people feel respected, supported, and able to take part at their own pace.

Public space is central to how we work. By bringing creativity into shared places, we support face-to-face connection, build community, and reach young people who may not otherwise engage with arts and culture.

Across everything we make, creativity is both the invitation and the response – a way for young people to access culture that feels relevant, welcoming, and high quality.

Youth leadership

Youth leadership runs through the whole of Zest.

Young people lead and shape our work as performers, facilitators, collaborators, researchers, and advisors, through a mix of paid and voluntary roles. Through our youth advisory consultants, Future Proof – who are paid for their time and expertise – young people also help guide governance, organisational strategy, and decision-making, ensuring Zest remains accountable, relevant, and grounded in lived experience.

This isn’t a single programme. It’s how the organisation works.

Rooted in Lincoln, working nationally

Zest Theatre is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and Associate Artists at Lincoln Arts Centre.

We are proudly based in Lincoln, where our identity and practice are deeply rooted, and we are committed to serving Greater Lincolnshire through long-term, place-based work. Alongside this, we work nationally with theatres, festivals, local authorities, schools, youth services, and cultural organisations across the UK.

Our ambition is to deepen our impact, expand our reach, and strengthen our role as a leading force for youth-led creativity – ensuring young people’s voices don’t just take part in culture, but help shape it.

On the Road

Zest's work has toured extensively across the UK, including the following venues and festivals:

ARC, Stockton
ArtsDepot, London
Arts by the Sea Festival, Bournemouth
Barnsley Civic
Bicester Festival
Big Dreamers Festival, Worcester
Big Imaginations Festival
bOing! Festival, Canterbury
bOing! Festival, Medway
Bradford Festival
Bridgehouse Theatre, Warwick
Burnley Arts Centre
Cast, Doncaster
Cambridgshire Libraries
CECA, Hartlepool
Cornerstone, Didcot
Create Theatre, Mansfield
Darlington Hippodrome
Derby Theatre
Dorchester Arts
Edge Hill University
Farnham Maltings
FebFest, Luton
Frequency Festival, Lincoln
Great Exhibition of the North
Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham
Gulbenkian, Canterbury
Half Moon Theatre, London
Harlow Playhouse
Hartlepool Town Hall Theatre
House Theatre
Juice Festival, NewcastleGateshead
Key Fest, Peterborough
Leeds In Motion Festival
Lincoln Drill Hall
Lincoln Arts Centre
Lost Village Festival
Lyric Hammersmith, London
Manchester Central Library
Mansfield District Council
Maria Theatre, Lowestoft
Middlesbrough Town Hall
National Centre for Craft and Design
Newcastle Theatre Royal
Northern Stage, Newcastle
Pegasus Theatre, Oxford
Pavillion Dance South West
Riverhead Theatre, Louth
Royal Norfolk Show
SO Festival, Skegness & Mablethopre
Southbank Centre
South Holland Centre
Sunderland Stages
Stamford Arts Centre
Stockton International Riverside Festival
Stratford Circus
St Helen's Libraries
TakeOff Festival
Terry O'Toole Theatre, Lincoln
The Albany, Deptford
The Baltic, Gateshead
The Egg, Bath
The Garage, Norwich
The Hat Factory, Luton
The Hive, Shrewsbury
The Marlowe, Canterbury
The Mill, Banbury
The Old Market, Brighton
The Point, Eastleigh
The Quarry Theatre, Bedford
The Woodville, Gravesend
Theatre Hullabaloo
Transported, Lincolnshire
TunedIn!, Redcar
Waterside Arts Centre, Sale
West End Centre, Aldershot
York Theatre Royal

WINNERS
Best Product Design
of the Year
We Are Creative Awards 2025

WINNERS
Best Production
for Young People 13+
Off West End Awards 2018