I am a leader in co-creation with young people, theatre-maker, trainer and consultant.
From 2008 - 24, I was the founding Artistic Director of Company Three, a multi-award winning youth theatre and Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation in North London. At Company Three I pioneered a new approach to co-creation and developed more than 40 plays that helped teenagers express themselves on everything from exam stress to the future of our planet.
My work at Company Three includes the “remarkable” (The Guardian), “game-changing” (The Stage) Brainstorm (Park Theatre/National Theatre/BBC), The Future and When This Is Over (Yard Theatre), Fifteen, Mostly Like Blue and Comfort (Rosemary Branch Theatre), The Centre and The Best Day Ever! (Pleasance Theatre) and Boat (Battersea Arts Centre). I supported the development of hundreds of participatory artists and commissioned work by leading playwrights including Inua Ellams, Alice Birch, Dawn King, Janice Okoh and Alexandra Wood.
I developed an exchange programme around the practice of co-creation, publishing blueprints (devising guides) to support more than 500 other groups around the world make their own version of our plays.
During the pandemic I created the Coronavirus Time Capsule, a video record of the pandemic involving more than 3,000 young people in 17 different countries around the world that featured on national and international media and informed reports by the United Nations and the Wellcome Trust.
Our work was recognised by the Spirit of London Awards and won the Peter Brook Empty Space Award for Innovation, the Stage Award for Community Project of the Year and Outstanding Drama Initiative award at the Music and Drama Education Awards. I was named in the Stage 100 most influential people in theatre from 2020-23, was an Artworks Fellow in association with the Barbican Theatre from 2013-15 and a Civic Futures Fellow from 2019-20.
Prior to founding Company Three, I created projects and plays for theatres including the Young Vic, Almeida Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Theatre for a Change (Ghana), and many others.
My work since leaving Company Three includes projects with London Museum, Crescent Arts Centre (Belfast), FOBISIA (Asia), Alphabetti (Newcastle), Stellar Quines (Kirkcaldy) and many others. I am currently working on developing a number of new artistic projects, and writing a book about co-creation with young people.
Bios
50 words
Ned Glasier is a leading voice in co-creation and work with young people. He was the founder and artistic director of Company Three, an award-winning theatre company working with teenagers from 2008-24. He works as an artist, consultant and trainer, supporting organisations to work in more purposeful and democratic ways with young people and communities.
100 words
Ned Glasier is a leading voice in co-creation and work with young people whose process is rooted in listening, collaboration and exchange. He was the founder and artistic director of Company Three, a multi-award-winning theatre company working with teenagers in North London. His work at Company Three included Brainstorm (National Theatre/BBC), When This Is Over (Yard Theatre) and The Coronavirus Time Capsule.
Having stepped down from his role at Company Three in 2024, Ned now works as an artist, consultant and trainer, supporting organisations to work in more purposeful and democratic ways with young people and communities.
200 words
Ned Glasier is a leading voice in co-creation and work with young people whose process is rooted in listening, collaboration and exchange. He was the founder and artistic director of Company Three, a multi-award-winning theatre company working with teenagers in North London, from 2008-24.
At Company Three his work included Brainstorm (National Theatre/BBC), When This Is Over (Yard Theatre) and numerous other plays and projects. In 2020, he created The Coronavirus Time Capsule, a video record of the pandemic involving more than 3,000 young people in 17 different countries.
Alongside play-making, Ned developed an extensive programme of exchange and dissemination around the practice of co-creation, including blueprints of C3 plays that have now been produced by more than 400 companies and training courses for more than 1,000 artists, youth workers and teachers. He has lectured at Goldsmiths, University of London, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and was the the ArtWorks Fellow at the Barbican Centre from 2013-15 and Civic Futures Fellow from 2019-20.
Having stepped down from his role at Company Three in 2024, Ned now works as an artist, consultant and trainer, supporting organisations to work in more purposeful and democratic ways with young people and communities.
