In March 2020 Half Moon celebrated its 30th birthday as a young people’s theatre. Our planned celebrations – including a festival of new Youth Theatre shows and a photography exhibition – were quickly postponed when COVD-19 forced the country into a national lockdown.
Any thoughts of parties and special events were quickly abandoned as we found ourselves devising ways of moving our Youth Theatre and other Creative Learning programmes online, while quickly developing ways of streaming some of our recent productions for young people for free. It was a challenging, difficult and uncertain time for us, but we knew how important it was to try and keep engaging with our local community – if families and young people could not come to Half Moon Theatre, then we would go to them.
One Youth Theatre parent told us:
“It’s been an extremely stressful few months and I cannot thank you enough for putting a smile on my daughters’ faces. I really love the way they engage with the games; they help me forget how grim the present situation is.”
As spring turned into summer and then transformed into autumn, we realised that we would be celebrating our 30th birthday a little later than expected.
Finally, after delays of over a year, we were able to present a trio of birthday celebrations, including performances by our youth theatres, video interviews and a virtual exhibition. We are proud that we were able to mark our 30th birthday appropriately with a virtual showcase of digital content that celebrates not only the history of Half Moon as a young people’s theatre, but also the resilience and creativity of our young people.
You can find out more about each individual project through the links below, or read on for more information about 1990|2020 as a whole.
1990 | 2020 was supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Watch the 1990 | 2020 Virtual Showcase of work, created by over 100 young people, celebrating 30 years as a young people’s theatre. The film premiered on Thursday 8 July 2021.
To watch the film with a replay of the live chat, CLICK HERE to launch a new window.
To access the replay of the live chat as it happened, click the “show chat replay” button in the top right hand corner of the YouTube page.
A short teaser trailer of our 1990 | 2020 Virtual Showcase, celebrating 30 years as a young people’s theatre.
The full film can be seen below.
A teaser countdown to our 1990 | 2020 Virtual Showcase, celebrating 30 years as a young people’s theatre.
Half Moon’s patron, Adeel Akhtar, wishes Half Moon a happy 30th birthday.
Half Moon CEO/Director Chris Elwell introduces the 1990|2020 Virtual Showcase.
“We absolutely loved the film!”
Youth Theatre Parent
“I think it’s absolutely amazing what you have done during this difficult time. I loved it! It was very educational and entertaining.”
Youth Theatre Parent
“What a beautiful showcase! Congratulations to the whole team – not an easy thing to create in such challenging circumstances. I’m mega impressed by Half Moon, as usual!”
Friends at Access All Areas
“So inventive and creative.”
Former Staff Member
“We cannot believe how amazing the showcase was last night. The whole thing from beginning to end was such a pleasure to watch. It was evident how hard the children had worked and how much must have gone into making the showcase the success it was.”
Youth Theatre Parent
Although most of the World War II bombsites had gone by 1990, there were still large numbers of derelict buildings in Tower Hamlets. There were also huge problems of over-crowding in the borough, at levels not seen since the 1930s.
Then the landscape of Tower Hamlets was changed forever when the 244m Canary Wharf skyscraper at One Canada Square, topped by a pyramid, became the first tower to rise out of the docks in 1990. It became a symbol of the regeneration of the London Docklands. It was Britain’s tallest building for two decades until it was overtaken by The Shard in 2010. At the other end of the borough, the Council, local businesses and third sector organisations began the transformation of Brick Lane into what became Banglatown.
Elections to Tower Hamlets London Borough Council were held on 3 May 1990. The whole council was up for election and there was a turnout of 42.9%. The Liberal Democrats won 30 seats, Labour 20 Seats, and the Conservatives 0 seats.
In the year that the borough (and the rest of the country) was gripped by a heat wave, The Ragged School Museum opened, The Friends of Tower Hamlets Cemetery was set up and Frank Sinatra played four nights at the London Arena in the Isle of Dogs as part of his 75th birthday tour!
Half Moon’s young people took part in a photography project to explore the changes in the landscape of Tower Hamlets over 30 years. The result is Snapped 1990 | 2020, an exhibition of photographs taken in 1990 alongside images taken at the same locations, 30 years later, in 2020.
During February 2020, a series of research sessions took place at Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives to identify photographs taken in 1990 by local residents and professional photographers that would reveal the area’s transformation. What had changed in the local area since the young people’s company was established in 1990 and what had stayed the same?
Discover more about Snapped 1990 | 2020.
In the summer of 2022, Snapped 1990 | 2020 went on permanent display in the Half Moon Garden and quickly became an important resource for the local community to share their own stories about the changing face of their borough.
1990 was an important milestone in the history of Half Moon Theatre. It was a year that saw the end of the original company, which entered voluntary administration, and the formal creation of the young people’s arm as Half Moon Young People’s Theatre, which established itself as an independent Limited Company and later gained charitable status. Half Moon’s current base, the former Limehouse Board of Works, was also identified as a new permanent home for the company, with the organisation eventually moving into the premises in June 1994.
In 1990 the newly established Half Moon produced:
1 Jan 1990 – 31 Dec 1991
A comprehensive participatory Drama-in-Education programme for ages 14+ which examined perceptions of HIV/AIDS through workshops. Find out more.
8 Feb – 23 Mar 1990
A participatory theatre experience that toured into schools. Suits was a play set somewhere in the near future, where money was everything and also the biggest problem. Teenage audiences were asked to think about the choices they have when making decisions about their futures. Find out more.
18 Apr – 21 Apr 1990
Drawing on carnival, pantomime and Hindi film styles as inspiration, After the Storm was a community and youth performance that dealt with the themes of immigration, separation and destruction of the environment in an East End epic. Find out more.
Aarekta Juta – The Second Shoe
1 May – 1 Jul 1990
This participatory theatre programme for upper primary students explored the transitioning experience from primary to secondary school, unpacking the major changes pupils would face as they start their secondary education and the impact this time has upon family and friends. The schools’ package was part of an anti-racist awareness programme and was one of a series of bilingual Theatre-in-Education plays presented by the company in English and Sylheti Bengali. Find out more.
1 Oct – 8 Dec 1990
Set in an inner-city urban neighbourhood, Rattlin’ the Cage toured to schools and youth centres. The show reflected problems facing young people as they struggled with what it means to be independent and how society is full of temptations and frustrations. Find out more.
Five filmed performances by five of our youth theatres about world events that happened in 1990: the birth of the internet; the fall of the Berlin Wall; the release of Nelson Mandela from prison after more than 27 years; the Poll Tax Riots and resignation of Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister; and the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer.
A captivating and poignant series of filmed interviews with people who work in Tower Hamlets, who also celebrated their 30th birthday in 2020.
Young people from three of our Youth Theatre groups spent two months working with filmmaker Justin Allder to capture the insights of seven people who work in different sectors in the borough who were born in 1990, the year Half Moon was established as a young people’s theatre.
We couldn’t have done it without you all.
1990 | 2020 was supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Have you got a memory you’d like to share? Or perhaps you have a programme or poster from one of our shows that we're currently missing? Then we want to hear from you! The website is a living archive and we will continue to add information as it comes to light.
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