Final curtain for acclaimed Scottish youth theatre company Junction 25

Junction 25s Jess Thorpe (left) and Tashi Gore. Picture: TSPL

Junction 25, the award-winning company for young people, has announced it will close after almost 15 years of new and devised performance based at Tramway, Glasgow.

This is due to the increasingly challenging situation with arts funding in Scotland.

Junction 25 is produced by Glass Performance and is made up of youngsters aged 11-18.

Since its inception in 2005 the theatre company has made more than a dozen pieces of new work and toured to festivals and venues across Scotland and internationally.

In 2011 it presented I Hope My Heart Goes First at the Edinburgh Fringe as part of the Made in Scotland programme where it received a Herald Angel Award and was named number 27 in the List Magazine’s Hot 100 of Scottish Creative Talent.

In 2013 it presented Anoesis to sell-out audiences at the Fringe, where it was nominated for a Total Theatre Award for Innovation. Anoesis went on to be included as part of the Conexoes Festival in Brazil in 2015 through the British Council. In 2015 Junction 25 was awarded the prestigious CATS Whiskers award for  an outstanding achievement in pioneering and high- quality work by young  people.

This month a book about the work of the company and its unique approach to devising theatre, A Beginner’s Guide to Devising Theatre, written by co-artistic directors Jess Thorpe and Tashi Gore, will be published by Bloomsbury.

Ms Thorpe and Ms Gore said: “We first started Junction 25  in 2005 as newly qualified graduates and in almost 15 years we have achieved more than we could ever have hoped.

“Working with so many young artists has been a huge highlight and represents so much learning and joy for  us.

“We are so sad to be ending this chapter but excited to be bringing out the book.”