Values in Practice

For participants & facilitators
Welcome to the Young Vic
Our Values in Practice
Contents
Contents ................................................................................................ 1
Our values .............................................................................................. 2
Background ............................................................................................ 2
What we believe in ................................................................................. 2
How we work together ............................................................................ 3
How we live our values ........................................................................... 3
How our values show up ......................................................................... 4
Together, we will speak up ...................................................................... 7
Questions to reflect on as a facilitator .................................................. 7
Questions to reflect on as a participant ................................................ 8
Working definitions ............................................................................... 10
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For participants & facilitators
Our values
We believe theatre is at its best when everyone participates.
We are driven by relentless curiosity and debate.
We believe in pioneering and leading into the unknown.
We are led by the creativity of our people and the limitless possibility
of imagination.
We collaborate: working together to achieve shared goals.
We prioritise kindness, we lead with heart, with care, and with the
wellbeing of our staff, our participants and theatre makers and
audience.
We are committed to openness rooted in trust.
Background
We want the Young Vic to be a place of welcome, joy and safety for
everyone who works with us either as someone leading a project, a
participant/artist or member of staff.
We have created this code in response to our anti-racism work so that we
can clearly express our values and how they show up in what we do and
how we work with people. It is evolving as we learn and has been created
with the input from our staff and our participants.
What we believe in
We have a positive and open approach that seeks out opportunities and
new ways of thinking. At the heart of how we work together is to listen,
respect, and learn, to ask questions, to treat everyone with equity and not
to make assumptions.
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For participants & facilitators
How we work together
We are excited that you are leading or participating in a Creators Program
workshop, project, or production.
Our ongoing goal is zero tolerance for disrespectful behaviours, sexual
harassment, sexual misconduct and systemic racism and bullying. These
behaviours are contrary to who we are and what we aspire to be.
The theatre work that we create at the Young Vic can and should be
challenging, experimental, exploratory, and bold. Artistic freedom of
expression is essential. For these things to happen, though, the creative
space must be safe.
How we live our values
To create this supportive space, we have thought about the way in which
our values take shape and are realised. There are ways of working and
behaving that we can expect of each other and clear ways to challenge
each other when we don’t create a space that feels safe, welcoming and
creative.
What we will practically provide:
Space for everyone to express themselves.
Schedules and working processes that prioritise mental and physical
wellbeing.
Use of check-ins and check-outs as appropriate for the activity.
Invitation to express pronouns.
Clear procedure when you encounter an individual or a situation
where any of the Young Vic values are not in practice. The process
is clear, easy and risk-free.
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For participants & facilitators
As appropriate to the project, built-in reflection points so that
adjustments and changes can be made to create a fluid process.
An environment where participants, staff, artists can provide
feedback and know that it will be listened to, acted upon and
followed up.
We will regularly revisit our practices, ideas and actions. This
document will live and change as we learn and develop.
We actively make space and time for projects to change especially
when the change is related to people’s identity.
In turn, we ask you to:
Embrace and put into practice our values and approach.
Take joint responsibility for creating a space where discriminatory
language, hate speech, abuse, or harassment is not tolerated and is
called out.
How our values show up
We believe theatre is at its best when everyone participates
The Young Vic belongs to everyone.
We are welcoming.
We lead with generosity.
We believe in togetherness and the power of the community and cooperation.
We want to tell a range of stories that celebrate a variety of voices.
We are open to new ideas, approaches, and perspectives.
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For participants & facilitators
We create safe and open spaces where people can confidently and
safely express what they think, feel and need for a space to be
inclusive.
We treat everyone equally, with honesty and respect.
We support freedom of speech that is compassionate and
demonstrates understanding of different perspectives.
We practice active listening.
We are driven by relentless curiosity and debate
We move towards what we don’t know or understand.
We believe that stories help us to explore the world and to see it with
fresh eyes.
We understand more about the world by engaging with a wide
spectrum of views.
We are excited to learn from difference and to debate openly,
honestly and respectfully.
We believe in pioneering and leading into the unknown
We innovate how we make theatre and how we share it with an
audience.
We tell stories that surprise, challenge and reflect contemporary
society both local and global.
We are led by the creativity of our people and the limitless possibility
of imagination
We look at what is possible and celebrate ambition.
We push, we innovate, we challenge ourselves and make space for
the unexpected
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For participants & facilitators
We make the most of opportunities.
We collaborate; working together to achieve shared goals
We are stronger by engaging with and reflecting the great diversity
of society, past and present, onstage and off.
We embrace and learn from everyone’s experiences.
We believe there is strength in diversity of thought and experience –
when we listen to each other and engage in dialogue our collective
knowledge means that we innovate and make change.
We prioritise kindness, we lead with heart, with care, and with the
wellbeing of our staff, our participants and theatre makers and
audience
We celebrate successes.
We give honest, constructive and creative feedback so that we can
reflect on what we have done and always learn and evolve.
We accept feedback with an open heart without defensiveness.
We create patterns of working that centre life and work commitments
and ensure we can all do our best work and bring our full selves.
We value patience and give time to get to know people so that they
can express themselves fully.
We are committed to openness rooted in trust
We believe in reflecting our values in what we say, how we say it,
and in what we do.
We believe in being held to account when we’ve fallen short of our
commitments and apologising when we’ve not upheld our values.
We will share context for decisions and actions.
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For participants & facilitators
We know that mistakes will happen, and we will learn from them and
grow stronger as a result of them.
We support our staff to grow when things don’t go right.
Information shared with us is treated with utmost confidentiality. This
trust is central to collaboration and innovation.
Together, we will speak up
We will not always fully realise our ideals and values. There will be times
when resources, human error, or circumstances mean that we are not able
to uphold everything we aspire to. When this happens, we have
processes that ensure we are open, reflective, and receptive to challenge
and change.
You can find the Young Vic Accountability Flow Chart here. The chart
aims to empower people to speak up when they experience or witness
someone acting out of step with our values. No matter who you are or who
the person is who has caused harm, please call in, call on or call out the
behaviour so we collectively uphold our values and prioritise safety and
wellbeing above all else at the Young Vic.
Speaking up is crucial to our culture and is a living example of our values.
Speaking up when something doesn’t feel right demonstrates our integrity
and courage to do the right thing. Speaking up helps us to prevent
mistakes and foster innovation. It shows we care about each other and
helps us to deliver high quality outcomes.
Questions to reflect on as a facilitator
We can check in with ourselves as those leading a project by asking
ourselves some questions along the life-span of a project.
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For participants & facilitators
Have I created a mechanism that ensures people can speak and be
heard? Have I used open questions, and created moments for
people to contribute? Have I really listened today?
Have I created an environment in which the group has respected
each other’s chance to speak and be heard?
Have I positively used my power and influence?
Has the volume of my voice, or my physical presence prevented
someone from feeling free to express themselves?
Have I remained silent when I should have called out or called in
someone’s behaviours or actions that have caused harm, or called
on someone to advocate?
Has there been a chance for the group to contribute to the structure
of the session, such as more breaks, more time to explore ideas,
etc.?
Have I been open to learn new things, listen to new perspectives?
Questions to reflect on as a participant
We can check in with ourselves as those taking part in a project by asking
ourselves some questions along the life-span of a project.
Have I really listened today? Have I honoured the mechanism put in
place for people to be heard?
Have I given others in the group the chance to speak and be heard?
Have I positively used my power and influence?
Has the volume of my voice, or my physical presence prevented
someone from feeling free to express themselves?
Have I remained silent when I should have called out, called in
someone’s behaviours or actions that have caused harm, or called
on someone to advocate?
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For participants & facilitators
Would I like to ask for changes in how we are working together as a
group, for example more breaks, more time to explore ideas, etc.?
Have I been open to learn new things, listen to new perspectives?
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For participants & facilitators
Working definitions
Active listening
When we talk about ‘active listening’, we’re talking about really listening
not only to the words that someone is saying, but also what those words
are communicating. Active listening challenges ourselves to leave
preconceived judgements or stereotypes out of our listening, and to really
tune in to what the person speaking is sharing with us and approaching
that with a generosity of spirit.
Equality
Equality means giving everyone the same resources or opportunities – it
does not allow for differences in people's circumstances, lived
experiences, privileges or challenges.
Equity
Equity recognises that each person has different lived experiences,
challenges, and privileges. Equity allocates resources and opportunities
so that everyone can reach an equal outcome, but that may not be
through an equal distribution of resources or opportunities.
For example, if we gave everyone in the room the same set amount of
money for their travel expenses, that would be equality – there is an equal
division of resources. Equity acknowledges that for various reasons, some
people may need more travel expenses to be able to attend. Equity
recognises the socio-economic, political, and racial lived experience that
impact how or if people can access resources and opportunities.
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For participants & facilitators
Generosity of spirit
When we talk about a positive generous spirit, we mean welcoming
hearing other peoples’ ideas, welcoming other people sharing their
creativity, contributing our ideas and creativity, giving each other the
benefit of the doubt. A generous spirit encourages leaving judgement and
preconceptions at the door and being open to learning new things about
people that we don’t know, or learning new things about people we do
know. We want to create the right environment for people to surprise
themselves with the ideas, creativity and reflections they get to.
Lived experience
People will have a range of lived experiences, which could be about their
identity, their circumstances, or their experiences of different systems.
Sometimes in the creative process, people will share their lived
experiences. Sometimes peoples’ lived experiences will directly inform
their creative practice. People’s lived experiences will probably indirectly
inform their creative practices. We openly believe people. We commit to
not judging or questioning whether their lived experience is true, because
it’s not our place and because we haven’t lived their lives. We may have a
perception of how a particular lived experience may affect the way a
person behaves or carries themselves. We remind ourselves that’s a form
of judgement and we are basing that on something that we have not
experienced ourselves.
Pronouns
Pronouns stand in for a name such as she/her, he/him, they/them.
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For participants & facilitators
Protected characteristics
There are nine protected characteristics, and it’s against the law to
discriminate against someone because of their: age, disability, gender
reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity,
race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. This is written into the
Equality Act 2010.
Racism
Racism is prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism by an individual,
community, or institution against a person or people based on their racial
or ethnic group, typically one that is a minority or marginalized.
Racism can be direct or indirect, a one-off or a series of individual,
systemic, or organisational incidents. It can be conscious or unconscious.
Racism is harmful even if the person is unaware, they are discriminating.
Racism causes lasting harm, pain, and distress, for no one more so than
Black people and people from the Global Majority. Racism destroys the
fabric of our society. Experiencing racism has significant consequences on
mental and physical health.
Self-awareness
When we talk about self-awareness, we’re talking about being alert to how
we show up in a room or how we take up space. It’s normal and
encouraged to bring ideas, reflections, thoughts and your unique creativity
into the room and we don’t want to stifle that, but we do want to create a
space in which all voices are heard. Being aware of which voices you do
and don’t hear and being curious about why that may be is key. Whilst
you’re participating in the workshop, it’s the job of the artist or facilitator to
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For participants & facilitators
lead on this and notice how space is being shared, as individuals we have
a part in understanding what we bring into a space. If we feel very
confident about regularly sharing our ideas, may that be because we’re
used to being afforded the space to take personal and creative risk?
Last updated October 2023
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