Performance that shifts perspectives.

Theatre isn't just something people watch. It's a tool for healing, learning, and transforming society, and we've spent fifteen years proving it.

Coming Autumn 2026…

Robbie is 17. His sister Cel is 20. They love each other fiercely, and the care system keeps pulling them apart.

Flock is a new production from PlayingON — a funny, devastating and ultimately hopeful play about siblings, survival, and what it means to belong somewhere. Set in Lewisham, it comes to the streets, stages and community spaces where we’ve worked for years.

This autumn: a theatre run, community performances, an audio walk through the streets of Lewisham, and a conference at Goldsmiths bringing together care-experienced young people, practitioners and policy makers.

There are 461 children without family homes in Lewisham right now. This one’s for them.

Find out more and register your interest

Our Impact

Close-up of a smiling man with dark complexion, wearing a black beanie, yellow shirt, and floral patterned collar.

Drilling Diamonds

Two actors perform on stage, with one inside a shopping trolley and the other steering the trolley. The scene is dramatic with theatrical lighting.

Our flagship youth project, working with young people across Tower Hamlets, Lewisham and Newham. Drilling Diamonds will begin work in Greenwich in Autumn.

Flock

Two people, a man with glasses and a woman with brown hair, are in a conversation, kneeling on stage, with other people sitting in the background in front of a black curtain.

Multi-award winning Lin Coghlan's Flock weaves together the lives of two resilient young people as they face extraordinary challenges.

Raising the Roof

Two men laughing and smiling at a conversation, seated indoors with bookshelves in the background.

A project with care experienced young people, developing stories with fictional characters inspired by real life.

Artistic Licence

Our theatre and film project for those with experienced of the criminal justice system. Currently in partnership with Lewisham Probation, and soon to start at HMP High Down.

Co-creating theatre that matters.

DONATE TODAY

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SUPPORT THEATRE THAT MATTERS

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DONATE TODAY 〰️ SUPPORT THEATRE THAT MATTERS 〰️

Everything we do, from drama sessions in probation settings to performances with care-experienced young people, runs on a project-by-project basis. There's no big safety net. Your donation goes directly into the work: a young person's place on Drilling Diamonds, a session of Artistic Licence, a community performance of Flock.

Theatre changes people. We've seen it happen, over and over, in classrooms, prisons, care settings and community spaces across London. If you believe that too, please consider supporting us.

Donate today

Our News

Featured

Creativity Driving Change: SAFE Taskforce-Funded Work in Newham

The SAFE Taskforce-funded Drilling Diamonds programme is already delivering measurable impact for young people across Newham. As Playing ON’s flagship youth project, the initiative brings together improvised performance, storytelling, and creative writing to help students explore challenging relationships while building community, positive connections, and wellbeing.

Raising the Roof: Run

Over ten weeks, care experienced young people came together online via Zoom to make theatre from the ground up, culminating in a powerful, playful, and honest piece of theatre that reflects the realities, resilience, and potential of young people in and on the edge of care.

Supernova: Spark to Stage

Playwright Alfie O’Sullivan Neill writes with urgency, empathy, and a deep connection to the young people whose stories are so often misunderstood. In this interview, he reflects on his journey from spoken word poetry to playwriting, his work with Playing ON in Newham secondary schools, and how those experiences, alongside his own time in the education system, shaped Supernova.