PACT Youth Theatre is 40 years old. PACT was set up as a loose co-operative of affiliated artists interested in film, performance and music. The acronym (that has now been consigned to the archives...) stood for Producers, Authors, Composers and Talent! In the 1970s the company refocussed its work around community practice with a special emphasis making theatre with young people. The company has been through many evolutions, always developing and interrogating the currency of ideas and pratice within youth arts.

Over the past 10 years, PACT has set precedents in Australian youth arts through its process language, style of management, artistic content and product. There has been an exciting evolution in PACT's work that includes an emphaiss on identity, cultural difference and live presence in contemporary culture.

PACT also participates in the youth arts field through pro-active programming and participation in debate. PACT has held the state editor's role for Lowdown over the past 6 years and regularly contributes to this circle. PACT's staff have participated on committees for the NSW Commission for Children and Young People, the NSW YPAA reference group, The National Youth Roundtable and have spoken around Australia on PACT's philosophy and practice.

PACT is a small 'opportunistic' theatre company that thrives on a culture of volunteerism, guerilla tactics and strategic alliance across all aspects of theatre-making. These chameleon strategies have kept PACT alive over four decades, responding to the dynamic social landscape of Sydney and to accentuated shifts in approaches to professional arts practice with young people.

PACT identifies with the on-going project of contemporary performance. This means our work marries artistic vision with social participation. PACT is influenced by the prior history of its artistic teams, some of whom hail directly from the national performance 'scenes' (Performance Space, Dance House, Pram Factory). These artists have given PACT's work a sense of identity.

PACT's program represents an engagement with forms that have been explored throughout the 20th century and have continued into the next. PACT's processes reflect a range of strategies, direct address, dance language/s and the 'plastic' arts of architecture, sculpture and most recently new media image-making. The areas PACT seeks to develop pertain to our local community of young people and striving for access and relevance for this community.