What happens when you hand the tools of creating musical theatre directly to a community to tell their own stories?
At Starling Arts, we call this Applied Musical Theatre (AMT). Sitting at the intersection of community music, applied theatre, and musical theatre, AMT hands the creative keys directly to participants. There’s no sitting back and singing someone else’s songs. AMT is all about writing your own story.
We pull back the curtain on how musicals are made, handing you the tools to author, explore, and transform your lived experiences through original song and storytelling. You don't need to be a seasoned songwriter or a trained performer to make something incredible. Our team guides the process, breaking down story and song mechanics into fun, bite-sized steps. By blending expert support with true co-creation, we unlock the musical storyteller in everyone, giving communities the space, safety, and skills to rewrite and share their own worlds.
Applied Musical Theatre
What makes Applied Musical Theatre unique?
AMT develops four core areas
It helps every voice to write the story, shape the lyrics, and build the music
Co-creation
Courage
It allows participants turn their stories into original musical theatre
Connection
It builds supportive communities where every every story matters
Craft
It unlocks the songwriter in everyone through supported creative tools
Our Manifesto: What AMT Means to Us
We use Applied Musical Theatre to reclaim traditional theatre experiences as equitable, accessible, and deeply human.
People Over Product: We value participation over polish. We celebrate unheard voices and prioritise the lived experiences of everyone in the room.
The Power of Song & Story: Music is a universal language. We use it to express things that words alone can’t reach, helping people connect, collaborate, and grow.
Working "With" Not "For": We don’t just perform for communities; we create with them. We share tools, listen, and learn together as equals.
Spaces of Belonging: Our rehearsals are spaces of safety, solidarity, and joy. We create a home for those who may have felt excluded from traditional theatre or other art forms.
Beyond Entertainment: We use the stage to challenge ideas, remember local histories, and build bridges between different cultures and generations.
Why support AMT?
For Partners and Funders, AMT offers a unique way to achieve social change. It turns participants into creators, fostering a sense of agency and pride that ripples out far beyond the workshop room.
For Communities: It provides a platform to explore personal and political themes, confront challenges, and celebrate local identity.
For Organisations: It offers a high-impact tool for building team cohesion, empathy, and creative thinking.
For the Arts Sector: It erodes the barriers between professional and community, making theatre more equitable for everyone.
Let’s Reimagine Together
Applied Musical Theatre is about imagining different worlds and better possibilities.
Whether you are a local council looking to capture a neighbourhood’s history, a funder seeking to improve community wellbeing, or an organisation wanting to amplify diverse voices, we want to work with you.
Ready to see the power of AMT in action? Email info@starlingarts.com to connect.
Frequently Asked Questions
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No. Our team work with participants to gain the skills needed to create and perform.
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Your comfort and wellbeing always come first. You will never be forced to share anything you don't want to. AMT workshops use creative exercises, fictional character building, and group discussion so you can contribute as much or as little of your own story as you feel comfortable with. You can also share ideas metaphorically or help build someone else’s idea without performing it yourself.
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Not at all. AMT is deeply collaborative, meaning most singing and storytelling happens as a group. Solo opportunities are always optional and created only if a participant specifically wants one. Our goal is to make singing feel joyful and pressure-free.
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You supply the ideas, words, and melodies, and our professional creative team handles the technical music theory. Through guided prompts, games, the use of music technology, and group conversations, we capture the group's spoken words and musical ideas, shaping them into fully realised songs with you.
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All our sessions you games and exercises to unlock creativity and help co-create AMT together. Sometimes we use technology to help unlock musical ideas. A mixture of ice breakers, objects, improvisation, discussion, and free writing help us to create ideas together and build on them to make something new.
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It depends on who we work with and what they want to do with the work they create. Sharing work publicly doesn’t always mean a performance. It could be a video or podcast, or another way of digitally sharing the work.
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Bringing an Applied Musical Theatre (AMT) project to your community starts with a simple conversation. Because AMT is built on true co-creation, we don’t offer rigid off-the-shelf packages. Instead, we work alongside your team to shape a project that fits your community’s unique stories, needs, and goals.
Get in touch today and we can work out the finer details together!
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Yes, absolutely. Tailoring the work to specific social themes, lived experiences, or local heritage is at the very core of AMT. Because AMT focuses on co-creation rather than performing existing material, every project is built from scratch around the topics, histories, or challenges most relevant to your group.
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Because every AMT project is tailored to the community we’re working with, timeframes and resource needs are flexible. We design projects to fit your budget, space, and organisational capacity. As such, a project might last a day or two and produce one song, or be carried out over a few months producing a longer piece of musical theatre.
Ready to find out more about AMT?
Email info@starlingarts.com to connect with us today.