Contacting the World 2012 is a pioneering international theatre exchange project for young people which will involve 5 cities round the globe. The festival provides an international platform and profile for theatre made by young people around the world and at its core it creates mutual understanding and respect between young people from different backgrounds while producing new performance work which reflects cultural and creative diversity.

Contacting the World 2012's companies are from Thailand, Nigeria, Trinidad and Tobago, and the UK.

Contacting the World 2010 brought 12 new companies together to explore, create and exchange, through a 6 month collaboration process and an explosive festival of performance, workshops, discussion and debate. Companies were from the UK, India, Indonesia, Iran, Denmark, Jamaica, The Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland and USA.

Contacting the World was delighted to be part of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations in 2008. Companies took part from the UK, Poland, USA, Palestine, Nepal, India, Turkey, Brazil, Germany and Zambia.

Contacting the World 2006 was developed with support from the Arts Council of England. Young people from Brazil, New Zealand, The Philippines, South Africa, Rwanda and India were twinned with companies from Manchester, Liverpool, Leicester, Stirling, County Durham and London.

Contacting the World 2004 was produced in partnership with the British Council as part of its Connecting Futures initiative. Theatre companies from Syria, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malaysia worked together with groups from Manchester, Oldham, London, Cumbernauld, Leeds and Bradford.

Contacting the World was launched as part of Cultureshock, the North West wide cultural programme for the XVII Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Young people from the Commonwealth countries of Trinidad, India, Malaysia, Nigeria and Sri Lanka collaborated with peers from the UK.