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National Youth Theatre of Great Britain

The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain is a world-leading youth arts organisation. Established in 1956 as the world's first youth theatre, they have nurtured the talent of hundreds of thousands of young people over 60 years. They inspire, nurture and showcase exceptional performers and theatre technicians from Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commissioning brave and relevant new writing and reinterpreting classic stories for our time.

They are ambitious as the young people they serve, platforming young talent on West-End stages, in stadiums world-wide and at iconic sites both homes and abroad. Their world renown alumni include: Helen Mirren, Daniel Craig, Colin Firth, Rosamund Pike, Daniel Day-Lewis, Orlando Bloom..

National Youth Theatre gives young people the opportunity to learn as much about themselves and how to relate to others, as they do about acting and technical theatre. Whilst some of their members go on to become well-known faces of stage and screen, many others go on to be great lawyers, journalists, doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs, CEO's and much more.

Last year, NYT awarded £140,000 of bursaries to young people in need to ensure that financial barriers do not prevent young people from reaching their full potential. 

English Playwright Philip Ridley's The Beast of Blue Wonder at ArtsEd

Philipe Ridley is an English storyteller working in a wide range of artistic media. As a playwright, he has been cited as a pioneer of 'In-yer-face theatre' with his debut play The Pitchfork Disney, considered by many to be a seminal work in the development of the style, with one critic even dubbing it the 'key play' of the 1990's.

A great number of his plays for adults have been perceived as controversial, met with both condemnation and high acclaimed upon their initial reception. As a writer for the stage, he's also recognised for creating a ongoing series of plays for young people (The Storyteller Sequence) and has written theatrical work for children and family audiences.

In the world of cinema, Ridley is perhaps best known for his award winning screenplay for the 1990 film The Krays, a biopic about the Kray twins which was directed by Peter Medak. As a film maker in his own right he created a loose trilogy of horror films for which he has acquired a cult following. 

This month, his latest play, The Beast of Blue Wonder, commissioned by ArtsEd, will be directed by Russell Bolam and performed by this year's graduating BA acting students. The play presents three different stories from three different times, all hurtling towards the same thing. The thing everyone fears the most.. The Beast of Blue Wonder! To book your tickets https://artsed.co.uk/whats-on/the-beast-of-blue-yonder

Young Actors Theatre in North London

Young Actors Theatre is a community theatre in Islington, combining a drama school and a professional agency. They offer "drama for drama's sake" to the 3-24 years old with 650+ members, high quality low cost classes and performances. 

Young Actors Theatre believes that the arts can benefit everyone, and that money should not be a barrier to participation and training. The charity is supported by like-minded individuals and organisations to keep its classes at the cheapest level possible. Young Actors theatre gives children the opportunity to experience high quality affordable drama, singing and dance classes, workshops and productions that help build confidence and life skills, learn performance skills, encourage exploration and creativity, nurture talent and help develop careers in the performing arts.

Acting classes are the main activity at the Young Actors Theatre. The charity also offers a professional acting foundation course that enable students to develop an essential performance vocabulary through training in acting, movement and voice. The program offers an individual support for audition preparation and enjoys links with London Drama Schools such as Guidhall School of Music and Drama and Montview Academy. The foundation course gives the opportunity to work with respected professionals included ex-LAMDA teacher Yvonne Morley, Steve Brownie from RADA and Andrew Harries.

 

Music & Drama To Disappear From State Schools?

Children may soon have to go to acting school in London rather than expect drama lessons to be part of their curriculum if they go to state school, thanks to the government's drive to push the majority of students to study the English baccalaureate subjects.

According to the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), if pupils in England take a minimum of seven GCSEs in EBacc subjects by the year 2020, only 20 per cent of their time will be left for technology and creative courses.

Consequently, this will result in a drop in the number of students opting to take subjects like music and drama, both of which are especially vulnerable because the uptake of these is already below that of a lot of other courses.

ASCL interim general secretary Malcolm Trobe said: "It would be a tragedy if an unintended consequence of EBacc is that it becomes impossible for schools to run music and drama courses. The danger is that these subjects will then end up becoming the preserve of the elite, accessible only to those who can afford private tuition."

Bear in mind, however, that if your child is desperate to take drama lessons and they're not on offer at school, there is always another option - tuition outside the traditional scholastic environment. Here at City Acting, we run beginner courses that would be perfect for young people to try out, as well as voice and communication classes that have been tailored to suit those who have no previous experience in acting.