Youth Theatre

York Theatre Royal Youth Theatre exists to provide opportunities for young people aged 5 – 19 yrs from our community to participate in weekly drama sessions with the aim of improving confidence, developing performance skills, working as part of a team and enabling participants to live creative lives. Our programme works across the week at the theatre and across community settings and we’d love for you to come join us.  

Winner of the Little Viking’s Best Drama Class for five years running (2018 – 2022), it’s no surprise that our Youth Theatre is hugely popular with York families.

Our Youth Theatre takes place in venues across our beautiful city, including:

• York St John University
• York College
• York Theatre Royal, Studio

You can select any of the following fee bands online when you making your booking:

• £105 full fee
• £68 for households with an income of £19,000 or less
• £32 for families in receipt of benefits
• £0.00 If finance is still a barrier there are free memberships available to those that need them. These are not available to book online, so email or phone for more information.

Sibling discount: If you have more than one child in Youth Theatre, there is a sibling discount of £5 off each young person, which can be applied to any of the 3 fee bands. Use discount code: YOUTHSIB5

If you have selected the lower priced bands we will ask to see some evidence of your situation after you have made your booking, to ensure the system is fair for everyone.

Places for Youth Theatre Autumn Term 2025 are now on sale for current Youth Theatre members. Public booking will open on 08 July at 1pm.

York Theatre Royal is dedicated to making sure that every young person can take part in our activities. We have a systems in place that will take into consideration financial barriers, social and emotional barriers and access needs.

Support we can offer includes:

In session mentors

In session mentors are available to provide additional support in sessions for those who need it. The mentors work with the practitioners to adjust resources and activities, keep in touch with parents or carers to let them know how they are doing and adapt to any changes in behaviour or needs.

Smaller, more supportive youth theatre session

Access All Areas is our referral only strand of Youth Theatre, we have 3 wonderful groups running this Autumn term. The groups are smaller and suitable for young people who for different reasons may not feel comfortable accessing mainstream Youth Theatre. In these sessions, the focus is on building self-esteem, confidence and aspirations. We provide a positive place to come to each week during term time to make new friends, leave school and home life at the door and have fun!

Support with transport

We have a limited budget available to cover the cost of transport, and organise taxis to and from sessions if needed.

Access to the required support will automatically apply to:

• Young carers
• Care experienced young people and looked after children
• Young people with a disability
• Young people with additional needs
• Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET)
• Young people who are refugees and asylum seekers
• Young people from marginalised communities; groups that experience discrimination and social, political or economic exclusion.

If you feel your young person meets the criteria above or would benefit from any of the support available for a different reason. Please complete the referral form here.

We ask that you only select support that you need, to ensure we are able to provide the support to as many young people as possible. We also ask that you let us know if your circumstances change and you no longer require the support.

If you have any questions or would like to talk through anything please get in touch with Maeve Brannen:

Email: youththeatre@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Phone: 01904 658162

We are really proud of our Access All Areas provision which supports young people who might face barriers accessing our activities. We support participants to thrive in a way that suits them and meet each young person where they are. Young people come to Access All Areas for lots of reasons, for example they might face economic barriers, experience anxiety or other circumstances that mean a more relaxed workshop space suit them best. Access All Areas began with our 12-16s group which takes place at the Studio theatre at York Theatre Royal. We have expanded Access All Areas through introducing an 8-11s group out in the community and look forward to beginning our new group Access All Areas Explore which supports young people with additional needs and learning disabilities. The Creative Engagement team at York Theatre Royal look forward to the joy of Access All Areas every week and can’t wait to meet more wonderful young people as the provision expands!

The groups are free and referral only. Check out our Access Policy above to complete a referral form, or to find out more get in touch with Maeve Brannen, maeve.brannen@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Email us: youththeatre@yorktheatreroyal.co.uk

Phone us: 01904 715447