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49-875: The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain ( NYT ) is a youth theatre and charity in London , created with the aim of developing young people's artistic skills via theatrical productions and other creative endeavours. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth theatre, it has built a reputation for nurturing the early talent of actors such as Daniel Craig , Matthew Marsden , Daniel Day-Lewis , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Colin Firth , Derek Jacobi , Ben Kingsley , Ian McShane , Alfred Molina , Helen Mirren , Rosamund Pike , Kate Winslet and Daisy Edgar-Jones . Some former NYT members went on to pursue non-acting careers, such as musicians Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Ed Sheeran . The NYT holds annual acting auditions and technical theatre interviews around

98-718: A Play. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , outdoor performance was reintroduced to Soulton Hall when NYT members gave their first live in-person performance since pandemic lockdowns. The play was a specially-devised work called The Last Harvest . In 2021, the NYT returned to Soulton with a performance of Animal Farm . In 2021, the NYT launched the Inclusive Practice Collective, which created 60 paid roles and brought drama to young disabled people in 15 schools across London, Greater Manchester , and West Yorkshire as part of

147-584: A continuous increase in theatrical material for children. In the present day, TYA production companies or groups can be found in most regions of the US and around the world. Theatre performed by or for children dates back hundreds of years. The first mention is seen in a 1784 entry in Madame de Genlis ’s Memoirs, in which she describes a performance by her two daughters to the Duke of Chartres . TYA became its own branch of theatre in

196-477: A national basis. Croft died in 1986 and was succeeded by Edward Wilson as Director. Building on Croft's vision, Wilson took the company forward into new territory, increasing its range of activities and reinforcing its approach to technical production values. Wilson also recognised the opportunity to extend the organisation to more disadvantaged young people, and started the first Outreach department in 1989, working initially with young offenders and gradually widening

245-717: A production of To Kill a Mockingbird . In 2018, the NYT REP Company's production of Macbeth was the first in London's West End to cast the lead role with a female actor, in a gender-fluid production adapted by Moira Buffini and directed by Natasha Nixon at the Garrick Theatre. That same year, for his lead performance in The Reluctant Fundamentalist , Akshay Sharan won the Stage Debut Award for Best Actor in

294-480: A stir; at the time, it was unusual for young actors to be performing Shakespeare , and this innovative venture attracted the attention of a curious public. The first audiences included actors Richard Burton and Sir Ralph Richardson , with Richardson agreeing to become the first President of what Croft called The Youth Theatre. The organisation evolved rapidly throughout the United Kingdom, involving young people on

343-517: Is equivalent to two A Levels . In 2016, the National Youth Theatre celebrated its 60th anniversary. The celebrations culminated in a 60th Anniversary Gala performance, The Story of Our Youth , featuring alumni including Matt Smith , Gina McKee , Daisy Lewis , Jessica Hynes , and Hugh Bonneville . Barbara Broccoli succeeded Lord Waheed Alli and became the NYT's first female President in 2017. The National Youth Theatre's Royal Patron

392-471: Is heard of any church at Bermondsey until 1082, when, according to the "Annales Monasterii de Bermundeseia", a monastery was founded there by one Alwinus Child, with royal licence. Given the trend to the continuity of sacred sites, this church most likely was founded on the site of the earlier monastery. This foundation possibly was a direct successor to the church last mentioned in the early 8th century. Alwinus Child's new monastery, dedicated to St Saviour ,

441-574: Is presumably identical with the 'new and handsome church' which appears in the Domesday Book record for Bermondsey, in 1086. In effect, Domesday Book clarifies the "Annales"' mention of royal licence, since it records that the estate of Bermondsey was then held by King William the Conqueror , a small part being also in the hands of Robert, Count of Mortain , the king's half brother, and younger brother of Odo of Bayeux , then earl of Kent. Royal support for

490-464: Is the Duke of Edinburgh . 2017 marked 50 years since the staging of the National Youth Theatre's first ever commission, Zigger Zagger by Peter Terson , and to mark the occasion an anniversary production was staged at Wilton's Music Hall . NYT's first ever East End season was launched in Hackney Wick in 2017, which saw the NYT on "exuberantly good form". Autumn 2017 saw the fifth anniversary of

539-606: The Archbishop of Canterbury 's manor of Southwark, wealthy citizens and clerics had their houses, including the priors of Lewes and St Augustine's , Canterbury, and the abbot of Battle . Moreover, in 1353 King Edward III built a manor house close to the Thames in Bermondsey . At Christmas 1154, the newly crowned King Henry II and his Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine , held court at Bermondsey Priory. A few weeks later, on 28 February 1155,

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588-456: The United Kingdom , receiving an average of over 5,000 applicants. Currently, around 500 places are offered on summer acting and technical courses (costume, lighting and sound, scenery and prop making, and stage management), which offer participants NYT membership upon completion. Members are then eligible to audition for the company's productions, which are staged in London's West End , around

637-586: The 20th century, first appearing in Moscow, when Russian actress Natalia Satz founded the Moscow Theatre for Children in 1918. In its early stages, the Moscow Theatre for Children viewed its goal as representing childhood needs, separating the struggles of childhood from those of adult life. Similar TYA groups were established in England, the US, France, and Czechoslovakia between World War I and World War II. Education

686-452: The Abbey's remains. Within the structure of the late 17th-century Grade II-listed houses numbered 5, 6 and 7 is part of one side of the late medieval stone gatehouse. At number 7 is the chamfered south jamb of the gateway with two wrought-iron gate-hooks projecting from the wall and a ‘Gatehouse’ sign. The remains of the south-western tower of the abbey church can be seen below the glass floor of

735-527: The County of Surrey in 1719, said: "Mr Aubrey tells us, that he was assured by one Mr Hawkins, that this Abbey of Bermondsey was King John's Palace, and converted into an abbey; but upon what Authority this information was grounded I cannot find." This is a confusion with another royal residence which was much nearer the Thames, but within the manor of Bermondsey owned by the Abbey. 500 people have been found so far, but there could be up too 750 burials These are

784-600: The Del'Aziz restaurant and bar on Bermondsey Square. In 1904, during construction in Abbey Street, two stone coffins with human remains were found ten feet below the ground with six more burials, without coffins, above them and close by. Parts of the Abbey's foundations were also unearthed. In 1932, the consecration stone of the Abbey was discovered by a workman at a petrol station in Tower Bridge Road, where it had been placed in

833-520: The KickStart scheme. In November, the NYT performed at the United Nations 's climate conference COP26 , staging a "Climate Cabaret" and performing Adeola Yemitan's "I Don't Care". That same year, the NYT completed a major redevelopment of its north London creative production house on Holloway Road. As part of the redevelopment, a new workshop theatre was created. In 2022, the first production was staged in

882-679: The Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company , have been working to create and produce plays and musicals for young audiences that are more intelligent and diverse. Recent work has explored themes that include parental abuse (e.g. An Afternoon of the Elves by Janet Taylor Lisle ), divorce (e.g. Doors , by Suzan Zeder), death (e.g. Afflicted , by Laurie Brooks), and social barriers such as racism, xenophobia, and homophobia (e.g. The Transition of Doodle Pequeño , by Gabriel Jason Dean). Bermondsey Street Bermondsey Abbey

931-814: The NYT REP West End season at the Ambassadors Theatre , featuring performances Jekyll and Hyde , Othello , and Mrs Dalloway . 2018 saw the NYT REP Season move away from the Ambassadors Theatre, to the Soho Theatre , the Garrick Theatre and the Lyric Hammersmith , with performances of Consensual , Victoria's Knickers , and a female-led Macbeth abridged by Moira Buffini , as well as

980-489: The National Youth Theatre was founded in 1956 by Michael Croft and Kenneth Spring . As a member of the English Department, Croft had been responsible for producing a number of school plays at Alleyn's Boys' School . Following his departure, he was approached by a number of pupils from the school to continue working together on productions during school holidays. Their first production of Henry V created something of

1029-541: The REP Company course offers free, practical, industry-based talent development in drama and performance over nine months to 16 NYT members. The National Youth Theatre also currently runs Playing Up, an OCN Level 3 accredited 10 month drama training programme, offering young people aged 19 to 24 who are not in education, employment, or training the opportunity to gain an access to higher education diploma in Theatre Arts, which

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1078-568: The TYA movement started to gain traction, many different companies and playwrights chose to partake in this new branch of theatre. Some include early TYA playwright Constance Mackay, the Chicago company The Junior League, New York producer Clare Tree Major , The Children’s Theatre of Evanston, and many others. Today, TYA continues to thrive, with an increasing number of playwrights, performers, producers, and companies taking part in it. Most TYA productions in

1127-617: The US are plays, with a fast-growing number of musicals taking second place. However, most performing arts forms have been adapted and incorporated into Theatre for Young Audiences, including physical theatre, operas, puppetry, dance, street performance, and many others. Some companies specifically cater to non-traditional theatre forms, such as the MainStreet Theatre Company and the Center for Puppetry Arts, Atlanta. Several major companies performing Theatre for Young Audiences exist across

1176-479: The US, including but not limited to Imagination Stage , Minneapolis Children’s Theatre Company , Seattle Children’s Theatre , Lexington Children’s Theatre, Adventure State Chicago, and Boston Children’s Theatre, all producing work specifically for younger audiences throughout the year, offering performances both of new work and TYA classics. Most Theatre for Young Audiences plays are written by adult playwrights, although occasional projects are led and constructed by

1225-414: The buildings on the site were used as a hospital and for general relief. Sussex himself took treatment there in 1575 (aged 50). Neither the house nor the Abbey still stand. By 1822, The Morning Post reported that all that remained was "a solitary fragment or two of stone wall, in what is called King John's Court, together with a few old buildings". Houses on nearby Grange Walk also incorporate some of

1274-574: The community. In summer 2012, the National Youth Theatre created and performed the Welcome Ceremonies for the London Olympics and Paralympics teams, with 200 members welcoming 20,000 athletes to Athletes' Village with 200 performances. Following a pilot in 2012, the National Youth Theatre's first official REP Company was formed in April 2013. Inspired by the traditional repertory theatre model,

1323-462: The company suffered major issues with its finances and was bailed out with £680,000 from Arts Council England. Traditionally, the National Youth Theatre has done most of its work with members in the summer months, but this is changing more and more. Creative events and performances take place throughout the year, courses take place in school holidays and throughout term time, and the company continues to expand its work with young people from all areas of

1372-657: The country, and internationally. NYT members staged the Olympic and Paralympic Team Welcome Ceremonies at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. In 2013, the NYT raised their age limit to 25 and introduced a new summer course called Epic Stages to cater for performance and production talent between ages 18–25. In 2014, members staged the Village Ceremonies at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow . The world's first youth theatre,

1421-638: The first Tudor monarch, in 1486. Mathewe Baker , a courtier to Henry VII and his son Henry VIII, died at Bermondsey Abbey in May 1513 and was buried there "before the Image of St. Saviour in the Chancel" as his Will requests. Possibly because of the royal events at Bermondsey, a legend asserted that King John had built a palace there. The 17th-century antiquarian John Aubrey gave credence to this story. However, Richard Rawlinson , editing his Natural History and Antiquities of

1470-490: The first prior. The monks began the development of the marshes surrounding the abbey, cultivating the land and embanking the riverside into a Priory Close spanning 140 acres of meadow and digging dykes . They turned the adjacent tidal inlet at the mouth of the River Neckinger into the priory's dock, and named it St Saviour's Dock , after their abbey. This provided a safe landing for Church dignitaries and goods below

1519-413: The king. Henry granted the property and its lands to Sir Robert Southwell . He in turn sold the buildings to Sir Thomas Pope , founder of Trinity College, Oxford . Pope broke up the abbey, erecting on the property a house that incorporated several of the existing buildings, though others were pulled down. Pope then sold it back to Southwell who later sold it on to a London goldsmith. Pope himself died of

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1568-699: The legacy inherited from Croft and Wilson, and the organisation has continued to expand its opportunities to young people from a more diverse background through a wider range of theatrical projects and collaborations. Hoggarth stepped down in 2007 and Roseby continues as the organisation's Artistic Director. In 2010, the National Youth Theatre moved administrative offices from Holloway Road to the Woolyard on Bermondsey Street ; since 2016, it has been based on Bayham Street in Camden Town . In January 2012, Roseby became CEO while retaining his position as artistic director. In 2012

1617-404: The new foundation continued with King William Rufus ' gift of the royal estate at Bermondsey, in either 1089 or 1090, and through further grants made, for example, by King Henry I in the 1120s and 1130s. The counts of Mortain maybe also maintained an interest in the new monastery, since Count William of Mortain became a monk there in 1140. Alwinus Child's only recorded gift to the new monastery

1666-493: The new venue, with the double bill of Boy/Girl/Boy/Girl by Tife Kusoro and Mess by Urielle Klein-Mekongo. Awaiting input from the NYT. Theatre for Young Audiences Originating in the 20th century, TYA takes on many functions in different settings and places around the world. In the US, for instance, it is often entertainment-centered, although its roots lie in education. Many writers and production companies have started catering specifically to TYA audiences, causing

1715-577: The notable burials Bermondsey rapidly acquired a valuable estate, both temporal and spiritual. In 1103 and 1104 it acquired from Henry I his interest in Southwark to the west of Borough High Street (Stane Street) just to the south of the ancient borough, stretching over to Lambeth and to the south to Walworth. This became known as the King's Manor, Southwark , after its acquisition by the City of London in 1550. In 1122 it

1764-490: The opportunities to other socially excluded groups. Wilson also secured the organisation's current headquarters in north London , which now houses all of its production facilities, including rehearsal rooms, scenery and costume workshops, sound studios, photographic dark rooms, and administration offices. Wilson left the company in 2004. Sid Higgins (executive director), John Hoggarth (artistic director), and Paul Roseby (artistic director) took over. Since then, they have built on

1813-478: The path to independent status as an abbey, divorced from both La Charité and Cluny, which it achieved in 1390. Bermondsey itself, however, long remained little more than a high street ribbon (the modern Bermondsey Street), leading from the southern bank of the Thames, at Tooley Street, up to the abbey close. Nearby land was owned by the Knights Templar , and other ecclesiastical properties stood not far away. In

1862-451: The plague in 1558. The house was later in the hands of Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex (c. 1525–1583), a diplomat and leading courtier of Queen Elizabeth I , and he was using it as a residence by 1570, when she visited him there. At the period he was active as Lord President of the North , though in 1572 he became Lord Chamberlain . It seems that during Sussex's time at Bermondsey, some of

1911-537: The royal couple's second child, Prince Henry was born there. Elizabeth Woodville , the widow of Edward IV , registered as a boarder at the Abbey on 12 February 1487, after retiring from the court of Henry VII , receiving free hospitality as the widow of Edward IV. She died there on 8 June 1492. Her two sons, Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury , 4th Duke of York, had disappeared in the Tower of London in 1483, and her daughter, Elizabeth of York , had married Henry VII ,

1960-465: The traditional first land crossing, the congested stone arches of London Bridge . The church remained a Cluniac priory until the late 14th century. In 1380, Richard Dunton, the first English prior, paid a fine of 200 marks (£133 6s 8d) to have the Bermondsey monastery's establishment naturalised: this protected it from actions taken against alien properties in time of war, but it also set the priory on

2009-467: The younger audiences themselves. Different schools of thought within TYA argue whether or not younger characters should be portrayed by children or by adult actors. At the present, most TYA productions in children’s companies around the country count on casts of professional adult actors to portray all roles. For instance, the Arvada Center ’s 2016 production of an adaptation of the novel Junie B. Jones

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2058-521: Was 'various rents in the city of London', and these may be represented in Domesday Book by mention of 13 burgesses there paying 44 d annually to the estate at Bermondsey. The new monastery was established as an alien Cluniac priory through the arrival in 1089 of four monks from St Mary's of La Charité-sur-Loire , apparently at the invitation of Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury. These were Peter, Richard, Osbert, and Umbald, with Peter becoming

2107-419: Was a Surrey colony of the important Mercian monastery of Medeshamstede , later known as Peterborough . Though surviving only in a copy written at Peterborough in the 12th century, a letter of Pope Constantine (708–715) grants privileges to a monastery at Vermundesei . This monastery most likely continued, probably as a secular minster , at least until the 9th-century Viking invasions. Nothing more

2156-465: Was an English Benedictine monastery. Although generally regarded as having been founded in the 11th century, it had a precursor mentioned in the early 8th century. It was centred on what is now Bermondsey Square , the site of Bermondsey Market , Bermondsey , in the London Borough of Southwark , southeast London , England . A monastery is known to have existed at Bermondsey before 715 AD, when it

2205-455: Was another big influence in TYA within the US: children’s leagues were established in cities across the country, and material for younger audiences was both presented at these establishments and distributed to any interested groups. The Drama League was responsible for changing theatre for children from its originally purely educational intent into the broader Theatre for Young Audiences known today. Once

2254-555: Was given by Bishop Robert Bloet of Lincoln in 1093. In 1268, Bermondsey was granted a Monday market at Charlton, as well as an annual fair of three days, centred on Trinity Sunday, the eighth Sunday after Easter. Land in Dulwich and elsewhere was given by Henry I in 1127. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries under Henry VIII , the abbey was forcibly surrendered by the last abbot to

2303-756: Was given the church of St George the Martyr ; Long Lane led from the Abbey to the High Street by the church to connect the two estates. In 1291, temporalities (such as landed estates) were valued at almost £229, and spiritualities (such as advowsons ) at just over £50. The Valor Ecclesiasticus of 1535 put the abbey's clear annual value at a little over £474. The estate ranged widely, including properties in Surrey, Leicestershire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Kent. The manor of Charlton , then in Kent,

2352-640: Was produced with adult actors, including Melissa Morris, Katie Jackson, and Rachelle Wood, portraying characters who are around the age of 12. A number children’s companies in the US have designated programs, in which the children engage with workshops and experimental rehearsals in order to create a TYA production with child actors. Those are rarely, however, part of the companies’ main stage season. Many Theatre for Young Audiences productions still revolve around traditional child-friendly topics, such as fairy tales and magical quests. A number of theatre companies, such as Seattle Children’s Theatre , Imagination Stage , and

2401-469: Was the main purpose of TYA when it first arrived to the US. In 1903, Alice Minnie Herts founded The Children’s Educational Theatre, which was the first US company to produce theatrical work both with and for children. Although it did not last long, The Children’s Educational Theatre inspired both the birth of other companies around the country, as well as continuous growth in the writing and production of plays for younger audiences. The Drama League of America

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