ABOUT
Best Youth Theatre (aka BYT) is a creative, re-inventive, challenging and well-established, dynamic young people’s theatre company.
We focus on creating exciting, professional quality productions and public performances whilst enhancing performance techniques. BYT is a place to find yourself and be with likeminded, supportive and creative young people.
Best Youth Theatre is for secondary school students who love drama, acting and creating shows. There are no auditions as we encourage everyone to follow their passion. The youth theatre is an opportunity to do drama outside of school and work with directors from the profession. The sessions can also support GCSE drama and A level students as the weekly sessions develop devising, physical theatre, and acting skills.Past and current members are part of The National Youth Theatre, and have gone on to a range of careers in the arts.
We have performed at The National Theatre twice, having recently been selected by National Theatre Connections for the second time in seven years, perform regularly at The Roman Theatre of Verulamium as part of the OVO Open Air theatre season and have previously won The Welwyn Garden Youth Theatre Festival 'Best Play' and the Adjudicators Award in the recognition of outstanding chorus work.
We also welcome those interested in backstage and production roles like sound, lighting and design.
TIMES
Wednesday Evenings
BYT 1 (Ages 11 - 15 school years 7-10) 5pm - 7pm
BYT 2 (Ages 15 - 18 school years 11-13) 7pm - 9pm
LOCATION
Sandringham School, The Ridgeway
St Albans, AL4 9NX
Best Youth Theatre
Ages 11 - 18
Creating and performing
AGE RANGE
Age 11 - 18 (secondary school age only)
Too young? Check out our Best School of Acting.
FEES
Termly fee of £220 split into four monthly instalments of £55. Childcare vouchers accepted, sibling and multi class booking discounts available.
BOOK
Book your place or two week trial here:
Best Youth Theatre
Self Expression
We pride ourselves on equality and giving every Youth Theatre performer a space to shine both in the sessions and the performances. Across the two groups, we watch our young creatives grow and develop as people as well as performers and the content of our sessions is built around the needs, interests and experiences of the group. We have developed an ensemble way of working and our success with our chorus work has been critically acclaimed. Students take part in all areas of the production from selecting the pieces, having a say in casting and being involved in technical and back stage roles and design. The Youth Theatre is made up of students from more than 10 different schools, highlighting that Best is a place to find yourself and find your tribe.
Best Youth Theatre
Productions
Every year, each of our youth theatre groups produce and perform a high quality, exciting and innovative performance piece. We like to vary our performance venues and get involved with festivals and events that help our students flourish in both their learning and creative experiences. Whether we are performing an epic piece on the Dorfman Stage to a sold-out audience at London’s National Theatre or an intimate, hard-hitting piece of new writing at The Maltings in St Albans, we consider our productions to be an opportunity for our group to share their ideas, talents, enthusiasm and creativity.
Best Youth Theatre
Skills
The group is directed by two highly experienced theatre practitioners, who bring different skill sets to the group from naturalism to physical theatre, farce to immersive; between them, our coaches have performed, directed and taught them all. Best Youth Theatre is a place to develop professional level performance skills and we don’t just focus on directing shows with at least one term being purely skills based. The weekly sessions are filled with drama games, theatre sports, acting training and show rehearsals. The personal and social skills the group develop last them a lifetime and many of them remain friends for many years.
Meet The Team
Best Youth Theatre
We hire skilled, committed and family orientated theatre professionals with a real passion for teaching. We value consistency and a progressive, structured approach. We know that it is Best’s responsibility to provide the framework in which the teachers can thrive – loving what they do and being able to pass that enjoyment in bucket loads on to the students.
REBECCA BRILEY
Rebecca Briley trained in Physical Theatre at East 15 Acting School, BA (hons), during which time she mastered a range of techniques including mask and mime, Theatre in Education, puppetry and movement but found a particular interest in storytelling and clowning.
Since graduating, Beckie has performed across a variety of platforms including Film and TV as well as devising her own work for stage, and has collaborated with many theatre companies as an assistant choreographer. She has also been lucky enough to work with multiple TIE companies in the UK and in Italy, where she began to fall in love with teaching and facilitating specialised workshops for all ages.
In 2013, Beckie became a member of ‘The Flying Seagull Project’, a UK based Children’s Charity whose aim is to spread joy and laughter to those who need it most across the globe through circus, clown and play. With several years of humanitarian clowning under her belt, she became a core team leader and facilitated activities for displaced children and families on the ground in Calais, Greece and Lebanon.
Best Youth Theatre Director
Best Youth Theatre Current Guest Director
ROSANNA MALLINSON
Rosanna trained at Trinity College Dublin and at École Internationale de Théâtre Jaques Lecoq in Paris in both traditional and physical theatre. She has directed for large and small spaces, from the Soho Theatre in London to the Gaiety Theatre Dublin, as well as outdoor and site specific locations such as Opera Holland Park and Wiltons Music Hall.
Her award winning, international physical theatre company, Akimbo, blends clown, movement and martial arts to create dynamic, high spectacle performances. Their new show ‘Lotte’ is in development with Nordland Visual Theatre in Norway and Jacksons Lane in London, and will be premiering late 2024.
She has created theatre for a range of audiences, including young children, teenagers, and adults. She is an avid write and reader of mysteries with sci-fi, horror or fantastical twists, as well as championing stories which bring underappreciated voices back into the conversations.
