Youth Theatre

What is the stage@leedsyoungcompany?

stage@leedscompany is a youth theatre for 9-17yr old based in stage@leeds, a public licensed theatre complex in the heart of the University of Leeds campus. stage@leeds artistic director Steve Ansell founded the young Company in 2018. Steve has over thirty-five years of experience as a director, teacher and theatre practitioner and has worked with young people across the UK, in north America and in China.

The Ethos of the stage@leedsyoungcompany is very simple as Steve explains:

‘We wanted to create an affordable youth theatre that offered participants all the benefits of working in a well-resourced professional theatre complex on a University Campus (professional theatre lighting and sound equipment, quality rehearsal rooms, multiple theatre spaces, access to emergent technologies, world class libraries, galleries, and research materials) with no barriers to that access. Everyone is welcome at our youth theatre. You don’t need any prior experience to join, all we ask is that you are enthusiastic’

Young Company workshops sessions take place on Saturday mornings (Currently 10.30am – 12.30pm. each term we focus on a particular theme, technique or project. These have included New Writing, Clowning, Improvisation, Site Specific Theatre, Virtual Reality and 360 filming, immersive theatre, working with script and character and creating radio plays. Each session starts with a physical and vocal warm up and ends with theatre games. At stage@leesdyoungcompany we try to create a support and inclusive environment that nurtures and champions individuality.

stage@leedsyoungcompany rehearse and perform in a state of the art theatre complex which allows us to work with full lighting, sound, video equipment alongside VR equipment, 360filming and other emergent technologies. We participate annually in the National Theatre connections festival and we also work with colleagues across the University departments If you would like to become a member of the stage@leedsyoungcompany or would just like more information about the group please contact: stage@leeds.ac.uk

TRY BEFORE YOU BUY - If you would like to join a session you can do so at no cost. If our youth theatre isn't for you then you have noting to pay.