Who Are We?

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Who Are We?

The Gwent Young People’s Theatre is based at The Drama Centre in Abergavenny where facilities include a Studio Theatre (The Melville Theatre), Rehearsal Rooms, Gymnasium, Sound Studio, Scenery Workshop and Wardrobe. As The Drama Centre is also the base for the professional theatre in education company, Gwent Theatre, members of the youth theatre have opportunities to observe the company at work and to see performances and participate in workshops by other small-scale professional theatre companies who also perform at The Melville Theatre. The building is fully accessible for people with disabilities.

The Gwent Young People’s Theatre is run by Gwent Theatre with funding from Monmouthshire County Council and the WEA South Wales. The youth theatre service provides opportunities for young people from 10 – 20 years to participate in a whole range of theatre activities under the direction of professional theatre practitioners operating an ‘open door’ policy in the belief that all young people should have the opportunity to participate irrespective of social, ethnic, educational background or ability. The youth theatre has developed a reputation for consistent high standards of production and provides access for thousands of young people to the performing arts. Collaboration with the WEA leads to senior pupils receiving accreditation for their work through the Open College Network. In the last year 42 students received certificates for acting and theatre skills achieved through preparation, rehearsals and performances of ‘Alice’s Adventures Under Ground’ by Christopher Hampton presented at the Borough Theatre, Abergavenny, Ted Hughes’s ‘Tales From Ovid’ presented at Abergavenny Castle as part of the Abergavenny Arts Festival and ‘What the Butler Saw’ and ‘The Erpingham Camp’ by Joe Orton. The awards are extremely useful to students when applying for Further and Higher Education places in colleges and universities. Membership of the youth theatre leads to development of skills, confidence, teamwork and social interaction. Many members have gone on to study the performing arts at Exeter University, Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, St. Mary’s College London, Dartington College of Arts, Cambridge University, Mountview Theatre School, Guildford College of Dance and Drama, John Moore College in Liverpool, Glasgow University and Bristol University, Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Rose Bruford College. The company produce at least six productions a year performing at the Melville Theatre, the Borough Theatre and open-air sites such as Monmouth and Abergavenny Castles and other venues in the Eastern Valleys. In 2000 the company took a production of ‘In Living Memory’ to The Millennium Dome.

Classes, rehearsals and workshops are held regularly at the Melville Theatre in Abergavenny with additional sessions during half terms and holidays and a two week residency in the Summer. Pupils are also encouraged to devise, develop and present their own entertainment and participate in fund raising activities. There is currently a waiting list for the Junior group whose productions have included ‘A Christmas Carol’, ‘Shakespeare Shorts’ and ‘Adrian Mole’. Productions by the Senior group have included Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’, ‘Henry V’ and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘The Caucasian Chalk Circle’, ‘The Golden Masque of Agamemnon’, ‘The Nativity’, ‘The Canterbury Tales’, ‘Arabian Nights’, ‘Alice’s Adventures Under Ground’, ‘What the Butler Saw’ and ‘The Elephant Man’. We are now offering a Stage Management Course encompassing technical skills such as Sound, Lighting and Video. Members of this course contribute not only to youth theatre productions but also to the many other events taking place at the Meville Theatre.

Plays are selected in close consultation with young people who are encouraged to read a number of texts, discuss their merits and, along with professional staff, make final selection for production. The young people work as a team which creates as near as possible the disciplines of a professional theatre company. Productions for 2005 include ‘Oliver Twist’ adapted by Neil Bartlett, ‘Hiawatha’ adapted by Michael Bogdanov, ‘The Red Right Hand’ (scenes from Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus), ‘The Play of Kes’ and ‘Lark Rise’ by Keith Dewhurst which will be presented at Abergavenny Castle in July 2005.

In 2006 the Gwent Young People’s Theatre celebrates its 50th anniversary and are currently planning an exciting programme of productions and activities throughout the year.