Contact: Harry Lawrence hwyltheatre@gmail.com

Website: https://hwyltheatre.com/cyt/

Hwyl Theatre is proud to present a Canterbury wide theatre company for those aged 13-18 who will create a professional level production in one week, in collaboration with the Isaac Theatre Royal.

For the last few years, Harry has been working with high school aged students through Canvas Bag Drama’s Holiday Intensives at the Isaac Theatre Royal. While students loved the workshops, the consistent feedback they would get after these three day workshops included:

“We want more days”
“We want more costumes/props/production pieces”
“We want to do a big known show for the public”
“We want a professional show”

With this feedback in mind, Harry and the team developed a program that met all of these needs. They created a program that presented a professional show with high production value, rehearsed over a longer intensive period. Youth theatre that reflects the standards of professional theatre. So, on Monday 20th January 2025, the first company of the Canterbury Youth Theatre walked into the Isaac Theatre Royal to rehearse our inaugural production:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare

Those performers, aged between thirteen and eighteen, rehearsed all day at the Isaac Theatre Royal in the same way that they would in a professional production. They returned each day that week, which culminated in three performances on Friday 24th January 2025 & Saturday 25th January 2025 at the Altiora venue in the Arts Centre.

The cast of Canterbury Youth Theatre’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream walked away with confidence in their craft, new friendships and connections, and an increased understanding of what it takes to be a professional actor. This was the first story in our chapter and we invite you to be a part of our next production.