From first lines to final bows – empowering tomorrow’s brightest theatre makers.
Arcola Youth Theatre takes place here at Arcola Theatre and runs between September – December 2025 and January – March 2026 in line with the Hackney schools term calendar.
Our weekly sessions take place from 5.45pm – 7.15pm. We run three groups, tailored to specific age ranges:
- Tuesday – 9-11 year olds
- Wednesday – 14-16 year olds
- Thursday – 12-13 year olds
Each term consists of 12 sessions. The total cost of Autumn term 2025 is £120.
Full and part bursaries, as well as concessions are available. Please contact aoife@arcolatheatre.com for further details.
To express your young person’s interest in joining us, please fill out the form here.
What to expect?
Arcola Youth Theatre (AYT) aims to engage young individuals aged 9-16 from Hackney and surrounding areas in the multifaceted world of theatre. AYT focuses on building teamwork, enhancing performance skills, and fostering creativity through various aspects of theatre-making, including set design, lighting, sound, scriptwriting, and directing. Arcola Youth Theatre creates spaces for imagination and play and fostering a sense of self and group identity.
Led by London’s leading theatre and education based facilitators, our young theatre makers will develop their skills during the Autumn term 2025 and collaborate in the Spring 2025 term to create a performance, culminating in a sharing of their work in our in house theatre as part of Arcola’s Participation Festival 2026 to their friends and family.
What young people are saying:
“One day I want to be an actor or part of a theatre or film industry so it’s great to practice and maintain my acting. But also it’s a really nice community and a great way to make connections and friends over a shared interest.”
What parents are saying:
“So impressive what you do with the young people and how much they clearly get from participating.”
“The staging and puppetry were so impressive as well as the young people’s performances.”
“It has been a wonderful way to end what’s been a fantastic few years at Arcola. I remember a couple of years ago him saying that Arcola made his week! He’s going to continue with drama at A level and will continue to frequent Arcola as an audience member.”
“It’s been such a great opportunity for both my kids.”
“Thank you both again for giving X and his pals such a great experience. I’m sure you’ll be seeing them all for many years to come. I was telling my agent this morning what a joy it was over the last two nights to see the performance ‘bug’ biting, and for their journey to be curated by so many safe pairs of hands.”
