The National Youth Theatre (NYT) has been awarded £2m from the Mayor of London’s Good Growth Fund to undergo a major renovation to its Holloway Road building in north London, UK.
The radical development will enable NYT to double the number of young people it engages in the building through its annual programme, which provides free and affordable drama opportunities that champion diversity, creativity and routes into the creative industries.
The upgrade by architects DSDHA will secure and develop the thriving production hub for young people where creative on-stage, off-stage and digital talent of the future will receive world-class training and development opportunities that offer free and affordable alternative routes into the creative industries.
The building will include a new front pavilion, providing a fully accessible entrance from Holloway Road that is welcoming to all and including a new rehearsal studio and reception.
A new 200-seat studio workshop theatre, three rehearsal spaces and a co-working space will also be created within the existing building, allowing NYT to double the number of young people coming into the building. There are future plans for a new Pocket Park by the south entrance, in partnership with London Borough of Islington, created to improve air quality in the immediate location on the Holloway Road.
“Redeveloping our north London home is game-changing for our charity and the young people we serve,” said Paul Roseby OBE, NYT’s CEO and artistic director. “It will enable us to double the number of young creatives we work with in the building and make us more sustainable to the benefit of future generations of talent who will come through our doors.
“Alongside our expanding national programme at over 100 venues around the UK in 2020 and our continuing cultural exchange work around the globe, today’s news will secure an inclusive and engaging offer to our local community for many years to come. This is an exciting new chapter in our history as we continue to grow new audiences by telling new and relevant stories of our time.
“Whilst 70% of our membership and work will continue to be outside of London, we can’t be a truly national organisation without an aspirational local presence in our home borough of Islington, where, as child poverty rates show, the need is great. We’re grateful to all of our supporters for making possible this vital work with those who need it the most.”
The theatre will stage performances by NYT members from around the UK, NYT’s flagship free talent development companies the NYT REP, Playing Up and Stepping Up, and other new work by NYT associate companies and emerging creatives. The NYT will continue to stage work in the West End and at theatres elsewhere in London and around the UK.
The new spaces will be made available to young people from Islington and nationwide to create new work together. School groups from around the UK will also be able to participate in regular skills workshops at the venue and see new NYT curriculum productions, which last year included Frankenstein, Great Expectations and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The new creative co-working space will provide opportunities for emerging playwrights, producers and theatre companies and embed NYT’s established Creative Leadership programme. The Creative Leadership programme provides free training and a structured route into paid leadership roles within the NYT and across the creative industries.
These new facilities will enable the expansion of NYT’s social inclusion programmes Playing Up and Stepping Up, continuing the organisation’s vital work with even more young people not in education, training or employment by providing opportunities to develop creative practice and gain accredited qualifications. Now in its 11th year, Playing Up has proved hugely successful with 85% of participants progressing into employment, further training or education opportunities. Applications for the 2020 Playing Up and Stepping Up cohorts are now open.
Building work will commence in May 2020, and the new site is scheduled to open in late Spring 2021.
