Thame Youth Theatre  was formed in 1989 by a small group of committed young people, who wanted to put on plays in the local community. Since the group formed in 1989, it has developed and expanded beyond all recognition. In the beginning, there was six separate performing groups- three for drama and three for dance who put on more than 80  productions in Thame as well as regular appearances at Towersey Festival and performances in Edinburgh, Ireland, Romania, New York, California, Croatia and Australia. TYT is a non-profit organisation. We have been running for 34 years putting on many productions of Dance and Drama for children ages 5-18. We aim for all our members to expand on their ability and confidence within the performing arts while also having fun and making friends. Thame Youth Theatre prides itself in offering affordable Dance and Drama classes as well as exciting opportunities outside of the youth theatre including Honeycomb Festival and Thame Music In The Park for our members to take part in.

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We are supported by our wonderful TYT Parents who kindly donate costumes for us to use in our shows. We are also lucky enough to be supported by Character Fancy Dress who supply some of our costumes for our shows! We have also previously been supported by Simon Drake Photography who has offered scholarship places to support the young talent in the community. We are very grateful for all the support we receive from our local area and are proud to be a non-profit organisation. 

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The Youth Theatre has, in addition, raised a considerable sum of money for Charites, back in the day they created their own original Musical on the stage of the Apollo Theatre in Oxford and raised money for the new children's accident and emergency department at the John Radcliffe hospital. 

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At any one time, there has been between 100-150 young people actively involved in the organisation receiving purposeful training as well as having lots of fun! TYT is run by a fantastic team of experienced teachers and our TYT Committee who are very important in overseeing the trajectory of Thame Youth Theatre and making sure we are providing a high standard of training to our young performers.

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Thame Youth Theatre is...

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ACTIVE

In over 30 years TYT has staged many productions including

17 world premieres

1 British premiere (Teahouse by Lao She)

2 full-length large-scale original musicals

Classics by Bond, Brecht, Buchner, Jarry, Durrenmatt, Shakespeare, Goldsmith, Harrison, Orwell

7 original adaptations of works by Dickens, Stevenson, Gogol, Hoban, Dahl etc

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INNOVATIVE 

Over half of TYT's work is new material

12 plays written by TYT members and staff

14 devised shows

3 experimental collaborations with professional theatre companies

Original design, costumes and set for all productions

Work with dance, projection, found instruments

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ADVENTUROUS

We have taken performances to

New York (Great Expectations)

Bucharest (The Tempest)

Edinburgh Fringe (3 original shows + 2 TYT spin-off company shows)

Apollo Theatre Oxford (Own musical for an audience of 1000)

Open-air festival (all age play with music for an arena of 2000)

Churches, gardens fields, market squares, streets, marquees and palaces as well as professional theatres

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ACCLAIMED

TYT performances have had excellent reviews by

The Times Educational Supplement

The National Theatre (Lloyds Bank Theatre Challenge)

Edinburgh Evening News

Oxford Mail, Oxford Times

Bucks Herald, Bucks Free Press

Wycombe Star, Thame Gazette

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COMMITTED

Over 100 young people meet several evenings a week and for all-day weekend and holiday rehearsals. Older, more experienced members are hired by TYT as directors and designers (under a training scheme funded by a local company)

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SUPPORTED

TYT has been awarded funding for projects & development by

Southern Arts (Arts Council of England)

South Oxfordshire District Council & Thame Town Council

Foundation for sport & the Arts & Youth Exchange Council

Imago Publishing

Friends of Towersey Festival

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