Berkshire


<p>Calling all budding actors! If your kids have been nagging you to explore their creative side on stage for some time now, listen in. <a href="https://www.watermill.org.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Watermill</a> in Bagnor (near Newbury) is an award-winning theatre that scooped the accolade for Theatre of the Year alongside The National Theatre in London just last January. Pretty impressive, huh?</p>



<p>But their show-stopping productions are only half the fun. For years now, The Watermill Theatre have been nurturing young talent through their <a href="https://www.watermill.org.uk/young_people" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Youth Theatre</a> programme &#8211; groups formed of talented young people aged 4 &#8211; 25 who take part in fun weekly sessions. It&#8217;s a chance for them to truly flourish, gain experience, and firmly place a foot in the industry door. No main character energy necessary either. If they don&#8217;t fancy stealing the limelight, there&#8217;s opportunities to take on behind-the-scenes roles in stage management, design, and even assistant director too. Muddy caught up with The Watermill&#8217;s Outreach Director, Heidi Bird, to find out more.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-ATTLG-163.jpg" alt="watermill theatre youth theatre near me" class="wp-image-74549" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-ATTLG-163.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-ATTLG-163-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-ATTLG-163-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-ATTLG-163-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-ATTLG-163-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-exactly-is-the-youth-theatre-programme">What exactly is the Youth Theatre Programme?</h3>



<p>So, we have two strands &#8211; the Youth Theatre Programme and our Youth Ensemble. The Youth Theatre Programme is open to young people aged four to 25 years, and the opportunities are really about young people being able to come to the theatre, learn life skills, learn performance skills and become fully rounded young people. It really builds a sense of belonging and community. </p>



<p>We also have a huge amount of access workshops as well, so supporting young people who have additional access needs. We always say to families, if they feel there&#8217;s not something quite right for them, always contact us and we can figure out how we can support their young person to come and take part.</p>



<p>Then, off the back of that, we then have our Youth Ensemble which is open to anyone who is in any of our groups for young people. The Youth Ensemble put on productions each year that are fully supported by a professional team of creatives and is then performed by the young people themselves. It&#8217;s a pretty amazing opportunity.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-often-do-you-meet-and-where">How often do you meet and where?</h3>



<p>Most of the young people will come once a week for the Youth Theatre Programme, then if they join the Youth Ensemble and do the production, they&#8217;re in two evenings a week. During rehearsals, they practically live here and parents are like, &#8220;just have a tent&#8221;. Most of the sessions are on site here at the Watermill Theatre itself in our studio space. But we also now have a newly opened hub in Thatcham and we&#8217;re particularly keen to support families who perhaps wouldn&#8217;t be able to access the Watermill for whatever reason which is really beneficial as well.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-anyone-get-involved">Can anyone get involved?</h3>



<p>Literally anyone can get involved! There are no auditions to take part in our regular Youth Theatre and we offer taster sessions where possible. We always tell families to reach out if they&#8217;re interested. We do have specialist groups for those with additional access needs and who may benefit from a slightly adjusted environment in order to participate. So, we have a group for those with neurodivergences, those with added complications in their lives, and we&#8217;re also working with Mary Hare school to do a group for deaf young people too. However, most of those groups are done through referrals so if you feel there might be an opportunity, please get in touch.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Magic-Myths.jpg" alt="watermill theatre youth theatre near me" class="wp-image-74551" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Magic-Myths.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Magic-Myths-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Magic-Myths-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Magic-Myths-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Magic-Myths-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-does-a-typical-session-look-like">What does a typical session look like?</h3>



<p>So, our groups are split into four age groups: 4 to 8, 8 to 12, 12 to 16, and 16 to 25, and throughout the week we run different sessions. It&#8217;s worth mentioning we have a new group for actor musicians aged 12 &#8211; 16 and 16 &#8211; 25 as actor musicianship was something spearheaded at The Watermill and something we do very, very well. It dawned on me young people have few opportunities to do that, so they meet once a week.</p>



<p>In terms of a typical session, it varies depending on the group. Most sessions will always start with a check-in with the young people to make sure their week&#8217;s been okay, followed by a warmup &#8211; whether it be physical or vocal. Then we would go on to drama exercises to help develop performance skills like communication, eye contact, physical characters or improvisation. We then do a set task to put that into practice. Each term we work on different skills, so it might be improvisation one term, then puppetry another. We very much listen to the young people themselves in terms of what they want to get out of the sessions to help shape what that looks like too.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-kind-of-skills-can-young-people-gain">What kind of skills can young people gain?</h3>



<p>A real variety, but in terms of the actual content, it&#8217;s very much drama exercises, drama skills, acting skills, improvisation and just all the essential skills they would need as a performer. But it&#8217;s also skills that are really useful in everyday life as well. One of the key ones is communication and being able to work with others within their community. They also learn huge amounts of skills in trust, self-awareness and self-belief.</p>



<p>One of the big things we do a lot of in our sessions is celebrating failure. I think especially for the young people we work with being in school, there&#8217;s that sense of black and white, you&#8217;re either right or wrong and constantly failing. We really celebrate failure in drama. When things go wrong, that&#8217;s okay. Then as a result, there comes resilience, that it&#8217;s okay to get things wrong and to be able to get yourself back up and give it another go. It&#8217;s also a place where they can challenge themselves to try new things, take risks, and put themselves in positions they may feel a bit uncomfortable, but end up succeeding from it.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-0161.jpg" alt="watermill theatre youth theatre berkshire" class="wp-image-74552" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-0161.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-0161-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-0161-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-0161-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-0161-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-why-is-it-so-great-to-get-involved-in-something-like-this-what-benefit-does-it-have">Why is it so great to get involved in something like this? What benefit does it have?</h3>



<p>I think one of the most important things for us is about creating well-rounded young people. A huge part of that is that they have a big support network around them. It&#8217;s a real sense of family and community and the young people often say to us they feel like they&#8217;ve found their second home which is reflective of how we try and create a very safe space for them to step away from the difficulties of life and just come and explore who they are as individuals. It&#8217;s also very non-judgemental which is essential. Another massive benefit is that we&#8217;ve recently implemented a no-phone space in our studio so there&#8217;s somewhere they can switch off from things like social media, be present and connect with other humans which is invaluable. </p>



<p>I guess the other really important thing is the exposure our young people get to professional theatre and the insights they gain in terms of the arts and the industry. It&#8217;s absolutely second to none. Our studio is right next to where our professional actors rehearse so they often see the actors and can go into the backstage areas and stuff like that. Just being immersed in a regional producing theatre of this scale is just incredible and massively inspiring for them. But even if they don&#8217;t want to go into the arts, there&#8217;s that sense of this is something I could reach for and achieve.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-kind-of-opportunities-can-doing-something-like-this-lead-to">What kind of opportunities can doing something like this lead to? </h3>



<p>Absolutely going on to work in the industry. It gives a really solid foundation for that. But that being said, I would say it also gives young people that confidence to apply for any sort of training, whether that be a traineeship or university. It just gives them a really strong foundation for the future.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Holiday-courses-option-498.jpg" alt="watermill theatre youth theatre berkshire" class="wp-image-74550" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Holiday-courses-option-498.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Holiday-courses-option-498-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Holiday-courses-option-498-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Holiday-courses-option-498-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-Holiday-courses-option-498-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-you-seen-young-people-break-into-the-industry-after-taking-part-in-the-programme">Have you seen young people break into the industry after taking part in the programme?</h3>



<p>We do have many of our young people who go on into the industry and then some who come back to us, which we always love. I recently found out one of my ex-Youth Theatre Members is in <em>Stranger Things</em> in London, so I&#8217;m really excited about that. We&#8217;ve had quite a large cohort go off to drama school last year from our 16 to 25 group too, and interestingly a few of them come back to work for us, or locally within other theatres.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-can-you-enrol-at-any-time">Can you enrol at any time?</h3>



<p>We suggest you start in the first couple of weeks of a programme, but if not, it&#8217;s not the end of the world and we can make it work.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-tell-me-more-about-your-upcoming-production">Tell me more about your upcoming production?</h3>



<p><em><a href="https://www.watermill.org.uk/emil" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Emil and the Detectives</a></em> is the show we&#8217;ve got coming in March (27 &#8211; 29) where we&#8217;ve got a cast of 30 actors who are all 12- to 16-year-olds. The play itself is an adaptation by Carl Miller of Erich Kästner&#8217;s story which follows a young boy called Emil who lives with his mum in rural Germany. When his mum sends him off on a train to Berlin for the first time in 1920s Germany, she gives him money which goes on to be stolen. Emil then takes it upon himself to track down the thief, so it&#8217;s this sort of wild chase on trams, taxis and going underground. It&#8217;s a really fun piece.</p>



<p>There&#8217;s going to be a lot of physical theatre, so we&#8217;ve got a movement director who&#8217;s going to be working with the young people. We&#8217;re really excited because at the moment we&#8217;ve got a programme called Elemental which is working with four early career artists and one of those is doing the design for the production and speaking to all the young people about it. </p>



<p>We&#8217;re also really big on accessible theatre so all the performances are going to be BSL integrated, and the young people are learning elements of sign language to present on stage. We also have two young people who will present the caption to performance and also write and present the audio described performances as well so that our deaf and visually impaired audience members can access it. We also do a relaxed version of it as well. We want our young people to know how to make accessible theatre from the outset to help carve the way for the future of the industry.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-21431.jpg" alt="watermill theatre youth theatre berkshire" class="wp-image-74553" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-21431.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-21431-800x533.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-21431-1000x667.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-21431-400x267.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/12/watermill-WDTW-16-7-22-21431-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-other-opportunities-are-there">What other opportunities are there?</h3>



<p>It&#8217;s worth mentioning our <a href="https://www.watermill.org.uk/careers_in_the_arts" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Careers in the Arts</a> project which isn&#8217;t link to the Youth Theatre but looks at all the backstage opportunities for young people who don&#8217;t want to necessarily be on stage, but still have a passion for the arts. We&#8217;ve done things like costume design, set design, stage management, writing, and directing. What we tend to do is a six-week block and then we change subject. It&#8217;s also a project that&#8217;s fully funded so participants don&#8217;t have to pay. Some of those young people will then go on to support the Youth Ensemble process.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-much-does-it-cost-to-get-involved">How much does it cost to get involved?</h3>



<p>Some of the projects are funded and some are not. Our weekly Youth Theatre which runs on a 12-week term at the moment is £102 for the term, but we operate what we call a &#8216;pay more, pay less scheme&#8217;. So, if you want to, you can just opt in and pay less at £92 or pay more at £112 pounds if some families feel they can pay that little bit extra. It&#8217;s also worth saying we offer bursaries. We would never want cost to be a barrier for a family, so we have funding in place to offer full bursaries for young people so everyone can enjoy it.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-anything-else">Anything else?</h3>



<p>I think the thing I&#8217;d really like to stress is just for people to reach out. If they want to ask any questions, our team are really excited to speak to them and see how we can support their young person to come and take part.</p>



<p><em>The first <a href="https://www.watermill.org.uk/watermill_youth_ensemble" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Youth Theatre</a> sessions of 2025 kick off on Jan 6. Find out more <a href="https://www.watermill.org.uk/watermill_youth_ensemble" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a> or email outreach@watermill.org.uk for further information.</em></p>


How your child can get involved in award-winning theatre locally

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