Young Company

Our weekly workshops are open to anyone aged 11 – 25 who lives, works or studies in Southwark.

Spaces are limited, so a waiting list is in operation. To apply, please complete the online application which can be found here.

Please note that we will not offer places to anyone who has had professional training or is represented by an agent.

In 2022:
The Andrew Lloyd Webber Foundation
Newcomen Collett Foundation
The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation
The Boris Karloff Foundation
North Southwark Environment Trust
Grantworks

When?
11-13 Young Company: Sat 10.30am – 12.00pm.
14-18 Young Company: Sat 12.30pm – 2.30pm.
19-25 Young Company: Wed 6.30pm – 9.00pm.

Young Company Productions

Southwark Playhouse Young Company offers local young people and emerging artists the opportunity to perform at one of London’s leading Off West End venues. Recent productions have included new writing, Shakespeare and devised pieces.

Previous productions include:
Remote by Stef Smith (as part of National Theatre Connections) (April 2022)

Make Lemonade devised by the Company (March 2022)

Nine Experiments to Change the World devised by the Company and written by Pepa Duarte and Sergio Maggiolo (April 2021).

United Kingdom? by Luke Barnes, Rose Lewenstein and the Company (December 2019).

Chaos by Laura Lomas (as part of National Theatre Connections) and The Clinic by James Rushbrooke (April 2019)

Theatre Uncut by Niellah Arboine, Sharon Clark, Vivienne Franzmann, Cordelia Lynn and Sabrina Mahfouz (July 2018)

Remote by Stef Smith and There Is A War by Tom Basden (April 2018)

Beast by Mariko Primarolo (July 2017)

Little Foot by Craig Higginson (April 2017)

Divided Britain by Luke Barnes, Rose Lewenstein, Marcelo dos Santos, Jessica Sian and Kalungi Ssebandeke (December 2016)

Timon of Athens by William Shakespeare (July 2016)

Teller by John Ward and Milkshake devised by the Company (April 2016)

Fugee by Abi Morgan and Wasted by Kate Tempest (April 2015)

Press Quotes about Previous Shows:

‘The cast feels like a tight-knit unit, which is half the battle in producing a piece this admirable…Fugee is a piece that’s well on its way to something remarkable.”
A Younger Theatre

‘the performances bewitch…’
Bargain Theatre Land

‘…like no other cast I had seen before. They were all animated and forceful with a mix of nationalities and backgrounds, yet the group felt like a community – very much like London itself.’
A Younger Theatre

‘the considerable energy and commitment of Southwark Playhouse’s fresh-faced Young Company…it’s hard not to be swept up with their lust for life.’
The Telegraph

‘Southwark Playhouse’s young company meshing together in fine ensemble work’
Financial Times

‘Be sure you see the next show this company puts on.’
YH World

‘Southwark Playhouse’s Young Company contribute vibrantly… Dizzying…’
Evening Standard

‘Truly an ensemble piece…the modern music echoed the urgency and vigour of the performers.’
A Younger Theatre

And from Twitter…

@EllenDoran50
Blown away by #DividedBritain 6 plays by @YoCoSwkPlay at @swkplay. Dark, funny, sharp & provocative. These young people might save us yet.

@ebuckridge
I highly recommend #YoCoMilkshake by @YoCoSwkPlay @swkplay on tonight. Really emotional, authentic & unusual piece of theatre. #Talented

@sophieLstone
@YoCoSwkPlay @DH_Ensemble what a brilliant group of open, enthusiastic and creative young people. Inspired too!

@loisjeary:
As always when the name ‘Kate Tempest’ is on the billing, was pretty blown away last night by @YoCoSwkPlay‘s #Wasted!

@karleastham:
Peer Gynt at Southwark Playhouse. Very impressed and loving bankers as Trolls

@colyerh:
The Arsonists. Southwark Playhouse. Short, sharp, absurd and deservedly sold out

@russ_buss88:
One of the best pieces of youth theatre I have ever seen. Funny oddly precedent, filled with cracking performances

Young Company Projects:

Southwark Playhouse Young Company regularly develop new bespoke projects to create performances and opportunities that connect with our local community.

We are always seeking opportunities to develop new work with other theatre companies and artists, arts organisations and charities. If you have an idea, or are interested in developing a project you think the Young Company could contribute to, please email david.workman@southwarkplayhouse.co.uk

Past Projects:

Collaborations with Tate Modern
In September 2017 we performed a series of staged readings of stories, plays, songs and poems about South London as part of the monthly ‘Tate Lates’ programme.

In December 2016, working with artist Lucy Harrison, we devised scenes responding to the spaces discovered in the new Switch House at Tate Modern, which were performed as part of a site-specific production.

The Starboard Festival
Our production of Tellerwas performed as part of the inaugural Starboard Festival at the Brighton Open Air Theatre in July 2016.

CineLive: What’s The Grey Matter With Gregory?
This was an immersive theatre production in conjunction with CineLive and the BFI. Across six weeks fourteen our members took part in workshops and rehearsals led by director Oliver Hymans, leading to a final performance at the London Nautical School in December 2015.

Elephants Never Forget
We delivered a programme of participatory arts workshops in local schools to develop a new piece of Theatre-In-Education exploring the history of the Elephant and Castle area through several of its’ famous former residents.

Bastille Day
We devised a new piece of street theatre for The Bankside Bastille Day Festival. In 2012 they used STOMP-style percussion skills to tell the story of the French Revolution set in a London Kitchen in Brigade de Cuisine: Recipe for a Revolution, and in 2013 You Say You Want a Revolution? involved a door, bubbles and a very angry cyclist.

Interactive Dickens Walks
As part of Every Human Creature, we partnered with Coutours to create invisible theatre performances at sites across Southwark inspired by the work of Charles Dickens as part of the bicentenary celebrations of Dickens In The Borough.