Shottery Youth Theatre
About Us
The aim of Shottery Youth Theatre (SYT) is to bring young people, age 7-17 years, together and in the process use theatre performance to develop self-confidence, communication and teamwork skills.
SYT runs from September to Christmas each year to perform a hilarious pantomime at Shottery Memorial Hall, with four performances during the weekend before Christmas. The money received from the performances is donated to a local charity each year.
Led by Rachel Rose, who directs and writes the scripts, there is a dedicated team of DBS-checked parents who support with singing, choreography, admin, refreshments, scenery, props, costumes and makeup. Everyone provides their time and skills voluntarily.
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Where to find us
2024's
exciting production is
The Nutcracker
Performance dates below
At Shottery Memorial Hall
on Saturday 21st and
Sunday 22nd December
2pm and 6pm
Order Your 2024 Tickets Now!
Adults £8
Children (Primary School) £6
(Pre-schoolers are free ONLY if they don't require a seat)
Our 2024 Winning Poster!
The 2022 Performance of
Aladdin
raised funds for
The Dogs Trust, Evesham.
With your help, we raised £500
The 2021 Performance of
Fairytale Fiasco
raised over
£1000 for Springfield Mind
and
£500 for NHS Charities Together
Our History
Shottery Youth Theatre has been at the forefront of making a difference to local children’s lives since 1976. Shottery Youth Theatre is a life-affirming journey that builds on the richness and power of lifelong values. We have been providing young people the values and skills they need to become confident role models.
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25 October 2022
This evening we were informed that Corinne Richardson, a founder member of SYT in 1975, died in September. She has our admiration for what she helped to create almost 50 years ago and our thoughts are with her family and close friends.
Below are the notes from a conversation between Lucien and Corinne from 2015
The SYT Team
Every member of the twelve-strong SYT core team is a working parent who donates their time for free. In addition to the prep before rehearsals begin, they toil and they sweat the 15 Sunday afternoons before Christmas, juggling school commitments, the dreaded homework deadlines, clubs and multiple school activities, to get the show from page to stage.
SYT is lucky and grateful for the continued support of other parents who give up their time to set and deconstruct the stage, childminders, front of house duties, make up and more besides.
We thank you.
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Meet the Team
Rachel
Director
Rachel is a special education teaching assistant and has worked with children for 27 years. She first started helping SYT in 2008 and has since gone on to write and direct the shows. Her favourite part of SYT is watching the children develop and grow and become more than they thought they could be. The biggest highlight, to date,is having the cast perform a few numbers at our wedding, truly magical.
For me, SYT is one big happy, amazing family and I love being part of it.
Helen
Assistant Director
Over the years, all three of Helen's children have been part of SYT. It has brought them friendship and fun and now Helen wants a part of the action. She has run sound desk on show weekends and this year we are delighted she is a regular team member, helping on the directing side. 'To be a part of this team and see how the children come together, learn dramatic skills and encourage each other to create their show is joyous!'
Nic
Choreographer
Nic stopped juggling figures to concentrate on creating superb dance routines for SYT. The finance world's loss is our gain, as our amazing choreographer turns jelly monsters into Strictly contestants. What she likes best about SYT is "seeing the excitement on the kids faces when they are about to go on stage".
Katy
Administrator, props, scenery
Katy has worked with children of different ages for over 20 years and what she loves about SYT is the fun, energy and enthusiasm everyone has. Show weekend itself is amazing and the buzz everyone gets from seeing all their hard work come together is infectious.
Denise, Yvette and Florina
SYT's cutting edge costume designers
Not content with making costumes by day for the RSC, Yvette decided dressing 38 children at the weekend would be a good idea. What she likes most is helping the children get into character and turning them into well-dressed stars!
Florina, a project buyer in automotive, loves the contrast that is the challenge of finding the right costume for every role. She loved making her own clothes as a teen and she loves the creativity and lasting memories that is the result of brilliant teamwork at SYT. 'Finding the right costume and seeing the children transform before my eyes, I've achieved what I set out to do.'
Charlotte
Vocal coach.
Charlotte is a teacher and member of a local choir, so helping out our bunch of kids on a Sunday afternoon with their singing seemed a 'no-brainer'! 'I love seeing the kids grown in confidence with their singing and the joy they get from the whole experience on show weekend.'
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Sophie
Props and lighting
Sophie is a primary school teacher. She joined SYT after helping out for a few Sundays with refreshments. She now helps with prop making, refreshments and spotlights and loves every minute of it. 'Even though the show weekend is exhausting, it's a real honour to be part of it.'
Liz
SYT's head of finance
Liz works as a finance manager in the NHS and uses these skills to manage SYT finances, organising ticket sales, etc. Liz enjoys the team spirit of SYT and loves to see the chaos of the first few weeks of rehearsals morph into a great, fun and slick (ish) performance by the opening show.
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Nev
Stage and props designer
Nev is a joiner and cabinet maker, he started helping SYT back in 2009. Coming into his thirteenth year, one wife and a son later he's still here creating and ever trying to push the bar. He loves a challenge on a Sunday afternoon - seeing the props being used by the kids is the best buzz ever. Nev has also volunteered several times on BBC DIY SOS, and loves helping make other people's lives better.
What I like best about SYT is.......
Kids testimonials
...being able to connect with my SYT friends every year
Hannah
...the friendships that I gain from being at SYT
Maia
...the acting and the amount of fun we have
Sara
...I get to socialise on Sunday afternoons and then have a weekend of exciting performances
Louie
Contact Us
Interested in being part of future productions, or just finding out more about Shottery Youth Theatre? Please send an email and we will get back to you.
