Young Company

Bristol Old Vic Young Company is one of the largest regional youth theatres in the UK, home to over 300 young people aged 2-30 from across the South West who take part in an ongoing programme of weekly sessions, theatre masterclasses, community projects and full-scale performances.

Bristol Old Vic Young Company provides an environment of playful creativity; allowing young people to experiment with different techniques, genres and art forms guided by our team of professional artists and within the historic walls of the oldest continuously working theatre in the English-speaking world. 

Our weekly classes encourage and cultivate playful exploration, questioning, free creativity, building of skills and ensemble working. BOVYC is a place for young people to find their voice, and make work that reflects the world they live in.

Once a year all our classes are invited to create short theatre pieces in response to a common provocation. The Summer term of Young Company culminates in ‘Springboard’, a day of performance in the Weston Studio Theatre for family and friends.

Our ensemble theatre shows feature Young Company members Year 9 and above; learning skills that can contribute to a future career in the performing arts or simply build confidence and self-esteem.

Young Company has made theatre performances in collaboration with the National Youth Theatre, Extraordinary Bodies, Young SixSix and Travelling Light. They perform work led by a professional creative team and perform devised, adapted, and scripted work at Bristol Old Vic. 

Young Company continues to expand through satellite projects across Bristol, connecting with young people who find it difficult to participate in arts activity to provide a rich education through the arts and develop deeper engagement with local communities across the city.

We aim to maximise the opportunities for involvement by keeping our fees as low as possible and by offering financially assisted places to more young people than ever before.