Warwick youth theatre in major expansion

Since setting up its Shakespeare Young Company in 2008, the company, under the directorship of Steward McGill, has honed the acting talents of more than 250 young actors performing in new works each year.

With performances of Romeo and Juliet and The Merchant Of Venice in the pipeline for spring 2014, the Shakespeare Young Company will also be opening classes and productions in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire and at new venues in Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.

Stewart McGill said: “The Shakespeare Youth Company has been a remarkable evolution. At this time over 250 young people have had the opportunities to develop productions, create studio projects, tour to events and festivals and discover the many styles, genres and methods of playing Shakespeare.

“One of our happiest memories is taking Venus and Adonis last summer to Bristol Shakespeare Festival, performing in a tavern on Bristol Bridge with such close audience proximity. It really made us all think of inn yards and the Elizabethan players.”

The Shakespeare Young Company is an offshoot of Playbox Theatre and now entering into its own independent company.

Founded in 1986, Playbox, which is based at the Dream Factory in Tapping Way, Warwick, serves young artists and audiences across the Warwickshire and West Midlands regions, with training and performance studios supporting its main creative base.

Performances of the company’s winter show, The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, began this week and continue until January 5. For tickets, call 419555 or visit www.playboxtheatre.com