In partnership with our host venue Tron Theatre, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland (YTAS) presented the National Convention of Youth Drama 2026, affectionately known as #DramaCon2026, on Saturday 21 March 2026.

The sector-wide one day event where artists, young leaders, cultural leaders, and youth theatre stakeholders from across Scotland came together to talk about the future of youth theatre in Scotland. We looked at the next decade, and all of the workshops and discussions were designed to help the youth theatre sector to influence our collective strategic aims for the next ten years. It was a full day of learning, discussions, workshops, and networking, welcoming everyone who uses drama and theatre in their work with young people, from youth theatre leaders, theatre practitioners, and drama teachers, through to youth workers, community learning professionals, students, and emerging young leaders. 

We rebalanced the power structures in the sector, with freelancers and delivery staff holding the discussions, and key managers holding the role of ‘listener’ and feeding back their thoughts and learning at the end of the day. All of this while still having space for friendly networking and the YTAS classic, Shout Outs!

Event Summary

Delegates at #DramaCon2026 spent the day participating in workshops using creative tasks to unlock conversations. Though it was agreed that the conversations only revealed the tip of the iceberg, the Youth Theatre Arts Scotland team were taking notes and wanted to report back on some of the key themes. This summary is brilliantly supported by illustrations from Eddy Draws, whose live creative response was present throughout the day.  

Speckled through the day’s workshops were ‘Listeners’ (managers or organisational leaders) who were asked to document interesting side conversations and to allow space for less senior delegates to be heard.  

When designing the future of youth theatre in Scotland, all “participation needs to be active – at all levels, from leaders, managers, administrators, practitioners, and participants” (Listener)  

YTAS intends to support this continuous process of co-creation across the sector, and facilitate pathways so that everyone finds a place within our community. 

Themes

Strategy and Sector Cohesion  

“We’re all in the same boat. Let’s all get a bucket and prevent it from sinking.” (Delegate) 

Throughout the event there were continuous calls for stronger collective action and direction. Delegates were looking for clear active steps to take that could lead to system change.  

How will YTAS respond to this?  

• YTAS will continue to work with the sector to support the development of our collective ambitions and strategic roadmap which centres young people’s experiences.  
• This call will inform our programming of sector events in the year ahead, including our Knowledge Exchanges, Regional Hubs, and strategic forums 
• We will undertake an updated Sector Review to gather evidence to strengthen our collective advocacy. 
• We will continue to amplify the work of our sector through research, advocacy, and communications like our regular sector reviews and our newsletter.  
• We will continue to help our members to evidence their impact through one-to-one support with our Membership Support Coordinator, through our website resources, and through our training programmes.  

Respect   

“We are ‘proper theatre’!” (Delegate)  

Delegates want to feel part of a wider arts network and be seen as a vital piece in a healthy culture. We want youth theatre to be respected by the professional industries as ‘proper theatre’, and youth theatre practitioners to be respected as artists who know their craft. Youth theatre is a vocation with unique creative, holistic, and artistic skills.  

How will YTAS respond to this?  

We will programme further training for the artistic development of youth theatre practice. These programmes will develop the artists in the youth theatre sector as well as developing the audiences and partnerships with professional industries.  

We will develop and deliver the next iteration of Next Generation to provide training and pathways for emerging young leaders to shape and strengthen Scotland’s youth theatre sector 

We will spotlight innovative art through our channels and programming.  

We will continue to build relationships with the wider arts sectors and devise collaborations which highlight the skills of our sector.   

Care and Wellbeing  

“Constantly working long hours on shoestring budgets takes its toll. It shouldn’t be an expectation that we all just get on with it because that’s what people do when they’re passionate about making a difference to young people” (Listener)  

Delegates attending the event acknowledged that youth theatre is a powerful tool in supporting young people’s health and wellbeing, but that working conditions, expectations, and unstable pay is actively damaging the health of our workforce.  

How will YTAS respond to this?  

• YTAS will support members to implement the Fair Work principles in their organisations and provide one-to-one advice for staff support and wellbeing.  
• We will continue to develop our supports and resources for freelancers, including continued access to the counselling support available to our individual membership as part of our Employee Assistance Programme, as well as bursaries for our events.  
• We will hold space for our sector to come together to support each other through forums, mentoring, and training.  
• We will continue to look at who’s not in the room and identify supports to help marginalised artists to better access our support and networks.  

Collaboration and Connection  

“The passion for youth theatre never ends… let’s bottle it and put it to use!” (Delegate)

Many delegates commented on the power of working together and connecting with others who face the same challenges. There is power in sharing a space and sharing ideas across all ages and stages.  

How will YTAS respond to this?  

• We will continue to programme opportunities to collectively investigate common problems, like our Knowledge Exchange events and our Regional Hubs.  
• Our Membership Support Coordinator will match members with shared challenges and encourage networking outside of YTAS’ existing national events. These may be casual coffee chats or larger regional gatherings.  

Widening Our Reach  

Across the event many delegates commented on who was not in the room. We support a diversity of young people, and our workforce should reflect this.  

Delegates also noted that we would benefit from widening our ages categories. Early years and 25-30 groups have fewer opportunities and could help our sector to have a longer lasting impact.  

How will YTAS respond to this?  

• We will specifically invest in new projects and resources supporting marginalised artists and groups and investigate ways to remove barriers to participating in our own events and networks.  
• We will actively recruit new members from marginalised groups within our Next Generation programme to increase the diversity of the sector workforce. 
• We will convene training and Knowledge Exchanges for early years practitioners and support new resources for these targeted age groups.