So often youth theatre projects are designed around a performance outcome but with limited time and resource to realise ambitions. There is rarely time for artists to explore or take risks with our creative ideas. Our Next Generation Young Directors’ Programme started in June 2026, building on the success of the Next Generation project, and was designed in consultation with some of our graduates who were keen to step into the role of director.  

Funded by the Amazon Regional Creatives Fund and D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust, this pilot programme provides bursaries for three new youth theatre projects to design, explore, and scratch a new piece of work with a group of young people.  

Each director has taken part in training days, had the opportunity to see 12 youth theatre shows at Lyra’s Bright and Wild, at The Citz’ Assemble Festival, and at YTAS’ National Festival of Youth Theatre, as well as professional productions at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival. They each had the opportunity to run R&D workshops with young people at the National Festival of Youth Theatre at Eden Court this summer, and with the teen groups at Lyra in Edinburgh last month.  

They have now been set off on the development phase, where all three projects will create a scratch performance of new youth theatre work. Pairs of directors will be working with the Citz Youth Theatre, Perth Youth Theatre, and Firefly Arts to realise their projects and present them to invited audiences for feedback. But what do we have to look forward to? We caught up with the Young Directors mid-rehearsal to get the low-down on the shows they’re working hard to create. 

An Ode to Scotland 

Thursday 22 October | Directors Caitlin Todd and Lauren Shaw | with Perth Youth Theatre

What makes young people proud to be Scottish? What makes them feel ashamed? How can we expect young people to love their country when all they see are negative portrayals?

In this project we explore what we know about our country and the citizens that make it the place it is today.

Everybody’s Story Belongs Here 

Thursday 19 November | Directors Neve Adams and Ewan Little | with Citz Youth Theatre

Everybody’s Story Belongs Here brings together site-specific devising, ensemble scene work, and an introduction to verbatim technique to acknowledge and celebrate the impact theatre spaces have on young people and the communities that surround them.

Working at the Citizens Theatre, we began with the question “what stories live in this place, and who gets to tell them?”, asking the young people to act as story-collectors, collaborating on the final piece and bringing their lived experiences of what makes attending sessions there so special.

The show encourages participants to see their own communities and memories as creative landscapes, while also building confidence in interviewing, devising, and performing. We want the group to discover that theatre can emerge from the everyday – from the pavements, walls, and stories that hold their communities together.

Teddy Bear Tea Party

Friday 4 December | Director Liam Campbell | Assistant Director Miguel Ricardo | with Firefly Arts

You know Toy Story? The toys come alive when we are not looking. They have their own friendships, adventures, and lives. That’s nice, isn’t it? 

Teddy Bear Tea Party is not your fondly remembered toy story. 

We all must grow up eventually, and growing up sometimes means leaving things behind. But what if those things had other plans? 

It is what happens on the other side of the toy box, where childhood memories do not stay where you left them, and the things we do as children can follow us long after we have grown up. 

When a strange distortion in time pulls a group of young people into the past, they become trapped inside memories that are not their own. Through the eyes of the toys, they see childhood play as something far more terrifying than they remember. 

Teddy Bear Tea Party is a playful, surreal, and physical journey through childhood, memory, and the things we carry with us. What happens when the past refuses to stay in the past? Because sometimes, growing up does not mean leaving childhood behind. 

If you want to learn more about the Young Directors’ programme, the scratch performances, or want to connect with YTAS for the 2027 project, please get in touch with emma@ytas.org.uk.  

Each of these young directors is available for work, so feel free to check out their practitioner profiles on the YTAS website.