Join our Mentoring Collective
Ali Wright
National Youth Theatre is offering over 500 young Londoners creative mentoring opportunities.
Combining NYT’s award-winning and industry-recognised training programmes with new focused support strands, young people will build skills, confidence, and networks that lead to creative careers.
Funded by the Greater London Authority New Deal for Young People, you will receive group mentoring from the National Youth Theatre team, our Associate Artists, and other industry professionals.
- Dates for each group are listed below.
- Some sessions are online, and some are in person at our NYT building in North London; please check the details below.
- You can only take part in one mentoring group, but you may express interest in more than one.
Please read the descriptions below and then fill in the short application form and access rider (if applicable).
You must:
- Be aged 16-25 (or up to 30 if you are learning disabled)
- Have a London postcode
- Be able to attend all the sessions
Apply here
These opportunities are being filled on a rolling basis, so please apply as soon as possible for the collectives you are interested in. Collectives will close once they are full. We may be releasing more collectives soon. We will prioritise people who haven’t been part of a mentoring opportunity with NYT yet.
Please apply here https://form.jotform.com/243123737614353 for the below collectives
Current Open Collectives
Hannah Zoé Ankrah & Milly Roberts - Producing 101
Want to put on an event but not sure where to start? Across six Thursday evenings, Milly Roberts & Hannah Zoé Ankrah will guide you through the steps of producing—curating a lineup, setting a theme, marketing, and bringing it all together—culminating in a live event at NYT’s Workshop Theatre on April 10th. No experience needed, just enthusiasm, ideas, and a willingness to get stuck in.
Location:
In person at National Youth Theatre, 443-445 Holloway Road, London, N7 6LW
Time:
18:00 - 19:30 (6PM - 7.30PM)
Dates:
Thursday 6th March
Thursday 13th March
Thursday 20th March
Thursday 27th March
Thursday 3rd April
Thursday 10th April
Milly Roberts & Jess Kambitsis - Inclusive Accessible Events Collective
Are you an early-career creative or project manager passionate about making events more inclusive? This collective, led by Jess Kambitsis & Milly Roberts, focuses on how access and inclusion shape event planning, offering the skills and understanding needed to produce truly accessible experiences.
Whether you're new to inclusion, have a base understanding of access needs, or are a disabled or neurodivergent creative looking to expand your planning skills, this collective is for you. You’ll develop accessible materials for the National Youth Theatre's Assemble celebration day, empowering disabled young people to perform and take ownership of our North London theatre. Topics covered include creating easy-read documents, pre-show information packs, and access planning. There will also be an opportunity to attend the event and see your work in action.
Whether you're looking to enhance your career or produce your own events, this collective will provide the tools to ensure your work is inclusive, accessible, and impactful.
Location:
In person at National Youth Theatre, 443-445 Holloway Road, London, N7 6LW
Time:
18:00 - 19:30 (6PM - 7.30PM)
Dates:
Wednesday 5th March
Wednesday 12th March
Wednesday 19th March
Wednesday 26th March
Wednesday 2nd April
Event:
Thursday 3rd April 10am - 2pm
Trans Theatre Collective – Empowering Trans Youth Talent in Theatre
The Trans Theatre Collective is a new mentoring collective at the National Youth Theatre, built with and for trans and gender non-conforming creatives. This six-week programme is a space for young people aged 16-25 to explore, develop, and learn more about their craft under the guidance of trans and gender non-conforming industry professionals. Through mentorship, skill-sharing, and creative collaboration, we want to equip the next generation of trans and gender non-conforming artists with the tools to shape the future of theatre.
- Industry Insights – Gain knowledge, advice, and first-hand experiences from experienced trans and gender non-conforming creatives across performance, writing, directing, and production.
- Creative Exploration – A space to experiment, build confidence, and create work without compromise.
- Community & Connection – Be part of a supportive collective of trans and gender non-conforming young artists.
- Dates? 21th March – 25th April
- Where? National Youth Theatre
These collectives are now full
Roly Botha - How to do everything without falling over
This collective will centre on building a practice as a theatremaker across disciplines, using experiences and knowledge from all parts of one’s professional life to inform the work. Topics covered will include developing a strong and authentic creative identity, how to maximise your multiple skill-sets, and understanding when to delegate. An emphasis will be placed on wellbeing and maintaining artistic integrity.
Nadia Nadif - Make your own work - stage, screen and heritage (historical non theatre venues)
Thrive for 2025 (and beyond!) In tough times for our industry, explore the freedom, empowerment and joy of making your own work for stage, screen and heritage (site specific work in castles, palaces, and other historical places) settings. If you've always wanted to make your own work, but unsure where to start, this is the course for you. We will cover finding your creative voices, pitching, planning, budgeting, funding, your personal projects, working as a collective, building relationships and creating personalised plans for your work for the rest of the year. You will also make crucial connections with other makers on this course - the first two sessions will be in person to help foster this and the final four sessions will be online.
Run by actor and maker Nadia Nadif who is an associate with heritage company HistoryRiot, runs her own theatre and production company Untold Arts and co artistic director of Europe's first SWANA (South West Asian and North African) improvisational troupe The Bazaar.
Oliver Clayton - Acting for Screen/Self-tape Mastery Collective
Learn how to create powerful, captivating performances on camera.
Gain practical techniques for delivering authentic, screen-ready self-tapes that stand out.
Receive personalized feedback and get advice from industry professionals on how to elevate your craft.
Sophie Ellerby and Anna Spearpoint - Writing Collective
Aimed at writers looking for guidance in their career, how to establish themselves as a writer in the industry, whilst also working toward developing one idea for a new piece of writing for stage or screen, writing a treatment and a short sample of work to get feedback on.
Laurie Ogden - Poetry Collective: From Page to Stage
Whether you are an open mic pro or new to working with your own words, this poetry collective focuses on developing your unique voice. Through in person sessions, we will generate new writing and challenge the expectations of what poetry can be, looking at work from UK and international poets for inspiration. Topics include: beating the blank page, writing as activism, how to edit, and performance techniques. There will be opportunities to share your work, both on the page and the stage
Previous collectives:
Writing Collective with Sophie Ellerby
Neurodiversity Collective with Debris Stephenson
Content Creation with Marvel Kalu
Wellbeing Collective with Libby Deveraux
Inclusion Collective with Esther Myers
