Long before the lovely Fisher Theatre we know and enjoy today was finished, FYTG began, rehearsing and performing in the unfinished space. The idea was conceived in 1997 and began with workshops sponsored by Arts East, and carried out by Darren France, who is still leading the group. Darren and Dave Simington formally started the group in March 2000.

Now in its eleventh year, the group has 80 active members. Specialist tutors are hired to work with the young members in activities such as dancing, singing, stage fighting, filming and production and technical aspects of theatre. For the last few years Darren France and Laila Choat have led all Junior and Senior Productions for FYTG with occasional support from guest directors.

We run a Junior and Senior Production Group. Juniors from 7-12 and Seniors 13-18. Each group produces, at the most, 2 full-length plays, musicals or show cases of a variety of work a year.

Past productions of note are:
The Boy Who Fell into a Book
Selections from Shakespeare
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Selections from Musicals
Alice in Wonderland
Our Day Out
Top Girls
Just Another Bloomin’ Day
Bugsy Malone
Wizard of Oz
Ratz
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie
Twisted – The story of Oliver Twist
Romeo & Juliet
Annie
St Trinians
The Boy Who Fell into a Book - 2010
Lord of the Flies
And a number of devised pantomimes

Holiday and Film Workshops have and continue to be a part of our curriculum. Theatre challenges, competing with other local theatre youth groups, have been very popular and build team-working skills.

Currently we offer a varied programme of Drama Production Groups on Monday nights, preparing for LAMDA Examinations on Wednesday nights, and Junior & Senior Drama Club on Tuesdays.

Not only is being part of theatre activities fun, but through team work and peer support, it provides a good environment for increasing self-confidence, learning about communication skills, developing creative thinking skills and opening them up to a wealth of educational experiences.

We take a fee to be part of each of these groups which goes towards hiring of the rehearsal and performance space, buying licenses for productions, paying directors, buying and hiring costume, props, lighting and sound, hiring music and scripts and everything else that comes with putting on a production. We produce 2 yearly newsletters to inform members and parents of all activities, released in August and January. Each year we hold an Oscars-like event awarding members for their achievements in fixed categories for each production that year.

We usually just cover our costs after ticket sales. Any additional financial support, which we sometimes win in the form of Local Arts Funding is a great boost to the group and of course enhances the experience the children get.

We know the children love taking part in FYTG, there is always a waiting list and there are always people wanting to join up. The experience is fun and exciting. Many parents volunteer their time to help man rehearsals and some leap into the experience of stage and back stage-management at show time. There is also a strong Committee of past and present parents of members who meet monthly.

All additional support through fundraising activities arranged by committee and parents will assist us in buying more equipment for the group, such as a high spec video camera so the children can begin to learn about film-making, and enable us to bring in specialised tutors for one-off workshops etc, widening and deepening their experience of dramatic art.