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Canberra Youth Theatre

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Canberra Youth Theatre

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The voice of youth expressed through intelligent and challenging theatre. Established in 1972.

04/11/2026

And that's a wrap on Writers Studio 2026! ✍️

This past week, we held our final Writers Studio session for the year!

Over the past eight months, emerging playwrights from across Australia have come together under the guidance of award-winning playwright Julian Larnach to develop their craft, share ideas and bring their own original plays to life.

Beyond the scripts themselves, these young artists have built a community of emerging playwrights who can learn from one another, offer feedback, champion each other's work and find creative collaborators beyond the program.

We're stoked to have played a part in connecting this incredible group of writers, and we can't wait to see where their stories go next.

For now, here are a few of our writers saying a cheeky goodbye (and definitely not goodbye forever!).

A huge thank you to Julian Larnach, our wonderful guest artists and all the writers who made this year's program so special.
• • •

Our Emerging Artists Programs are made possible thanks to the generous support of Liv Hewson.

Gorman Arts Centre CBR arts

03/11/2026

Calling all Set and Costume Designers!

We’re seeking an experienced Set & Costume Designer to join the creative teams for either of our two 2027 productions.

🚨 How To Destroy The Beep Test in Five Days by Sonia Dodd
💥 The Hit List by Sarah Matthews

The role will also involve mentoring a young emerging designer as an
assistant, providing opportunities for collaboration, practical experience, and professional development throughout the production process.

Designers should be able to work in the Canberra region. For artists based outside the ACT, we can offer travel and accommodation support at selected points throughout the design and production process.

🔗 Head to the link in our below.
https://canberrayouththeatre.com.au/about/workwithus/

29/10/2026

Ready! Set! Auditions!

Canberra Youth Theatre is thrilled to announce auditions for our 2027 world premiere of How To Destroy The Beep Test in Five Days by Sonia Dodd.

The winner of our 2024 Emerging Playwright commission, Dodd's new work is a fast-paced, anarchic, and deeply Australian comedy about friendship, finding your voice and standing up for what matters. It's about big ideas, ridiculous plans and proving there's a lot more to you than a score on a fitness test.

We're on the hunt for twelve young artists aged 11-14 to bring this wacky work of theatre to life at the Belco Arts Centre April 2027!

📆 Auditions are taking place Saturday 21 November 2026 at Gorman Arts Centre.
🔗 For more details and the sign up form, follow the link below.
https://canberrayouththeatre.com.au/production/how-to-destroy-the-beep-test-in-five-days/

Hurry – the Beep Test is about to begin!

We encourage artists from diverse backgrounds to audition, including for roles where a character’s ethnic or cultural background, gender, or disability need not be specified.

• • •
HOW TO DESTROY THE BEEP TEST IN FIVE DAYS
by SONIA DODD
Ages 11-14
Auditions: 21 November 2026
Production: 14 – 22 April 2027

The Emerging Playwright Commission is generously supported by Holding Redlich.

Belconnen Arts Centre CBR arts Gorman Arts Centre

28/10/2026

We’re still BUZZING from our work-in-progress reading of 'Meet You At The Barricade' at the Canberra Writers Festival!

Written by our 2025 Emerging Playwright Commission winner Sarah Carroll, 'Meet You At The Barricade' is a passionately quirky, cross-country fangirl road trip exploring stan culture and the messy magic of finding your people.

After twelve months of development, it was so exciting to share this brand-new Australian work with an audience for the first time.

A HUGE thank you to our wonderful cast, everyone who joined us for the reading, and Canberra Writers Festival for having us!

Here's a little recap of the laughs that were shared! 💜

Our Emerging Playwright Commission is generously supported by Holding Redlich.

• • •
EMERGING PLAYWRIGHT COMMISSION
Ages 16–35

CBR arts Gorman Arts Centre

23/10/2026

CANBERRA TEENAGERS, THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE 🚨

'Nightwalks with Teenagers' is coming to Canberra, and we're looking for young people aged 14–17 to take the lead. Show us your favourite places, your secret spots, and the parts of Canberra that adults just don't get.

We're not exaggerating when we say this is a ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY. You'll be joining hundreds of teenagers across more than 30 countries who've taken part in this incredible project, and making the two twenty-something communications staff writing this VERY jealous.

This is our final call for sign-ups. Don't miss out!

🔗 Get involved via the link below.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScIgky-mRlZeXsls4k1XdfL-h5ZgJJNO58zm9CmZWJs9UB66A/viewform

• • •
NIGHTWALKS WITH TEENAGERS�by Mammalian Diving Reflex �
12–14 November�
Canberra Civic�
Craft + Design Canberra

CBR arts Gorman Arts Centre

22/10/2026

50 years of Canberra Youth Theatre means 50 years of new stories, half a century of young voices on stage, and decades of stories and memories for us to share.

And although we'd love to share all 50 years in one go, no social media account would let us post so many photos. Soooooooo ... instead, have a brief skip, hop, and jog down memory lane for this .

We love Canberra, love our alumni, and love every cheeky picture we've snapped along the way.

For 50 more years of new stories (and two extra special ones in 2027) head to the link in our bio to donate.

Can't donate? Advocate! Share, reflect, and tell us your favourite Canberra Youth Theatre memory.

Creative Australia

22/10/2026

We're back ... and we have so many more stories to tell! This can you help us keep it this way?

is about investing in Australia's creative life and future — something we all depend on to define us, reflect us, and help us move forward. Young people are at the core of this promise.

We know you've heard a lot about the value of youth arts today, and we're so proud that our sector can agree that the future of the arts is YOUTH. Australia deserves a vibrant community of arts makers, and arts lovers. For young people in Canberra, that journey starts at Canberra Youth Theatre. ❤

We've been doing this for 50 years, and we've been doing it pretty darn well. If you plan on donating today, we invite you to join our legacy as we restart and reinvigorate our production of new works, and continue to champion young people as the clever, intelligent, and deeply empathetic artists they are.

We're in this together x

DONATE via the link below!
https://www.givenow.com.au/create-new-work-cyt

Creative Australia

21/10/2026

Don't dog the boys. Don't tell the girls. 📝 📣💀

THE HIT LIST
By Sarah Matthews

Wait... hang on ... is that TWO new shows in 2027?

Sharp, provocative and darkly funny, The Hit List won the 2024 Emerging Playwright Commission, and is an unflinching portrait of friendship, loyalty and gender politics inside the pressure cooker of teenage life. It comes to the Canberra Theatre Centre, August 2027.

This exciting return to the stage is due to the generous support of Creative Australia
and the The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation. But the work is not over yet. This AusArt day, 22nd of October, we’re fundraising to make sure that Canberra Youth Theatre stays back. Your donation can help make ambition happen, keep young people in the rehearsal room and onstage, and ensure that 2027 is the beginning of something big.

After all, the future of arts begins with YOUth.

🔗 Donate through the link below, and stay tuned for all things auditions and tickets.
https://www.givenow.com.au/create-new-work-cyt

• • •
THE HIT LIST
by SARAH MATTHEWS
August, 2027
Canberra Theatre Centre

The Emerging Playwright Commission is generously supported by Holding Redlich.

CBR arts Gorman Arts Centre

21/10/2026

Secret Year 6 Business Loading… 🚨🚨🚨

HOW TO DESTROY THE BEEP TEST IN FIVE DAYS
By Sonia Dodd

Did you miss us?

After a period where funding meant we couldn’t produce — guess what? In 2027 we’re making shows again, with two brand new plays taking the stage. We’re back, baby!

We’re bringing this anarchic celebration of all things pre-teen activism, and winner of the 2023 Emerging Playwright Commission, to Belco Arts, April 2027.

This exciting return to the stage is due to the generous support of Creative Australia and the The Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation. But the work is not over yet. This AusArt day, 22nd of October, we’re fundraising to make sure that Canberra Youth Theatre stays back. Your donation can help make ambition happen, keep young people in the rehearsal room and onstage, and ensure that 2027 is the beginning of something big.

After all, the future of arts begins with YOUth.

🔗 Donate through the link below, and stay tuned for all things auditions and tickets.
www.givenow.com.au/create-new-work-cyt

• • •
HOW TO DESTROY THE BEEP TEST IN FIVE DAYS
by SONIA DODD
April, 2027
Belconnen Arts Centre

The Emerging Playwright Commission is generously supported by Holding Redlich.

CBR arts Gorman Arts Centre

17/10/2026

And the winner is 🥁🥁🥁

Congratulations to our 2026 Emerging Playwright Commission Winner Callan Purcell!

'Dark Matter' is a wildly imaginative and deeply moving exploration of grief, hope and what we owe each other when we can’t fix what’s happening. If you can’t stop someone dying, can you still change how they leave?

Tomorrow, Eli's dad dies. But tonight, he joins the Dead Parent Club.

It’s a secret, handmade society built in shadows and sewers — created by young people because the adults above them won’t talk about grief, loss or how to say goodbye. Nobody wants to be there. Everybody ends up there. Most accept the rules.

Eli does not.

With less than twenty-four hours until his father's death, Eli launches a wildly irresponsible, catastrophically ambitious plan to break the Club's oldest law and cut the sadness out of his father's heart.

As the realm begins to fracture around him, Eli is forced to confront an impossible question: if you can't save someone from leaving, can you save them from suffering?

This commission places emerging playwrights at the centre of the creative process, and is specifically designed to springboard writers at a crucial point in their career. Now in its sixth year, this commission attracted over 45 submissions from across Australia, connecting our young artists to a nationwide network of emerging writers.
2026 will see Callan's play commissioned through developments, discussions, and invaluable contributions from our community of young artists.

Many thanks to our finalists, Jack Kearney and Tegan Ware, who each receive $1,500 prize money – the future of youth arts is very bright indeed! Hearing excerpts from your work was a joy and a pleasure.

Thank you so much to Canberra Writers Festival for letting us join your wonderful event!

Our Emerging Playwright Commission is generously supported by Holding Redlich.

• • •
EMERGING PLAYWRIGHT COMMISSION
Ages 16–35

Gorman Arts Centre CBR arts

Address

Batman Street
Braddon, ACT
2612

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	10am - 6pm
Wednesday	10am - 6pm
Thursday	10am - 6pm

Telephone

+61262485057

Website

http://www.canberrayouththeatre.com.au/

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