Lord of the Flies

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

Lord of the Flies is a powerful performance that brings a classic of world literature into urgent dialogue with today’s society. Performed by the teenage theatre group Acting Up Bucharest, Romania, this adaptation sheds light on pressing issues such as violence, bullying, and the breakdown of social order, making the story deeply relevant for modern audiences.

By examining the fragile boundary between play and reality, the performance reveals how quickly innocence can give way to cruelty when structure and accountability disappear. What begins as a game gradually transforms into something far more dangerous, exposing the darker impulses that lie beneath the surface of human behavior.

About the company

Drama club, Acting up, guides high school students' artistic expression by creating a constructive space. Their goal is to discover authentic teenagers and provide value to their qualities. Since 2016, the Acting up Drama Club, founded by the Acting up Association, has been promoting the creativity of young artists and diversity in independent theater. But they are not just a drama club. They wish to provide quality content and their mission is to sustain a group of different ethnicities and nationalities, working to get memorable experiences in a space that brings together the spectator and the creator.

Led by the wind

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

Led By The Wind is an intimate audio-visual performance that follows a queer woman tracing a river upstream in search of her forgotten hometown. When she encounters another mysterious woman, the journey shifts, unfolding into a quiet exploration of memory, connection, and return.

Blending moving images, sound, movement and drink-making, it invites audiences into a sensory experience where nostalgia and displacement intertwine. At its heart, the work reflects on how East and Southeast Asian queer women in London navigate identity, community, and belonging across geographies.

‘Her work is characterised by memorable visual metaphors, heavy with nostalgia.’ – The Play’s The Thing UK

About the company

Founded in 2022, Ensemble Not Found (ENF) is a London-based theatre collective of five interdisciplinary, first-generation ESEA migrant artists. Our work is ensemble-led, visually driven, and made through a non-hierarchical process of research, improvisation, and iteration. Across our practice, we’re interested in how private feeling becomes public structure, how bodies, language, images, and institutions shape one another—working with movement, text, sound, audiovisuals, and found materials as we search for the right form and voice.

Deep in the Threads – AITA or NTA?

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

There’s a world you can’t touch — a world where everyone has something to say, whether they’re right or spectacularly wrong. That world is the internet. But what happens when those wild opinions, awkward comments, and questionable choices escape the screen and take shape in real life? When your posts, tweets, and rants become living, breathing theatre? When strangers get to decide whether you were simply misunderstood… or just an idiot?

In this sharp, funny, and painfully honest play, real stories from the internet are brought to life on stage. Expect music, laughter, and moments that make you cringe — because let’s face it, we’ve all made some dumb decisions online. So lean back, grab your judgmental hat, and join us as we explore the fine line between genius and stupidity in the age of the internet. Are you ready to judge — or be judged?

About the company

Nya Paraplyteatern is a non-profit organisation from Falkenberg, Sweden. They have participated at IYAF (now FUSE) since 2013 and are delighted to have seen the festival develop and grow throughout the years. In Nya Paraplyteatern everyone is welcome and they have opened both their hearts and minds in different projects,and have created new innovative creativeness together as well as classical pieces. The organisation work with international cultural youth exchange projects and have built many bridges around the world. The theme of their theatre is family, everyone has a place in their organisation.

ÀJO – The Sojourn

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

ÀJO – The Sojourn is a powerful multidisciplinary performance that weaves together dance, drama, rhythm, and visual storytelling to explore the universal journey of migration, identity, and becoming.

Through a dynamic ensemble of young performers, the piece traces the emotional and physical passage of individuals navigating uncertainty, displacement, hope, and transformation. Rooted in African cultural expression yet globally resonant in theme, ÀJO unfolds as a poetic journey—where movement speaks, rhythm remembers, and stories emerge beyond words.

With evocative choreography, immersive soundscapes, and symbolic staging, this production invites audiences into a deeply human experience of resilience, belonging, and destiny.

A compelling and visually striking work that bridges cultures and generations.

About the company

Peekok YouthARTS Initiatives is a Nigeria-based arts organisation dedicated to empowering young people through creative expression, cultural exchange, and performance. Founded in 2007, the organisation works across schools and communities to nurture emerging artists and provide platforms for them to engage with global audiences. Through its programmes, residencies, and international collaborations, Peekok YouthARTS uses the arts as a tool for storytelling, identity exploration, and social connection.

The organisation has consistently connected young creatives to opportunities across borders, fostering dialogue between cultures while amplifying authentic African narratives. Its work spans multidisciplinary performance, visual arts, and creative education, with a strong emphasis on collaboration, innovation, and youth development. Peekok YouthARTS continues to build pathways for young artists to be seen, heard, and celebrated on the global stage.

The Basement Door Battle of the Bands 2026

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

Get ready to celebrate the power of youth, community and creativity at the 2026 Battle of the Bands hosted by The Basement Door, a charity dedicated to empowering young people through live music, skills training and performance opportunities.

This exciting annual competition invites emerging young bands from across the region to take the stage, showcase their talent and compete for top honours, all in support of The Basement Door’s mission to nurture confidence, collaboration and real-world experience in a safe, supportive environment. With music as the driving force, the 2026 Battle of the Bands promises unforgettable performances, community spirit and a celebration of the next generation of musicians

About the company

The Basement Door is a charity which advances the education of young people, aged 13 to 22, by providing training and experience through live music events. Young people learn new skills, gain confidence and make connections, through The Basement Door community. The skills they develop whilst working with The Basement Door help them secure employment.

Honk!

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

An exciting, modern adaptation of the beloved fable – The Ugly Duckling – this award-winning musical is a heartwarming celebration of what makes us special.

Since it first hatched in 1993 Stiles & Drewe's musical Honk! has winged its way around the world in over 8000 productions and in many different languages. Winner of multiple awards, including the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Musical, this celebration of being different is sure to inspire actors, singers and dancers to showcase their talents. Witty and hilarious, but also deeply moving, and with its memorable score, Honk! treats audiences to equal amounts of heart-warming laughter and tears.

Ugly looks quite a bit different from his darling duckling brothers and sisters. The other animals on the farm are quick to notice and point this out, despite his mother Ida's protective flapping. Feeling rather foul about himself, the little fowl finds himself on adventure of self-discovery all the while unknowingly outwitting a very hungry cat. Along the way Ugly meets a whole flock of unique characters and finds out being different is not a bad thing to be.

About the company

Thames Music Theatre is a youth Music Theatre company working within a charitable framework, established in 2023 by some of the most important and experienced leaders in youth Music Theatre in the UK.

TMT offers opportunities to young people in SW London and surrounding districts aged between 10 and 18 who are interested in creating and performing all forms of high-quality musical theatre – be they onstage performers or musicians or those interested in backstage or technical work. The board between them have very extensive experience in the field of training young people and youth music theatre, having been responsible for many productions all over the UK and abroad.

Indeed, Jeremy James Taylor in paritcular is almost solely to be thanked for the flourishing state of youth Music Theatre in the country over the last 50 years, in his capacity as its tireless promoter, visionary, creator, and as the founder and director of the National Youth Music Theatre itself for many decades! We work with external technical staff, directors and musicians of the highest calibre and experience to bring out the very best in the young people who work with us. Our staff have mentored many of the UKs top Musical Theatre performers, from their youth into their career, and have also worked with many of the country's leading performers of recent years in general: including such names as Idris Elba, Jamie Bell, Jonny Lee Miller, Ben Barnes, Jude Law, Sheridan Smith, Matt Lucas, Michael Jibson, Toby Jones, Hannah Spearritt, Roderick Williams, Ronnie Corbett, Ned Sherrin, Kit & the Widow, and many more. As well as our regular production work, TMT also works with local schools, delivering workshops and other creative sessions.

Growl

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

Growl: The True Story of the Big Bad Wolf – a concert performance of this heart-warming family musical.

We all think we know the story of the Big Bad Wolf. How he’s mean and greedy, and likes blowing down the houses of innocent little pigs, and gobbling up grandmas just for the wicked fun of it. But that’s a fairy tale and the truth is a whole lot more surprising.

In this hilarious, action-packed new family musical, you’ll get to meet the real Wolf: the guardian of a beautiful forest and all the creatures who live there. When a smooth-talking Woodcutter and his gang of henchmen turn up with deforestation and redevelopment on their minds, the Wolf is the only one standing in their way. But once they’ve sown the seeds of doubt among his friends, the Wolf – and his woodland family – will be tested to breaking point, and even the gentlest of creatures will learn that there are times when you just have to be Big and Bad.

About the company

This performance brings together alumni from the National Youth Music Theatre with young performers from Serious Play Shanghai and Youth Theatre Kenya.

Dillon Dance Youth Presents

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

Returning for its 5th successive year, Dillon Dance Youth returns for another evening of bold, and powerful contemporary dance, showcasing the next generation of dance talent.

Join us for our world premiere of the companies latest work 'With Each Other, For Each Other' which explores themes of gratitude, passion and love. Audiences will also get a chance to see the epic re-staging of 'The Game', which throws the dancers into a gameshow they cant escape. What motivates them? What keeps them going?

Joining us onstage will be our Foundation and boys dance company, and some incredible invited guests from other industry leading dance companies.

Photographer credit: Tangle Photography

About the company

Dillon Dance Youth is an award winning contemporary dance company. Creating powerful dance theatre that is bold, uncompromising and passionate.

The Ragged Child

Posted on: May 25th, 2026 by

About the show

The plight of the homeless is examined through the eyes of abandoned children in mid-nineteenth-century London.

Broadcast on the BBC in 1988, The Ragged Child became a flagship production and title for the UK's National Youth Music Theatre. 

The dire straits of the poor and destitute of 1850's London is mirrored in the tragic lives of siblings Joe & Annie Cooper. As they are fighting in the streets for survival and reprieve from the deadly cholera outbreak, Lord Shaftesbury is fighting in the House of Lords for the education of the ignorant, illiterate poor. As Lord Shaftesbury's quest has a successful outcome, the Coopers are not so lucky. They're the last of the unfortunate souls to slip through the fingers of necessary charity.

About the company

The National Youth Music Theatre offers workshops and performance opportunities in music theatre for young people on and off the stage, with outstanding pastoral care at the centre of everything.