National Youth Theatre to pilot new digital theatre course

A new course exploring how digital technology can be used in theatre is being piloted by the National Youth Theatre and Central Saint Martins.

The Digital Storytelling course aims to develop a new generation of digital theatrical talent. It is open to young people aged 15 to 25 from all disciplines, including directors, designers, performers, digital specialists, artists and technicians.

Led by industry experts, the course will provide an introduction to a range of digital technologies, including virtual reality, 360-degree video, augmented reality and multi-sensory digital experiences.

Participants will create a piece of theatre using 360 video – whereby a view in every direction is recorded at the same time – which will be shared with an invited industry audience.

Successful applicants to the course will be awarded a new type of NYT membership, called a National Youth Theatre Digital Membership, which will give them benefits including the opportunity to work on large-scale theatrical productions and digital projects in the West End and around the UK.

The six-day course will run at Central Saint Martins and National Youth Theatre, both in north London, from August 27 to September 1.

NYT chief executive and artistic director Paul Roseby said: “Virtual reality, augmented reality and other new technologies have organically become part of our creative output in recent years, as we’ve made work with a new generation of digitally native performers.

“This course will formalise the talent pipeline for young digital storytelling specialists into our company. After the course we plan to empower them to make epic new work with us around the UK and beyond that pushes boundaries and breaks new ground.”

There are 20 places on the course, and the deadline for applications is July 30.

Professional 360 interactive filmmaker Ben Carlin is leading the course, which costs £150.