Across Britain young people are gathering in increasingly large numbers to work together with a sense of enjoyment and purpose, and excitement at the imaginative prospects ahead. They are not the elite of the community but the youth of today. More alert, talkative, more imaginative and growing in confidence. They have not been born better equipped to survive nor yet, have the answers to meet the problems of the country, but these are our young people. Whether in the North or South, the problems associated with growing up manifest themselves within all age groups. The Youth Theatre movement is not aimed as a promotion towards professional theatre, it's role is three fold:

1. Enabling young people to foster communication skills, team work, business sense and above all the basic ability to think.
2. To be there as a support when all about seems to be falling apart.
3. To provide excellence in training for the Performing and visual Arts.

It is the Youth Theatre's aim to aid their members learning, allow them to develop as individuals and above all strengthen them to face the world they live in. Through skill transference and their work with professional leaders it gives them a greater understanding of themselves, their place, community, and the world they live in.

It's activities can be defined as the creative use of young peoples spare time through the mediums of Theatre, Music, Drama and modern creative communication art forms.

The Youth Theatre is not a place for preaching but it is a social process where the Youth Theatre has many connecting points, between their members and their peers, between their members and their leaders, between the groups and existing theatre practice and between young performers and their audience and finally, between the members and the wider Community.

The young people of today are our leaders for tomorrow and they deserve the best support and environment to develop their own skills and to take control of situations, so that they can be allowed to fail within a safe environment. We only learn from our mistakes. And Childhood is an experiment preparing us for the future.

The Blackburn Youth Theatre is years old , and yes we may have the Stars of the future, but that isn't where the true work of the Youth Theatre lies.

The Youth Theatre movement has no time for prejudice, We are a non racist, not sectarian, non sexist organisation that has an open to all policy. There is no sexual inequality, in fact the work we do often is chosen for it's range of female parts. We work together, and work as one.

For any of you that have experienced the professional business you will realise it is blood sweat and tears all the way. It takes an awful lot of practice to have a little luck in this industry.

T.J. Lince
Artistic Director
Pendle Productions
Blackburn Youth Theatre