Duo Accepted to National Youth Theatre

We are thrilled to announce that Madeline Sales (Year 11) and Apollo Stocker (Year 10) have both been accepted into the National Youth Theatre.

National Youth Theatre is the most prestigious theatre initiative in the country and several thousand students apply each year for just a handful of places. Madeline and Apollo were part of a group of 15 students from Chatham & Clarendon who took part in a one-day workshop which was followed by a live audition with one of NYT’s youth directors. Prior to that we had around 30 students step forward for our first-round auditions back in December and the standard throughout the school was very high. Students had to prepare and perform a short two-minute monologue in order to be considered for the NYT workshop, with a very wide range of texts and characters being chosen by our students. 

Mr Smith said ‘It’s such a pleasure to be able to see our students pushing themselves and stepping up when opportunities like this arise. To stand up and perform takes courage - and nothing is more courageous than performing on your own. It was so nice to see students who don’t normally take centre stage step up and whilst we are extremely proud of both Madeline and Apollo, we are also so impressed and encouraged by all of those who took part. For some of them it is a first step of a longer journey, for others another opportunity to push themselves - but no matter where they are or what their aims or intentions were when they signed up to the project, they have all been amazing and they have all made huge strides this year.’ 

‘It is the first time in recent history that one of our students has been successful in being offered a place so the fact that we now have two is incredible. There were a couple of other students who, we were told, were also very close to getting through so we hope to be able to offer this opportunity again in the near future.’

Mrs Cackett added ‘Both Madeline and Apollo have come such a long way since they started here. They truly embody what we are aiming to achieve in drama. They are generous performers and support and encourage those around them. As NYT members and part of our core cast in Houselights and the school shows they are great role models for their peers and a great example of what our students can achieve. They are future leaders, and we hope that they will be able to share their NYT experiences with others so our students can continue to aspire to be the best that they can be.’