OVO Youth Ensemble
OVO Youth Ensemble gives talented, local young people the chance to perform in high quality productions in a professional environment.
The initiative is part of OVO’s education and outreach strand, which opens up participation and training opportunities for children and young people across St Albans and surrounding areas. As part of the Youth Ensemble, young people will get the chance to be in a professionally produced production at the Roman Theatre Open Air Festival, working alongside professional adult actors, directors, and creative teams.
Adam Nichols, OVO’s Artistic Director said: “We want to develop the next generation of theatremakers and build on our productions of The Secret Garden (2024), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2017) and The Railway Children (2023), in which we were able to cast children and young people from across the district.”
Read on to find out more about this year’s production.
OVO Youth Ensemble - 2026 Production & Audition Info
The ensemble’s production for 2026 will be Shakespeare’s classic comedy of mistaken identity and unrequited love, Twelfth Night, directed by long time OVO associate artist, Faith Turner. Find out more about the show and book tickets here.
The show will be performed as part of the Roman Theatre Open Air Festival from 27th – 31st August 2025, with spring weekend rehearsals and two weeks intensive rehearsal in August, prior to the performance week.
OVO will be inviting all young people aged 10-20 to attend open auditions at The Maltings Theatre in St Albans on Friday 13th March, Friday 20th March and Saturday 21st March.
The production will be directed by Faith Turner who directed last year’s critically-acclaimed production of “Lord of The Flies”. Faith has performed with OVO for over a decade, with recent roles including Jem in The Highwayman, Jenny in Mosquitoes, the Professor in Little Women and the title role in Hedda Gabler. Faith is an experienced drama teacher and practitioner who has been working with young people for the past 14 years, including as deputy director of drama at St Paul’s Girls’ School in London.
Full timetable & Key Dates:
Auditions:
Friday 13th March 5.15-8.00pm
Friday 20th March 5.15-8.00pm
Saturday 21st March 5.15-8.00pm
The auditions will take an informal, workshop format and are open to everyone, regardless of previous experience. They will take place at The Maltings Theatre, St. Albans. You will only need to attend one audition date out of the three available, and you can state your preference for which date via the Google Form below.
Rehearsals:
Performances:
Thursday 27th August – 7:30pm
Friday 28th August – 7:30pm
Saturday 29th August – 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Sunday 30th August – 6:00pm
Monday 31st August – 6:00pm
Please make sure you or your child are available for all the rehearsal and performance dates above
Past Productions
Lord of the Flies (2025)
By William Golding
Adapted by Nigel Williams
Directed by Faith Turner
“Skilfully directed, the production was one of the finest I have seen with such a young cast”
“A great, gutsy choice for OVO’s Youth Ensemble…with a talented cast of almost 30 young people, everyone shone. I was blown away by their teamwork” – St Albans Times
