OVO Youth Ensemble
What is the OVO Youth Ensemble?
OVO Youth Ensemble is aimed at giving local 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, and register your interest in auditioning.
OVO Youth Ensemble - 2025 Production & Audition Info
The ensemble’s production for 2025 will be a stage version of William Golding’s classic tale of survival and human nature, Lord of the Flies, 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 28th – 31st August 2025, with two weeks intensive rehearsal prior to the performance week.
OVO will be inviting young people aged 11-21* of all genders to attend open auditions at The Maltings Theatre in St Albans on Sunday 11th and Saturday 17th May 2025.
*We are happy to audition children who are 10, but they must be turning 11 by 1st September 2025.
The production will be directed by Faith Turner who directed last year’s critically-acclaimed production of “The Secret Garden”. 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:
Sunday 11th May – 4:00pm – 6:30pm
Saturday 17th May – 4:00pm – 6:30pm
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 two available, and you can state your preference for which date via the Google Form below.
Rehearsals:
Week 1 – Mon 11th – Fri 15th August (Daytime, The Maltings Theatre)
Week 2 – Mon 18th – Fri 22nd August (Daytime, The Maltings Theatre)
Week 3 – Mon 25th – Weds 27th August (Daytime and Evening Technical & Dress rehearsals at the Roman Theatre)
Performances:
Thursday 28th August – 7:30pm
Friday 29th August – 7:30pm
Saturday 30th August – 2:30pm & 7:30pm
Sunday 31st August – 6:00pm
Please make sure you or your child are available for all the rehearsal and performance dates above.
To register your interest in auditioning for this year’s OVO Youth Ensemble production, please fill out the Google Form linked below, and you will be contacted by email nearer to the audition dates.
Past Productions
The Secret Garden (2024)
By France Hodgson-Burnett
Adapted by Elizabeth Newman
Directed by Faith Turner and Janet Podd
“It was a moving experience for the audience for so many reasons including the portrayal of the powerful story and the hope that its young cast will go on to achieve great things. ” – St Albans Times
