{"id":1611,"date":"2017-03-06T14:42:19","date_gmt":"2017-03-06T14:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/?p=1611"},"modified":"2026-02-09T15:24:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T15:24:57","slug":"the-national-youth-theatre-rep-season-an-insider-guide-to-training-at-the-nyt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spotlight.com\/news-and-advice\/training\/the-national-youth-theatre-rep-season-an-insider-guide-to-training-at-the-nyt\/","title":{"rendered":"The National Youth Theatre Rep Season: An Insider Guide to Training at the NYT"},"content":{"rendered":"

A chat about the NYT’s programme for actors<\/h3>\n

The\u00a0National Youth Theatre<\/a>\u00a0offers a variety of opportunities for young performers looking to hone their craft. None is so recognised as their rep season: 15 students train for 9 months, learning essential skills and performing a season of shows at the end of the programme. Spotlight spoke to Nathaniel Wade, alumnus of last year\u2019s NYT rep season, about the benefits of this experience.<\/p>\n

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Thanks for talking to us Nathaniel! Let\u2019s start with the basics: why acting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/strong>I like telling stories and I didn\u2019t know in school that [acting] was what I wanted to do. I was falling over in class and seeing if I could trick the teacher into thinking I\u2019d actually hurt myself \u2013 a lot of the time it was very successful! \u2013 and I didn\u2019t know that that was my way of wanting to perform and act. Throughout school I did school productions but it was only in Year 12 that I thought I knew what I wanted to do. And the school environment wasn\u2019t helping me do it. I didn\u2019t leave school or anything but I remember thinking, \u201cWhy am I here? I want to be an actor!\u201d It wasn\u2019t clear how I was going to get there so I started applying to drama schools. I googled acting classes and NYT was the first thing that came up.<\/p>\n

So a Google search was a big factor\u2026!<\/strong><\/p>\n

They were the best \u2013 they came up first for a reason. I asked around and friends all said \u201cYou have to do NYT!\u201d It seemed like the logical thing.<\/p>\n

What was the process after you found out about NYT?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was so keen to get in! I\u2019d done all this research and I really wanted to be a part of it. I was so worked up about the audition and I knew it\u2019s about being generous in the workshop. It\u2019s not about how good you are as an actor, it\u2019s about giving to other people, being generous in the space. Telling the story. Things like that! Which is their ethos: it\u2019s about the ensemble, it\u2019s not about how I feel. So I kind of remember going into the workshop thinking, \u2018I\u2019m going to go have fun, be generous and give as much as I can\u2019. I didn\u2019t think of it as an \u201caudition\u201d. I was really excited and wanted it so much.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s very very life changing, and you hear people say that all the time. It sounds clich\u00e9 but actually it\u2019s true.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n