Canberra Youth Theatre takes drastic steps to ensure its survival

The long-running company will not stage any productions in 2025 and is also cutting back and consolidating its training programs and staffing numbers.
Sterling Notley and Matt Hogan in Canberra Youth Theatre's production of 'Work, But This Time Like You Mean It'. Two young men, both dressed in red and white shirts and black pants, sit in a pit of yellow balls against a red wall. One boy holds the other in his arms; both are shouting or screaming.

In order to avoid a major deficit in 2025, Canberra Youth Theatre (CYT) has made the difficult decision to pause all productions next year. The company will also reduce its training programs and staffing numbers in order to ensure the viability and sustainability of the organisation in the future.

“For the last few years we’ve been trying to maintain a vibrant youth arts program here in Canberra, including workshops, productions, creative developments and professional pathways training programs for emerging artists,” explains Luke Rogers, CYT’s Artistic Director and CEO.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts