The British Youth Music Theatre’s newly announced season will include 14 musicals written by 30 writers and composers and featuring 500 young performers.
The BYMT has announced its plans for its 2026 season of premieres, productions, development and collaboration.
For the year ahead, there will be five brand new productions opening across the country alongside the revival of a much-loved BYMT show first seen 20 years ago in 2006. Alongside these performances, the company’s six development camps and Upskill Short Course bring together young performers and creative teams to explore new ideas and shape the next generation of musical theatre. Together, the 2026 programme celebrates BYMT’s commitment to bold new work, young voices and the future of the art form.
Each show to be performed this year will range diverse themes, inspirations and musical styles, from extraordinary true stories and literary history to original fantasy worlds, contemporary comedy and gothic horror.
The programme announced includes:
- The Cottingley Fairies by Clare Packham (Writer & Co-Lyricist) & Fintan Kealy (Composer & Co-Lyricist); Birmingham Hippodrome, 10-12 April
- Frankenstein by Victoria Gimby (Writer), Jimmy Jewell (Composer) and Nick Stimson (Lyricist); London, 28-30 August
- The Clockmaker’s City by Jonathan Ainscough (Writer & Co-Lyricist) and Yshani Perinpanayagam (Composer & Co-Lyricist); Manchester, 31 July – 2 August
- Technical Difficulties by Joe Venable (Writer & Co-Lyricist) and Samuel Macdonald (Composer & Co-Lyricist); Hull, 7-8 August
- Paper Stars by Grace Chapple (Co-Writer), Luke Byrne (Composer & Lyricist) and Miranda Middleton (Co-Writer); Exeter, 14-16 August
- BYMT’s NMTA winner: Sea Change by Elinor Peregrin (Composer & Co-Lyricist) and Will Jackson (Writer & Co-Lyricist); Birmingham, 28-30 August
Alongside staged productions, BYMT also runs six-day development camps where young people support the development of new music theatre, working with writers to evolve their shows. The camps this year include themes chosen by the Young Company Panel such as historical true crime, Greek myths and building a better future.
BYMT has also partnered with Julie Clare Productions (JCP) on a project to develop Bollywood Rose, a new musical which aims to serve the artistically underrepresented communities of South Asian descent in Leeds and Bradford, recognising the historical lack of access to the arts for these communities.
Emily Gray, BYMT Creative Director said: “We received fifty five ideas for new musicals for the 2026 Season and with our Young Company Panel we have debated and decided on a mix of imaginative contexts, powerful stories and contemporary social comments. We are so thrilled to be working with this group of 30 extraordinary writers and composers who are passionate about making brilliant musicals with and for our Young Company. As a charity aiming to reach and represent young theatre makers across the UK, we will continue to commission new work and raise funds to make it possible for young people from all backgrounds to participate.”
To find out more visit: https://britishyouthmusictheatre.org/