27 Mar 2026
At a time when confidence and communication skills are increasingly important for young people, a St Albans-based youth theatre programme is helping them develop these talents through hands-on performance training.
At their weekly training set up at Brilliant Theatre Academy of Performing Arts, students aged 7 to 19 train each week in acting, voice, movement and stagecraft as part of a structured programme designed to develop both creative ability and real-world skills.
The academy is built around a ‘learning through doing’ approach where students don’t just take part in drama exercises but work collaboratively on theatre projects and productions. From early rehearsals through to live performance, they develop characters, refine technique and apply their skills in real performance settings.
Speaking to the St Albans Times for World Theatre Day (Friday), founder David Jenkins said their students explore confidence, discipline and communication skills that stay with them for life.
Growing up in a low income family in Wales he said it was theatre which opened his eyes and gave him the skills he has today.
“I started in theatre at the age of 14, and just being in that environment was the benchmark for my whole career. Right at the core of it, the world of theatre has shaped me.
“But it’s not just about performing, it’s about the most effective way to build confidence, resilience and communication, as these are the skills that are going to help young people in life regardless of where they end up.
“I think parents these days are not really looking for hobbies for their kids, they’re looking at things they can do to help them develop. At Brilliant, we’re not just trying to teach young people how to perform, we’re trying to build them into confident communicators and use the platform of performance to help elevate them.
“I don’t want to make child stars – I want to make successful adults.”
He has plenty of stories of how Brilliant has helped to achieve this goal.
“We had a student called Charlotte who joined us really early on. She was a lovely little girl but really, really shy and didn’t have much belief in herself. She followed the whole programme, but it wasn’t about making her an actor, a singer, or a dancer, as she’s now one of the top production managers in the West End.
“She just launched Marie and Rosetta with Beverley Knight at Soho Place.
“There was a young lad called KCI who came in with a note from his mother which said ‘Can he join?’. He had a little bit of dance, but the programme instilled this resilience and confidence in the training, and he’s just done a world tour of Mamma Mia.”
For David, World Theatre Day reflects Brilliant’s objective of building a platform for life: “Even for non-performers in a workshop capacity, you’ve got to learn each other’s different traits and weaknesses and be able to communicate and navigate a path to create something together.”
One of the highlights of the Brilliant calendar is its annual summer show, which sees students spend two weeks putting together professional productions to be performed in front of a live audience at the Alban Arena.
With shows ranging from We Will Rock You and Beauty and the Beast to Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and Grease, through to last year’s The Wizard of Oz, in just 12 days David and his dedicated team of around 30 creatives bring together a troupe of disparate youngsters and turn them into a cohesive company ready for four stand-out performances.
But with the Arena closed for refurbishment over the summer, this year they’re going to be changing the playbook, thanks to Everyone Theatres, the company hich runs not only the St Albans venue, but also the Eric Morecambe Centre in Harpenden.
“Normally we do one big title, but this year’s a bit different. We’re blessed to be running our workshops at the EMC this year, and I thought wouldn’t it be great to create something where young people can have a little taste of musicals that we could never do as a youth theatre group.
“So there’s a week of workshops ending in a concert at the end of the week. Every day is a different West End musical, and a lead from that show is going to be coming along and running the workshops. For example, from Operation Mincemeat we’ve got Claire-Marie Hall, who’s just come back from Broadway.
“Then the second week is something else we’ve never done over the summer, which is an advanced acting play in five days, for those students who want to focus on real depth acting.
“We’re going to put on Treasure Island, which is loosely based on the National Theatre show, and we’re opening the doors to anybody who wants to take part, not just those who do our training.
“It’s a good stepping stone to get into the world of theatre and experience what Brilliant is like, and you can just come along and give it a go for the first time.”
Find out more about Brilliant’s plans for summer: https://www.brillianttheatreacademy.co.uk/summer2026
Main photo: Peter Hughes
