Young Company

The Almeida Young Company is designed for aspiring theatre-makers, looking to gain experience in acting, working with text, developing new theatre and performing on stage at the Almeida. 

This is an opportunity for young people who haven’t had formal drama school training (foundation, BA or MA).  

Participants should be aged 18-25 at the start of the project and have completed secondary education.  

For the first round of this process, we are asking for a short self tape of a contemporary monologue written after the year 2000.

Please include the following three elements in your self tape and ensure that it is no longer than 4 minutes in total:

1) Tell us a little about yourself (60 seconds) 
2) Why would you like to join the Young Company and what do you hope to get out of it? (90 seconds) 
3) A learnt contemporary audition speech or monologue from a play written after the year 2000 (90 seconds) 

You will then need to submit a link to your self tape via our application form. The link needs to be an unlisted Vimeo or YouTube link format ONLY. Please do NOT send us a WeTransfer link as it will expire. Please double check to make sure your link is accessible to us. 

We will not be able to accept any applications received after the deadline of Sun 14 Sep at 6pm, and we’re unable to offer deadline extensions under any circumstances. 

• We encourage you to prepare your speech without anyone else’s help or direction. We want to see your interpretation of the character and understanding of the speech.
• There’s no need to do all three sections in one take if this isn’t helpful for you. Feel free to film separately then combine the takes. Please only send us one video.
• Make sure you are well lit, and we can see you. We encourage taping in natural daylight or using lamps/box lights if you’re in a darker space. Aim to avoid any shadows.
• Make sure we can hear you properly. Test film a couple of lines and watch it before you go for a take.
• Film with a friend so you can direct your speech to another person. Have your friend stand behind the camera just off to the side.
• If you are editing a text where another character interjects or combining two chunks of text, make sure it flows.
• Have a limit on how many takes you do – try not to overdo it. Most often than not the first few takes will be the best ones.
• Be yourself, relax and have fun!

The Almeida Young Company is completely free to take part in – and we are also able to offer travel expenses for participants if needed. 

We are committed to supporting young artists with access requirements. If there is anything you would like to let us know that will support you through the recruitment process or the project, you can do so by emailing us at participate@almeida.co.uk. We can support alternative formats for application and can discuss how best to support you through the process.  

Auditions will be in an accessible space. Most of the Young Company Rehearsals will take place in the Almeida Rehearsal Rooms in Islington. This Rehearsal Room is step free, with an access toilet on the same level.    

Application Closing Date: Sun 14 Sep at 6pm
Applicants will hear back on the outcome of their application by Fri 10 Oct at 6pm.

Initial Audition Workshops: Sat 18 Oct and Sun 19 Oct between 10am-6pm (please keep both dates free)

Recall Workshops: Wed 22 Oct 6.30-9.30pm

Rehearsal & Performance Period:  

• Intensive Rehearsals on Sat 1 Nov 2025 and Sun 11 Jan 2026 10am-6pm
• Wednesday evening rehearsals weekly, from November-February
• Performance dates, early to mid-February 2026

We will send through a full list of dates if you are invited to the workshop audition.