The Wokingham Youth Theatre is a vibrant dynamic learning and performing space, part of Wokingham Theatre, a thriving community theatre where students can benefit from a lively collaborative working theatre environment.
The Youth Theatre promotes a sense of self-confidence, responsibility and respect, seeking to equip young people with theatre skills in a structured and motivated environment.
Wokingham Theatre was founded back in 1947, established to promote enjoyment of all aspects of theatre to the residents of Wokingham and beyond. As it is a registered charity it is entirely staffed and managed by volunteers who give their time and skills to support all aspects of theatre life. Managed by a Board of Directors elected from the membership by democratic vote each year.
With over 250 members currently, some who are active on stage, backstage, and in technical roles, and the productions also depend on the significant body of membership who help out from time to time, undertaking a host of unsung but vital tasks behind the scenes that allow these productions to succeed.
For every performance, the entire front of house team, from box office to bar are all volunteers, and with other duties like programme design, publicity, health and safety, and stage management, there can be up to 60 people involved with any one performance, as well as set building, costuming, technical design, there are any number of opportunities for anyone to get involved
All the proceeds from productions get ploughed back into further improving the theatre and facilities. In 2019, after several years of planning, Wokingham Theatre began refurbishing the auditorium, with an increased WC capacity and all-new seating. During the theatre’s temporary closure during the 2020 coronavirus epidemic, a considerable remodelling took place, with the information counter being removed, a new box office, increased WC capacity, new green rooms, new dressing rooms and an external barn all being completed before the theatre reopened in 2021.
Eight main season shows are presented per year each enjoying two-week runs, as well as a number of smaller-scale extras, new writing nights, rehearsed readings, workshops and the annual Youth Theatre production, all in the 160+ seat auditorium.
The Youth Theatre groups are comprised of young people from diverse backgrounds, offering a supportive environment of mutual respect and understanding, channelling creativity into skills and confidence that will shape their futures for the better. Students are admitted at the beginning of each term, when there is the opportunity for new students to be invited for a trial class, where the suitability to joining a group can be discussed between mentors and parents.
The programme of classes is based on three term per year of 11 sessions each term, costing £120 per term, with groups split based on school year groups for children aged 7 to 17.
This year the annual production is Frankenstein with an important twist, a gothic masterpiece that places the writer herself amongst the action as she wrestles with her creation and with the stark realities facing revolutionary young women, then and now.
Indigo Hogg, who has directed for the Wokingham Youth Theatre since 2018, is directing the Rona Munro’s adaptation of Frankenstein, which includes Mary Shelley in the stage performance, as a vital part of motivating the plot and themes of the story. Annabelle Brittain who plays Mary Shelley does an incredible job in her delivery of brilliant and maddening narration, while electrifying all of Mary Shelley’s characters.
It is of particular importance to the show and Wokingham Theatre to acknowledge the women behind this production, and that it comes from an intentional place to perform a genre-rupturing story, written, adapted, directed and performed by women, when the story and many others were overlooked and miscredited for so long.
“I’d rarely seen a version that reminded the audience that this Story was written by a woman who was eighteen when she began its creation. I’d rarely seen a version that put Mary, visible and potent, in the centre of her story as the skilled writer she was.” – Rona Munro introduction to Frankenstein
I was lucky enough to sit in on a rehearsal of several scenes from the production and encounter extraordinary shows of commitment to the craft and acting skill. The mirror that bonds The Monster, played by Kate Johnson and Victor Frankenstein, played by Jack Mitchell was palpable with skin-tingling terror, as they surpass expectation in approaching themes of morality, vengeance and the dangers of ambition.
As a keen Frankenstein novel enthusiast, having seen several screen adaptations, this adaptation is thrilling and provocative, as it throws you into Mary’s shoes and upon her pages, making us complicit to her crimes of creation and at the mercy of her imagination.
Frankenstein will be running from the 19th – 21st of February 2026, and tickets can be purchased through the Wokingham Theatre website below. Get your tickets now before they’re gone!
https://uk.patronbase.com/_WokinghamTheatre/Productions/FRA/Performances
