Welcome

Byre Youth and Community Arts (Byre Youth Theatre Limited) is a private Limited Company by guarantee. We are a not for profit company and any money made is reinvested into our educational projects. As well as providing Drama, Dance Theatre and Singing classes for young people, we also provide Singing for adults and are available for CPD Sessions, Bespoke Schools/Nursery Workshops, Training and Team Building.

Originally known as Stage One before merging with two other groups to become St Andrews Youth Theatre, classes used to run in three separate venues across St. Andrews on a rotational basis before settling at The Byre Theatre. It was there that the then facilitators Emma Stothers and Ashley Foster rebranded the group and named it Byre Youth Theatre. Due to the liquidation of Byre Theatre Ltd and the subsequent closure of the theatre in January 2013, the Youth Theatre had to re-locate and change the format of how it is run. The rest, as they say, is history.

Following the re-opening of The Byre in late 2014, BYT returned some of it's classes to The Byre Theatre whilst others ran in surrounding venues. Despite the two remaining separate entities, they are closely linked and work together wherever possible. BYT grew quickly from 2014 onwards and is now under the Artistic Direction of Ashley Foster with the new identity of Byre Youth and Community Arts. Classes aim to provide young people with the skills and confidence to perform in a variety of settings but, most importantly, provide them with skills that will be transferable across all aspects of their lives. Our Adult Singing group offers a much needed sense of community, wellbeing and fun to its participants.

As of January 2021, we secured the lease to a building of our own. We had been crowdfunding to raise money to help us get the space ready for our classes and the wider community and moved fully into the space in March 2021. Classes started a phased return in the May and we now run full time from here!