Founded in 2004, Jamaica Youth Theatre (JYT) comprises of young thespians from across the island each with a burning passion for theatre. Members are recruited from the annual Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival. JYT creates cutting edge popular theatre targeting young people as a means of social change, with a commitment to using Jamaican indigenous forms and popular culture to engage its audience.

 

Through the activities and work of the Jamaica Youth Theatre, Jamaican young people discover their commonalities and rediscover the rich and endearing cultural forms that shaped the lives of their ancestors.

 

​Jamaica Youth Theatre has represented the island at the Caribbean Schools Drama Festival in 2004 (Trinidad and Tobago), 2007 (St. Lucia) and 2013 (Barbados). In 2010, the group was selected from 100 companies worldwide as part of the Contacting the World Youth Theatre Festival in Manchester, England. In 2007, JYT won the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture.

 

We acknowledge the power of youth and the transforming potential of theatre. We envision JYT as a family that embraces traditions that improve the quality of our work and make every experience educational and enjoyable.

 

Over the years, the group has developed its own style of edgy stage and video presentations which it uses to tackle socio-cultural issues with themes such as gender based violence, HIV/AIDS, cyber bullying, sexual violence against children, gender equality, and identity issues. The group performs at schools and colleges across Jamaica using its style of dub poetry to articulate and stimulate discussions on these and other issues facing young people.