Burnley Youth Theatre’s story begins in 1972 when an
Inter School Drama Group was created. Initially quite small, the group mainly performed one-act plays at Towneley High School Drama Studio. In 1973 the group presented their first piece responding to local issues called The Motorway Play. It was during this time that the Drama Group began to be known as Burnley Youth Theatre. The formation of Burnley Youth Theatre became formal in 1974 with a constitution. This was also the year that the first full length play Dark of the Moon was staged.
Going from strength to strength during the 70’s, young people had the opportunity to act in the first musical Oklahoma! (1974) and also took part in a variety of fundraising activities from An Evening with Noel Coward to a 48-hour sponsored Shakespeare reading.
In 1978 Burnley Youth Theatre was given a chance to have
a home of its own and moved onto the old Heasandford Quarry site. With the group of young people having worked together for some years, the 1979 performance of West Side Story was described as a coming of age for Burnley Youth Theatre.
