Our History

I thank LYT for getting me where I am today. For providing me with life skills and vast experience that I can use now and later in life. It gave me confidence and experience...Having helped voluntary with LYT for 4 years I have decided to take it up as a career and am currently studying Community Arts, an interest I have thanks to Largs Youth Theatre.

The Largs & District Youth Theatre was founded in 2002, by talented local performers Andrew McGregor and Marianne Yeomans.

Largs has a history of children's theatre. For 25 years, children aged 3-16 who attended the Peggy Inglis School of Dance were involved in a range of pantomimes and shows directed by the inimitable Peggy herself. These shows, often involving 80-100 children took place in the Barrfields Pavilion Theatre and were a highlight in the local calendar.

Following Peggy's retirement, the dance school was run by her assistant, Marianne Yeomans under the name "Step by Step" and the panto tradition continued. In 2002, while working on a local production of "Annie", Marianne Yeomans and Andrew McGregor had their brainwave - why not combine their talents and expertise and start up a new group, one that could incorporate all aspects of theatre, from prop making to performance, one that could appeal to both girls and boys?? And so Largs Youth Theatre came to be..... and they all lived happily ever after!!

A one-week induction school for the newly formed ’Largs and District Youth Theatre’ was held in Barrfields Pavilion in July 2002 open to all local school age students. This was followed by a ‘fairytale float’ in the local Largs Viking Festival Parade. That September, the first classes took place in the Largs Community Centre and the rest as they say…is history!

Largs Youth Theatre is now thriving and has attracted attention from many professional organisations including TAG Theatre Company. The group provides a great platform for students to develop their skills and continue the tradition of theatre within the local community. Our funding from the Scottish Arts Council and the Largs Common Good Fund has allowed us to build on our success to date and invest in new equipment and specialist tutoring / masterclasses.