NYAW accepts applications from people aged 16 – 22 who live/study full-time in Wales or were born in Wales.     

You may be…  

• studying or taking part in drama/performance in your school or college   

• at drama school and preparing for the next step in your career  

• taking part in youth theatre or musical theatre in your area   

• a passionate creative who’s curious about behind the scenes storytelling and backstage skills.  

For the 2026 residencies participants must be aged between 16 and 22 on the 19 July 2026. This means that you may be able to audition aged 15, if you will be 16 by this date.  You must still be under 23 by the 19 of July to apply.  

For any questions about our eligibility criteria, please email us at: nyaw@nyaw.org.uk.    

Once you’ve clicked the Book Now button you will be taken to the booking form to complete.

The application form will ask some questions about your school/college and performing experience that will help us at your audition.  

The form will ask you to upload a recent headshot of yourself (this can be a phone photo/selfie (Max 4MB).

It should take no longer than around 10 minutes to complete. 

There is a £25 fee per audition, but you can choose a free audition if you face any financial barriers.  

If you are paying the audition fee, you will be emailed a payment link once you have submitted the form.  

Times may be subject to slight changes, but we’ll email you to confirm your audition date and time at least 2 weeks before the audition date.  

We will email you to upload your chosen monologue to us by 15 March at the latest. 

If you have any questions, or problems with the form, please email auditions@nyaw.org.uk 

The ethos of our auditions is to develop an environment where you feel confident to explore and discover your potential with the group. We’ve designed them as small, friendly 3-hour long group workshops led by a panel of professionals alongside NYAW staff. 

You can request an online audition if you are unable to make a face-to-face audition due to illness or for accessibility reasons.  

Auditions are run bilingually, and we welcome the use of Welsh, English and BSL in our auditions.   

Wear comfortable clothes that you can move around in easily.  

Bring water bottles and/or preferred cold drinks (not fizzy drinks), and any necessary fruit/snacks to sustain you through the audition.   

The audition will last 3 hours with a short break in the middle.  

It will include movement, acting, group work and some vocal/music exercises and you don’t have to prepare anything in advance.  

There will also be an opportunity to prepare for your monologue/speech section with the panel.   

The monologue section of the audition is a small part of the audition process but a valuable one. We’ll do plenty of work during the workshop to prepare you for this section, so don’t be nervous!  

PANELS 

Auditions will be led by a panel of National Youth Arts Wales associates who are industry professionals including NYAW staff.   

LANGUAGE 

The audition will be led bilingually, and we welcome the use of either Welsh, English or BSL.  

If you have any access or additional learning requirements, get in contact with us at auditions@nyaw.org.uk and the NYTW producer will get back to you.   

 RECORDING   

We intend to film all face-to-face auditions this year to aid with final selections.  

Once the application deadline has closed, we will email you to confirm your audition details and ask you to send us your choice of a short speech/monologue (max 1 minute and 30 seconds). This forms a very small part of the audition process.  

Top tips for choosing your speech or monologue.  

• Choose a speech and character from a play you are familiar with and like and that reflects you as a performer.  

• Think about where your character is, their backstory and who are they directing this speech to and what they are trying to convey.  

• Don’t rely on props and avoid using accents that you’re unfamiliar with.  

• Don’t go over time – this will give you less time to work with the panel on your piece and that’s the interesting part!  

• Be open to re-direction and working with the panel to look at the speech from a different angle and don’t worry if this isn’t perfect – it’s your willingness to try things and adapt that we want to see.  

• Don’t worry about mistakes, it’s how you get over them and use them to improve that’s important.  

If you need any support with this or are unsure what to choose, please get in touch with us at nyaw@nyaw.org.uk and we will be happy to help.   

There is nothing else to prepare in advance and all we ask is that you make the most of the session by being open, presenting work with your fellow performers and embracing the opportunity.   

Once the application deadline has closed, we will email you to confirm your audition venue details, date, time and how to get there. We will ask you to send us your choice of a short speech/monologue (max 1 minute and 30 seconds) before the 15 March deadline.

You will receive a short feedback email to let us know what you thought! 

You will receive the result and any offers in the week commencing the 13 April and we will ask you to confirm if you want to accept this offer by a certain date.  

£1100 

This fee is a contribution towards your tuition costs, accommodation, food and board, travel within the residency and social activities. The full value received by each individual is over £2,500 - but thanks to the generous support from our funders and supporters, we subsidise a significant part of the costs for everyone offered a place in a national ensemble. 

Our Bursary Fund could help to cover some or all of the membership fees, so that no-one is deterred from applying for the NYAW Ensembles for financial reasons. If you have an annual household income of less than £70,000, you could be eligible for financial support. 

Additionally with support from The Leverhulme Trust, we can offer full Fee Waivers and additional support towards travel expenses and other costs associated with NYAW membership for those who need it most. Visit NYAW BURSARY FUND for full information including how to claim help toward audition costs and membership fees.

Our Bursary Fund could help to cover some or all of the membership fees, so that no-one is deterred from applying for the NYAW Ensembles for financial reasons. If you have an annual household income of less than £70,000, you could be eligible for financial support. Visit NYAW BURSARY FUND for full information including how to claim help toward audition costs and membership fees.