{"id":1034426,"date":"2026-06-18T11:17:27","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:17:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1034426\/"},"modified":"2026-06-18T11:17:27","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:17:27","slug":"four-talented-young-actors-are-tuning-up-at-leeds-playhouse-for-a-major-new-staging-of-brassed-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/1034426\/","title":{"rendered":"Four talented young actors are tuning up at Leeds Playhouse for a major new staging of\u00a0Brassed Off"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meet the quartet of West Yorkshire primary and secondary school students cast in an off-the-scale new staging of\u00a0Brassed Off<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0at\u00a0Leeds Playhouse<\/strong>, which is set to raise the roof of the epic Quarry Theatre from\u00a018 June \u2013 11 July<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

All four are members of\u00a0Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and auditioned for their roles in front of Olivier Award\u2011nominated and UK Theatre Award-winning director\u00a0Amy Leach<\/strong>, who\u2019s returning to the Quarry after the phenomenal recent success of\u00a0Animal Farm\u00a0and\u00a0A Christmas Carol.<\/p>\n

Oliver Bowman<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Stuart Naylor<\/strong>, both members of the Youth Theatre Seniors Group, are sharing the role of Shane. They are joined by\u00a0Aria Trijonyte<\/strong>, a Juniors member, and\u00a0Maari Kent<\/strong>, who attends one of the Playhouse\u2019s satellite youth theatre groups delivered in partnership with\u00a0RJC Dance<\/strong>\u00a0in Chapeltown, in the shared role of Melody.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Angelica Clunes, Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre Director, said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI am so thrilled to have some of our Youth Theatre members join the cast of Brassed Off. We try to build creative and collaborative young artists and having four of our young people chosen to be part of the cast of such an exciting production is a real testament to the fabulous work they do during their time with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brassed Off (Photo by Mike Pinches)<\/p>\n

Oliver Bowman, 13, is a student at Temple Moor High School in Halton and has been a member of Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre for three years. He said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI joined Youth Theatre because I was really shy. It\u2019s helped me build my confidence loads. When I go on stage, I feel completely different. I might not be the loudest person in the room, but I\u2019m now quietly confident. I have also made a bunch of friends.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really grateful for the opportunities I have been given and am very excited to be part of Brassed Off. I play the cornet, so I\u2019m looking forward to hearing the bands. I also get to meet people like Robin Morrissey, who I saw in Animal Farm \u2013 one of my favourite shows I\u2019ve ever seen.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maari Kent, 11, attends Highfield Primary School in Moortown and has been a member of Youth Theatre at RJC for two years. She said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWhen I heard the news about getting the role of Melody, I screamed so loudly that the neighbours probably heard! I feel really lucky and am so excited to have been given this opportunity. I\u2019m already counting down the days to my next rehearsal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Brassed Off (Photo by Mike Pinches)<\/p>\n

Aria Trijonyte, 10, attends Rothwell St Mary\u2019s Catholic Primary School and has been a Youth Theatre member for three years. She said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a great honour to be part of such an amazing team and to have the opportunity to perform on the Quarry Theatre stage, knowing how much effort, passion and dedication\u00a0goes into a creating a play. It will be an unforgettable journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stuart Naylor, 12, attends Kettlethorpe High School in Wakefield and has been a member of Youth Theatre since January. He said:<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m so excited. This is by far the biggest role I have ever taken on and I can\u2019t wait to get on stage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marking the 30th anniversary of\u00a0Mark Herman<\/strong>\u2019s iconic 1996 film,\u00a0Brassed Off<\/strong>\u00a0remains a powerful, funny and deeply moving story about community, resilience and the life\u2011affirming power of music. The story follows the tight\u2011knit Yorkshire mining community of Grimley as they face the closure of their colliery and fight to keep their brass band and their dignity alive.<\/p>\n

Combining live brass with a bold reimagining of the film\u2019s themes for 2026, this production is a rousing tribute to solidarity, hope and the enduring power of community spirit.<\/p>\n

\"\"Brassed Off (Photo by Mike Pinches)<\/p>\n

Adapted for the stage by\u00a0Paul Allen<\/strong>, this powerful new production honours the heart, humour and grit that have made\u00a0Brassed Off<\/strong>\u00a0a beloved British classic, featuring live music performed on stage by two Yorkshire brass bands:\u00a0Horbury Victoria Brass Band<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0Wakefield Metropolitan Brass Band<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Leeds Playhouse Youth Theatre<\/a>\u00a0offers weekly drama sessions for 8 to 21-year-olds, led by outstanding professional artists and support workers. It\u2019s a great opportunity for young people to connect with artists and director, to have fun, develop new skills \u2013 and maybe land a role in a major production. As well as hosting sessions at the Playhouse, there are also satellite groups at\u00a0DAZL Dance\u00a0<\/strong>in Middleton and RJC at the Mandela Centre in Chapeltown.<\/p>\n

Brassed Off plays at Leeds Playhouse 18 June \u2013 11 July. Tickets are available here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n\t\t\t\t Post Views: 0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meet the quartet of West Yorkshire primary and secondary school students cast in an off-the-scale new staging of\u00a0Brassed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1034427,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8814],"tags":[220168,285248,285249,285250,285251,748,393,4884,1860,285252,285253,285254,285255,285256,16,15],"class_list":["post-1034426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-leeds","tag-centralnorth","tag-leedsplayhouse","tag-amy-leach","tag-aria-trijonyte","tag-brassed-off","tag-britain","tag-england","tag-great-britain","tag-leeds","tag-leeds-playhouse-youth-theatre","tag-maari-kent","tag-oliver-bowman","tag-rjc-dance","tag-stuart-naylor","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116770837083023311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1034426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1034426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1034427"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1034426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1034426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1034426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}