Theatretrain

Theatretrain was founded by Kevin Dowsett who spent fourteen years as a head of drama and GCSE examiner in schools in the West Midlands and London.

He went on to become the theatre tutor at the Inner London Education AuthorityILEA’s Curtain Theatre where he created a variety of theatre training programmes and established the respected Curtain Youth Theatre.

Later, he taught acting extensively in drama schools including Rose Bruford College, East 15 Acting School, Academy of Live and Recorded Arts and the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts where he was head of acting.

He also taught advanced acting process (a course for professional actors) for six years at the City Lit in London.

Since 1993, thousands of young people have appeared the stages of the UK’s most famous theatres including The London Palladium, Theatre Royal Drury Lane, the Dominion Theatre, Her Majesty’s Theatre and the Royal Albert Hall.

Theatretrain has twice represented the UK at the World Festival of Children’s Theatre, in 1994 and 2007.

In 2009, the artistic team created a mammoth project called The Long and Winding Road with 5000 schoolchildren who performed the story of The Beatles at The O2 Arena.

The special guest was Bill Bailey. In 2010, another 5,000 young people performed Licence to Thrill, a spectacular spoof of James Bond.

The special guest this time was Blue Peter’s Andy Akinwolere.

In 2010, at the Royal Albert Hall, 1,000 Theatretrain pupils created the most ambitious performance to date.

Voices for a Better World told the story of a tribe who had to go to war to learn the value of peace.

On this occasion they were joined by 120 young people from 26 different countries who rehearsed in London for 10 days.

This performance was the inaugural performance of the World Children’s Theatre Ensemble.

Since 2012, Theatretrain has supported the Theodora Children’s Charity who provide Giggle Doctors to children’s hospitals, hospices and specialist care centres across the UK.

On 14 July 2013, 3,500 pupils and teachers performed a particularly spectacular show, 20@O2, at the O2 Arena in London.

This 21st birthday show paid tribute to 20 years of unique large scale performance.

Theatretrain has performed in many countries around the world such as in New York, USA, and in 2015 and 2016 Theatretrain students performed in the Disneyland Paris pre-parade.

In September 2017, Theatretrain celebrated its 25th birthday with a special show at The Royal Albert Hall in London titled 25 Years – A Celebration!.

In November 2018, in a one day event, they raised £62,738.92 for the charity.  

As the worldwide Coronavirus entered the UK in 2020, the company created within days, on-line offer.

This included Zoom classes for most pupils, social media activities including masterclasses and live events.

The interconnected nature of the company meant that many local and national projects were created that brought the company together on-line.

A highlight was the August 2020 Festival – Theatretrain in Mind.

The company moved with the times and made even more prominent, life skills as part of the theatre process.

Theatretrain present Peter Pan, the Musical.[2]