Young Designers
Young Designers is a 10-week course for young people aged 13-17 exploring how designers bring theatre to life.
What is Young Designers?
Young Designers is a 10-week course for young people aged 13-17, which runs twice each year.
Explore how designers bring theatre to life in our weekly introductory masterclasses! Guided by industry professionals, you’ll get hands-on experience in stage and scenic design, costume design, hair and make-up design, and work with elements of technical theatre.
This course will focus on design for live performance, and you’ll learn skills applicable to theatre, film, TV, live music, and other visual art forms. Sessions are led by our experienced Northern Stage team, and you’ll work alongside guest artists and creatives working professionally in the region.
You’ll work towards a mini exhibition at the end of the course to showcase your skills. No previous experience needed – just bring along your enthusiasm for creating!
The course runs twice each year and covers two different topics. Please note that the two terms are treated as separate courses, and you can take part in just one, or both!
January – March 2027: Costume, Hair and SFX Makeup Design.
Understand the principles of designing and sourcing costumes for performance. Develop costume ideas, create mood boards, observe demonstrations, experiment with different design techniques, build your own costumes, and try your hand at special effects makeup.
September – December 2027: Set and Scenic Design
Learn the principles of building a world for a performance. Develop set ideas, create mood boards, build model boxes, try scenic painting and make props.
What you’ll do
- Take part in introductory workshops about different areas of design in live performance
- Meet professional designers and artists working in the North East, learning about their approaches to designing for the stage
- Attend live performances with an opportunity to discuss what you’ve seen
- Meet and collaborate with other Young Designers
- Gain an insight into the process of designing in a professional setting
- Explore your own artistic voice, try new things and gain and practice transferable skills
- Curate your own mini exhibition to be displayed at Northern Stage, complete with launch event
Young Designers is kindly supported by the Gillian Dickinson Trust.
When is it?
Costume, hair and SFX makeup design (Jan-Mar 2027)
Tuesday 19 January, 5-7pm
Tuesday 26 January, 5-7pm
Tuesday 2 February, 5-7pm
Tuesday 9 February, 5-7pm
Tuesday 23 February, 5-7pm
Tuesday 2 March, 5-7pm
Tuesday 9 March, 5-7pm
Tuesday 16 March, 5-7pm
Tuesday 23 March, 5-7pm
Tuesday 30 March, 5-7pm
In addition to the above session dates, there will be two visits to see shows at Northern Stage
Set & Scenic Design (Sep-Dec 2027)
Tuesday 21 September, 5-7pm
Tuesday 28 September, 5-7pm
Tuesday 5 October, 5-7pm
Tuesday 12 October, 5-7pm
Tuesday 19 October, 5-7pm
Tuesday 1 November, 5-7pm
Tuesday 9 November, 5-7pm
Tuesday 16 November, 5-7pm
Tuesday 23 November, 5-7pm
Tuesday 30 November, 5-7pm
In addition to the above session dates, there will be two visits to see shows at Northern Stage
Who can take part?
To be eligible to take part in Young Designers, you need to:
- Be 13-17 years old at the time the group starts
- Live in the North East of England
Fee information
The cost of the course varies depending on your circumstances. We have created a payment scale (see below) to help you identify which fee is appropriate for you. Fees cover the cost of the 10 sessions as well as tickets to selected performances at Northern Stage as part of the programme.
Fees are required to be paid in advance of starting the course and more information about how to do this will follow if you are successfully selected to take part.
Standard fee: £150 (If you have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Discounted fee: £90 (If you do not have the means to pay for the full value of the course)
Bursary places: FREE*
*Bursary places are limited and bursary applications from young people from a low-socioeconomic background, from the global majority or with a disability will be prioritised, in line with Northern Stage’s strategic priorities. As part of a bursary place, we can also support with the cost of travelling to and from sessions.
How to apply
Applications are now open for Young Designers: Costume, Hair and SFX Makeup Design starting in January 2027!
To apply, please fill out an application form.
Applications close on Sunday 29th November.
We will email you to let you know if your application has been successful by Friday 4th December.
Hear what our past Young Designers have to say…
The air is just full of excitement and when I come here, I’m just instantly hyped, like no matter how much of a day I’ve had.
Any creative young person should try all different types of design, especially if it has to do with theatre. I’d love to do the designers course again and I hope more people know about it and enjoy it as much as I have. I’ve made so many friends and learned so many skills.
It pleasantly surprised me how you don’t have to be the best artist in regard to drawing in order to design [costumes]. A creative vision is worth far more! I will take away design knowledge, new friends and a deeper love of Northern Stage.
I feel more confident now in contributing what I think and my ideas.
We were shown how to make model boxes by Anna. It was one of my favourite sessions. It was fun and interesting and I would definitely recommend it to young creative people wanting to try design. I loved getting to understand how set design works and how shows and sets are created.
It might sound kind of corny, but I feel like a little bit at home here
I found the course really interesting as a whole being able to learn lots of skills from people who have different jobs in the industry.
One of my favourite sessions of Young Designers was learning about special effects makeup, I enjoyed using wax and fake blood to sculpt and build up layers of injury. I learnt a lot from Laura about a career in makeup, and how to layer makeup to create the illusion of an injury.
