Garek Theatre Camp | One-Week Programme 2026

Published: 28 Aug 2026

The energy was high for our exciting summer theatre camp!

Garek Theatre Camp at The Other Palace is our low-cost, inclusive, Summer theatre camp for young people that took place in August.

Bringing young people together from all over London with the aim of creating a short piece of original theatre – learning techniques in drama, dance, and music along the way. Its primary goal is to give them time to develop their performing arts skills (whether they have a lot of experience or have never participated before) while also providing them the opportunity to connect with new people and develop important life skills such as confidence and teamwork.

Our one-week programme, tailored for those with little experience in performing arts who would benefit from a shorter, more supported pace , took place from 3 August to 7 August.

Throughout the week, 15 young people participated in drama workshops led by Paul Andrew, Dance workshops with Georgie Mziu, Music with Ben McQuigg and a Backstage Careers workshop with Will Alder, plus a trip to the theatre to watch Hamilton and participate in a post-show technical demonstration and Q&A!

Garek Theatre Camp aims to build young people’s performing arts experience and skill development, while creating a supporting environment to express themselves with like-minded peers. The camp was a resounding success with 100% of young people reporting they learnt more about creating stories and plays, 96% learnt more about careers in theatre and 88% wanting to do a project like this again!

We asked the parents/carers of the young people to share how the camp impacted their young person:

100% noticed an improvement in their young person’s confidence

80% noticed that the young person was better at meeting and working with other young people.

65% noticed that the young person’s communication skills have improved

Parents shared some lovely testimonials:

“[Young Person] was excited to go to the camp every morning and couldn’t stop talking about the days activities all evening! I watched his confidence improve all week […] He has left the camp with so many happy memories and I have seen such a difference in his confidence in so many areas. Thank you all so much.”

“What stood out most to me was how warm, inclusive and genuinely welcoming the camp felt. [Young Person] came away happy, proud of herself and full of good memories. […] Theatre is something she really enjoys, and this camp helped her build confidence, independence and social connection. I am very grateful for the bursary and travel support, which made it possible for [Young Person] to attend.”

“An amazing opportunity to learn more about theatre, career opportunities and socialise. The latter is so incredibly important for those with social communication differences who struggle the rest of the school year to make such connections.”

We want to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped make our summer camp a reality for young people.

A very special thank you goes to The Garek Trust. Their incredible generosity and support were essential in making this exciting camp possible.

A big shout out to our Week One team… Paul Andrews (Lead Facilitator), all our Assistant Facilitators (Katherine Sharp, Leanne Henlon, Megan Drabble) along with Georgie Mziu (Dance Workshop), Ben McQuigg (Music Workshop), Will Alder (Tech Workshop) and Youth Forum Member Lydia Scott Johnson.

Finally, thank you to The Other Palace for their incredible support and hospitality in hosting our camp at their studio.