The programme for this July’s International Youth Arts Festival is bursting at the seams with details of 200 fantastic productions to be staged at venues across the Royal Borough of Kingston. A festival pass of only £60 (£30 for students) will ensure entry to any show at the Rose Theatre, Studio 101, the Arthur Cotterell Theatre at Kingston College, cornerHOUSE community arts centre and local pubs, clubs and performance spaces throughout the Festival.

The Rose Theatre will host the opening night on July 1st with a rousing programme showcasing many of the productions on show during the festival which runs from Juloy 1st to July 18th. And the Rose will also host the ROYAL GALA on July 6th when Festival President, HRH The Earl of Wessex, will attend the first ever student production of the explosive musical ‘Spring Awakening’ performed by graduates of the UK’s most successful musical theatre training course at Arts Educational Schools London.

Throughout the Festival audiences will be able to enjoy original plays, music, cabaret, circus performances and dance alongside electrifying work by a diverse range of playwrights from Shakespeare to Sondheim, Berkoff, Friel and as well as new work by graduates, young playwrights, directors and musicians. Names to watch include solo performer Matthew Lloyd, playwright Jessica Moor, director Matt Penman, artist Adam Newton and the theatre company, Pants on Fire who last year went from IYAF to the Edinburgh Fringe and thence to Broadway. IYAF 2011 will present its first ever short film festival organised by Kingston University students and graduates which will take place at the Odeon in Kingston. The Festival will also present dozens of free, outdoor events and performances.

www.iyafestival.org.uk Based on information supplied by .