Jamaica Youth Theatre (JYT) has been selected to participate in Contacting the World 2010 - a pioneering international theatre festival linking young people's theatre groups from around the world in the spirit of creating theatre across boundaries of geography and culture.

JYT is one of 12 companies chosen from more than 100 youth theatre groups worldwide to take part in this prestigious event. The festival which takes place in Manchester, England, will include participants from Iran, Palestine, the United States, South Africa, India, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, The Netherlands and Jamaica.

More than 150 young people from the 12 young theatre companies selected will be randomly twinned to engage in a seven-month exchange process to create brand new, visionary and truly global theatre/art. Contacting the World 2010 culminates in July when all the participants travel to the UK to participate in a festival of workshops and new performances.

Young thespians

Founded in 2004, the JYT comprises young thespians from across the island, each with a burning passion for theatre. JYT creates cutting-edge popular theatre, targeting young people as a means of social change, with a commitment to using Jamaican indigenous forms and popular culture to engage its audience.

The recipient of several regional theatre awards, JYT received the Prime Minister's Youth Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture in 2007 from the Government of Jamaica. In 2008, the group won the Actor Boy Award for Best Drama for its production of Errol Hill's Man Better Man.

Funded by Arts Council of England, this revolutionary international exchange project is developed and organised by Contact Theatre, one of the UK's leading, award-winning arts organisations working with young people based in Manchester in the North West of England.