EYT FESTIVAL
Annual festival of English Youth Theatre in Brussels
EYT Festival 2025
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On the 7th, 8th and 9th of February 2025, our 120+ Senior students from Brussels, Antwerp and Waterloo each performed an individual one-act show as part of the EYT Festival! Our students got to tread the boards at the beautiful Zinnema theatre in Anderlecht, where our first ever EYT Festival took place!
This year, we also celebrated 25 years of EYT!
What is the EYT Festival?
The EYT Festival is a week-end of celebration, where the students of English Youth Theatre get to perform on a big stage, in front of a large audience, alongside their classmates.
Each Senior group (ages 14-18) prepares a one-act play from September to February to be performed at the Festival. We take care to ensure that each group performs a different type of play, varying the styles and themes to create an interesting mix of shows. The students are also encouraged to watch each other's performances, fostering a sense of community between them.
At the end of each night, the Festival Judges take the stage and give a short, but detailed and constructive critique of each show they have seen, offering the students praise, insight and advice on how to improve in their future performances. At the end of the Festival, the Judges give out awards for Best Show, Best Performer, Best Supporting Performer and more, giving the students incentive to give their all to their performance.
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Taking part in the EYT Festival is an amazing experience for the students. They get to meet the other groups, learn how to work in a professional theatre environment, and bond over their shared experience. Additionally, by grouping the shows together into a festival format, we ensure that the students get the chance to perform to a much larger audience than if they simply performed their own shows separately.
The Awards
The Diane and Paul Gray Trophy
1st Prize
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This trophy is awarded to the group with the highest score, as marked by the festival judges.
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It is named in honour of Diane and Paul Gray, beloved members of Brussels' theatre community and parental figures to EYT's founder, Lynne. It was kindly donated to EYT by Diane and Paul's son, Oliver.
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2025 Winner: DNA, Woluwe Seniors 2
The Silver Anniversary Cup
2nd Prize
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This trophy is awarded to the group with the second highest score, as marked by the festival judges.
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It was purchased by EYT to commemorate our 25th anniversary year.
2025 Winner: Gargantua, Stockel Seniors
The Third Place Cup
3rd Prize
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This trophy is awarded to the group with the third highest score, as marked by the festival judges.​
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2025 Winner: Brainstorm, Flagey Seniors 1
The Mike Cockburn Drama Cup
Best Performance
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This trophy is awarded to the actor or actress who gives the best individual performance of the festival, as decided by the festival judges.​
It is named in honour of Mike Cockburn, co-founder of EYT. It was donated to us by Dame Judi Dench after Mike's passing in 2005.
2025 Winner: Verónica Jara, as Verónica in Brainstorm
Best Supporting Performance
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This trophy is awarded to the actor or actress who gives the best supporting performance of the festival, as decided by the festival judges. Unlike the Mike Cockburn Drama Cup (which can be won by any performer), this award is reserved to actor​s in supporting roles.
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2025 Winner: Louis Branch, as John Tate in DNA
EYT Festival 2025: Photo gallery
EYT Festival Award History
​EYT Festival 2025 (4th Edition), at Zinnema (Anderlecht)
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Best Supporting Performance
Louis Branch (EYT Woluwe Seniors 2), as John Tate in DNA
Other nominees: Vlad Constantin (EYT Stockel Seniors) (2nd nomination), ElzÄ— Kotryna KuraitÄ— (EYT Woluwe Seniors 1)
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Mike Cockburn Drama Cup for Best Performance
Verónica Jara (EYT Flagey Seniors 1), as Verónica in Brainstorm
Other nominees: Eva Bordes (EYT Woluwe Seniors 3), Milla Bošković (EYT Flagey Seniors 2)
The 3rd Place Trophy
Brainstorm, by Ned Glasier, Emily Lim and Company3 (EYT Flagey Seniors 1)
2nd Prize - The Silver Anniversary Cup
Gargantua, by Carl Grose (EYT Stockel Seniors)
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1st Prize - The Diane and Paul Gray Trophy
DNA, by Dennis Kelly (EYT Woluwe Seniors 2)​​
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EYT Festival 2024 (3rd Edition), at Espace Lumen (Ixelles)
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Best Supporting Performance
Ishika Sharma (EYT Woluwe Seniors 3) (2nd win), as Esmeralda Garcia in Dark Times At Cawdor High
Other nominees: Vlad Constantin (EYT Stockel Seniors), Tom Korytar (EYT Flagey Seniors 1), Antoni Wardyn (EYT Woluwe Seniors 1)
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Mike Cockburn Drama Cup for Best Performance
Nathaniel van Wanroij (EYT Waterloo Seniors), as Himself in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)
Other nominees: Amaia Cereijido Adams (EYT Antwerp Seniors), Haizea Bengoa Castells (EYT Woluwe Seniors 2), Amber May (EYT Woluwe Seniors 2)
3rd Place Trophy
The Trojan Women, by Euripides (EYT Woluwe Seniors 1)
2nd Place Trophy
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield (EYT Waterloo Seniors and EYT Stockel Seniors)
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1st Place Trophy
Dark Times At Cawdor High, by Jake Vaughan (EYT Woluwe Seniors 3)​​​​​
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EYT Festival 2023 (2nd Edition), at Espace Lumen (Ixelles)
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Best Supporting Performance
Ishika Sharma (EYT Woluwe Seniors 2), as Sabela in The Red Death
Other nominees: Mairead Creedon (EYT Flagey Seniors 1)
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Mike Cockburn Drama Cup for Best Performance
Sunayana Kapoor (EYT Bascule Seniors) (2nd win), as Dean in Pronoun
Other nominees: Joshua O'Brien (EYT Flagey Seniors 1), Nathaniel van Wanroij (EYT Waterloo Seniors)
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2nd Place Trophy
The Wardrobe, by Sam Holcroft (EYT Woluwe Seniors 1)
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1st Place Trophy
The Red Death, by Stephen Challens (EYT Woluwe Seniors 2)
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EYT Festival 2022 (1st Edition), at Zinnema (Anderlecht)
Adjudicator's Award
Chorus of The Golden Door (EYT Woluwe Seniors 1)
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Best Supporting Performance
Louise Binand (EYT Waterloo Seniors), as Antler in Remote
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Mike Cockburn Drama Cup for Best Performance
Sunayana Kapoor (EYT Bascule Seniors), as Zara in Chaos​
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1st Place Trophy
Chaos, by Laura Lomas (EYT Bascule Seniors)