Dame Judi DENCH, Patron of SYTY. "Having been born and brought up in York I am delighted to support a youth theatre company that literally started on the streets of my home town. The origins and growth of Stagecoach is a story of great success and achievement. As an actress who has toured to many parts of Britain, I know very well the restrictions of a cramped or inadequate venue. With a company of 140 dynamic 8 to 18 year olds, the company has now created their own modern performance space where their talent & vitality can be fully exploited." John COOPER, Director, Producer and Founder of SYTY. John trained at East 15 in London in 1963. His first paid theatre job was follow spot operator in the original production of "Oh, What a Lovely War". He spent 15 years working fairly consistently in repertory and touring theatres all over the country, occasionally returning to London for small film and T.V. parts. John even assisted in the lighting of a "pop" concert, which headlined two lads from Liverpool called Lennon and McCartney. Over the next 5 years he met his wife, Katy, was given his first professional directing job, formed his first youth group, wrote a variety of revues and a Rock opera. He moved back to London and continued to direct, bringing to the public eye such names as Hale and Pace, Rik Mayall and Jim Carter. Three years later he formed his own professional touring company, Flying Tortoise Theatre Company, which took musical plays to younger audiences. Throughout the season they performed to nearly a million children, until Art Council cut's and Government changes killed the company, prompting John and family to move to York. In 1991, he set up a youth theatre, BYTES, a Saturday morning workshop session, consisting of an hour of song, dance and drama. It built a reputation for risk-taking performances, pushing "his bright young things to the max". Two years later he resigned after programming differences with his board of directors. In 1993, he formed a second youth theatre called STAGECOACH YOUTH THEATRE YORK. Originally starting as a musical theatre, the youth group performed their first show "Humbug!" at the, now defunct Arts Centre. This musical adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” was written by John. Since then the company has performed other original works written by John, including "The Real McCoy", "Danny's Dream" and "Run Ragged". And over the past 10 years John has directed over 60 productions and gained 150 active members.