Young Performers Project

The Young Performers Project is a Durban based arts initiative.

Also found as The Young Performers Project, the Young Performers' Project, the Young Performer's Project, or named after its sponsor at the time (e.g. the Rainbow Young Performers Project, the PANSA Young Performers Project, etc.) .

The project

Founded by Linda Van Der Veen, the project is run by her with the support of professional artists based in Durban, including Themi Venturas, Charon Williams Ros, Dawn Selby and Peter Court.

Established in 2001, with the help of Unilever as first sponsor, it seeks to create opportunities for young performers to work on big musicals with professional artistes by presenting an annual major musical, most often at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre in Durban. The work supported by the Rainbow company and various other sponsors over the years, and co-presented by the Performing Arts Network of South Africa (PANSA) and at times in asociation with other local theatre companies and a range of sponsors.

The productions over the years have included Curtain Up (2001), One Voice (2002), Grease (2003), Oliver (2004), Fiddler on the Roof (2005), The Wiz (2006), Annie (2007), School of Rock SA (2008), Big River (2009), Hairspray (2010), Seussical (2011), Legally Blonde (2012), Can You Feel It? (2013), Footloose (2014), Soldiers in the City (2015), Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story (2016), Footloose (2017), Curtain Up (2019), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (2023)