Hawke’s Bay Youth Theatre is a registered charitable trust, committed to actively nurturing a safe and encouraging creative space for young artists. It is important to us that young people feel comfortable fully immersing themselves in their creative work, laughing, bonding and pushing themselves beyond their creative boundaries. Hawke’s Bay Youth Theatre offers theatre training classes to students from year 6 through to year 10, which leads on to the auditioned 'Company' class. The Company for 15-19 year olds, has a focus on advanced acting skills that pave the way for possible further tertiary training. 

HaBYT was established as a charitable trust in 2003 by director and teacher Ken Keys, also well known as the founder of the National Youth Drama School (NYDS). Between 2003 and 2013, Ken produced and directed over 50 productions for HaBYT while teaching Hawke’s Bay’s fresh young talent advanced theatre skills. A number of former HaBYT members have gone on to train as actors and technicians at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School and other tertiary theatre training providers. As of 2021, Hawke’s Bay Youth Theatre is administered and overseen by a board of trustees, each of whom are respected professionals in their relative fields. The future of HaBYT is very exciting as we connect with industry professionals locally, nationally and internationally to bring the very best of theatre experiences to young people in Hawke’s Bay.