44 Interview by Ginny Farrell Amanda
Amanda Corbet
W
hat began with a small group of children and a production of Matilda
JR has grown into thriving youth theatre groups in Dartmouth, Teign- mouth, Kingsbridge and Paignton, with more than 130 young people now taking part each week. But for Amanda, 47, the numbers
are almost beside the point. “Te shows are brilliant, they’re
amazing, but it’s the journey that leads up to that,” she says. “It’s them finding their voice. It’s about allowing them that opportunity to be themselves in a place where they can just be them.” Tat philosophy lies at the heart
of DTC Youth Teatre, whose motto is: ‘Confidence on stage. Confidence for life.’ Amanda’s own journey to creating
the group has been anything but conventional. Originally from Crewe, Cheshire,
she moved to Devon at 16 when her father, Roy Cooke, took a job as entertainments manager at Devon Valley Holiday Park in Shaldon.
When Amanda Corbett started DTC (Dartmouth Theatre Company) Youth Theatre in Dartmouth in 2024, she had one simple aim: to give children somewhere they could belong. She could not have imagined quite how far that idea would travel.
Roy was also a musician and his daughter grew up surrounded by music, performance and the energy of holiday-park entertainment. She danced throughout her
childhood - ballet, tap, modern and even Morris dancing - before teaching herself to sing and successfully auditioning for a job at a holiday park in Brixham.
“We’re not your average theatre group,”
She started on £60 a week,
working evenings and taking breakfast shiſts to supplement her income. Within three years, her determination had seen her become the park’s entertainments manager. Over the following years she
worked in entertainment across Dev- on and abroad, on holiday parks and the cabaret circuit, choreographing, directing and producing shows. Ten came a life-changing
diagnosis.
All photos by Claire Gillo Photography Amanda has multiple sclerosis
and, ten years ago, suffered a major relapse which leſt her unable to dance or sing and temporarily in a wheelchair. “I couldn’t do anything,” she re-
calls. “It was like I’d had a stroke.” With intensive physiotherapy and
determination, she gradually rebuilt her strength. Te experience, she says, changed her outlook and made her even more determined never to give up. Aſter moving to Dartmouth with
her family just two weeks before the Covid lockdown, she found herself isolated in a new town. Her work performing in care homes stopped overnight. She returned to hairdress- ing and barbering for a while but knew it was not where her heart lay. Ten she saw an advert for a local
children’s performing arts franchise. “I thought, ‘I want to do that with
children.’” But taking the leap was another
matter. Her husband, musician Damian Corbett, believed in her, as did a close friend.
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