BYMT Reveals New Music Theatre Award Winner

Eden Tredwell has been announced as the winner of the New Music Theatre Award (NMTA) at BYMT's end of year Let It Snow! event at Shoreditch Town Hall on Sunday 1 December.

Composer, writer, and lyricist Eden Tredwell's musical is a comedy combining Norse mythology with an old-school musical spirit. It features Loki, God of Mischief, and a quest for the Apples of Youth which have fallen to Earth and ended up in a surprising location. The show will be developed by BYMT, including work with a dramaturg and workshops with BYMT's talented young people, prior to a London premiere as part of the company's 2025 summer season.

Eden is a London-based songwriter, composer, lyricist and writer, working in both pop and musical theatre. Her work includes Galaxy Train (The Other Palace Studio), The Canterbury Tales (Half Cut Theatre), The New Kid (Castlegate Arts) and more. She was the winner of the Stiles + Drewe Best New Song Prize 2021, and has been showcased at venues such as the Garrick and The Prince Of Wales. Her work spans everything from basement plays, actor-musician adaptations, cross-cultural ventures and even youth theatre. 

Eden said: “I am delighted to be the recipient of the New Musical Theatre Award, and to have the chance to do my show with BYMT. Youth theatre is very close to my heart, and I have long admired BYMT for their commitment to new musicals. This show combines mythology, mayhem and old-school musical comedy - a somewhat strange combination, but I've been told that it's right up BYMT's street. I can't wait!”

Emily Gray (Creative Director, BYMT) said: “The NMTA has become a brilliant annual opportunity for up coming writers and composers to have their work commissioned and developed with young people and then shared in prestigious venues. We are so excited to see how Eden's show will explode onto the stage with BYMT's fabulous young performers and musicians.”

Eleni Chivers (BYMT Young Company Panel member) said: “This year's NMTA winner was a stand-out choice for me. We've never seen Norse mythology explored in a musical theatre setting before and this new and exciting theme is something that young performers such as myself can engage with. What makes this piece perfect for BYMT is its diversity, uniqueness and the brilliant merge of fantasy and reality. The whimsical nature of the piece paired with its comedic aspects is something that I believe truly has that BYMT spark and I am so excited for this musical to be a part of the 2025 season.”

The NMTA is an annual prize to find and support exciting new writers, lyricists, composers, musical producers and creators under the age of 30, based in the UK or Ireland, giving them a platform to develop a brand-new piece to full production with the young people of the BYMT company. Established in 2019, previous NMTA winners are: Bethany Tennick (composer) and Iona Ramsay (writer) for Welcome to Serene, Lewis Cornay for Harry & Greta, Martha Geelan (writer) and Jack Godfrey (composer) for Babies (which went on to enjoy a professional run at The Other Palace following its BYMT premiere), and the first ever NMTA recipients Elizabeth Charlesworth (composer) and Rachel Bellman (writer) for The Dicken Girls.