British Youth Music Theatre Announces 2025 New Music Theatre Award Winner

Will Jackson and Elinor Peregrin have been announced as the winners of this year’s New Music Theatre Award (NMTA) to develop their musical theatre show Sea Change for production in 2026.

The announcement was revealed at BYMT’s end-of-year Let It Snow celebration at Woolwich Works on Sunday, December 14.

Peregrin (composer/co-lyricist) and Jackson (writer/co-lyricist) are a Birmingham-based writing team who met through their mutual nail tech. They are passionate about creating shows that make for a great night out, tell stories set outside of London, and explore what Britishness means today. 

Sea Change is a bold new folk musical exploring belonging, community, and the risks and rewards of stepping into the unknown. Myth meets modern Britain in this reimagination of Selkie folklore; blending shanty-inspired folk with contemporary storytelling. It is about young people making life-shaping choices, about communities uniting in the face of change, and about the eternal pull between freedom and belonging.

Peregrin is a composer, actor and writer whose performing credits include My Lover was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse. Her new folk musical Elbow Deep, about sheep farming and baby loss, is currently being developed by Birmingham Hippodrome and was showcased at BEAM. Jackson is a writer, actor, director, Associate Artist at the National Youth Theatre and mentor for NT Connections. His playwriting credits for youth theatre include The Final Showdown at Birmingham Hippodrome and Make Me Feel at the Bush. 

"I’m thrilled that Eli and I have won," said Jackson. "It’s such an exciting opportunity to join the BYMT family. Sea Change is a show all about young people finding their path, so I can’t think of a better way for it to premiere. I’ve been a huge fan of Eli’s work and feel very lucky I've had the chance to collaborate with her on this. It's incredibly rare to have the support in writing a show of such scale. I can’t wait to see what the young company creates and how they will bring our characters to life in ways we’ve never imagined."

"Winning the NMTA with Will is such an adventure," said Peregrin. "To get our work staged in a leading UK theatre venue and performed by such talented young people is just a dream. To get to work with such a big cast and bring the magic of British mythology to the stage is so exciting. I’m so looking forward to working with BYMT to create something the performers can really get their teeth into and seeing how they make the show their own."

"We are delighted to be working with this inspirational duo, Eli and Will, to develop and produce their first musical together as a writing team," said BYMT creative director Emily Gray. "The themes of transformation, questioning what it is to be mythological and/or human and creating united communities feel pertinent and perfect for BYMT’s Young Company. Watching and helping  Sea Change take shape is going to be magical, playful and powerful."

"The engaging story line, detailed characters and brilliant music drew me to love this show," said Hannah, NMTA Panel. "The style of music is one that is rare in musical theatre, so it really stood out. This show will be a great fit for a BYMT production because of the integral role each character gets to play in the show. I can’t wait to see how this show comes to life."

The NMTA is an annual prize to find and support exciting new writers, lyricists, composers, musical producers and creators based in the UK or Ireland. The prize provides the winner with a platform to develop their first new musical to full production with the young people of the BYMT company. 

Established in 2019, previous NMTA winners are: Eden Tredwell (writer/lyricist/composer) for The Glamification of Loki - which premiered at Southwark Playhouse Elephant in August 2025, 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 Dickens Girls.