The young writer pitched the story about teenage love and angst - "It's basically me using my own adolescent agonies and embarrassments to make other people laugh," she says - to CYT in 1985 in response to a callout for plays.

The company produced Dags and it proved to be a breakout work for Oswald, who's had a long career as a writer including the long-running TV show Offspring.

But she's only one of many people who have worked with and benefited from Canberra Youth Theatre during its 50 years of existence.

CYT alumni include playwright and screenwriter Tommy Murphy (Holding the Man) and playwright and actor Liv Hewson (Santa Clarita Diet), actor-writer Jonathan Gavin (Cleverman) and writer-director Tasnim Hossain (Carpark Clubbing).

CYT's predecessor, Canberra Children's Theatre, was started in 1969 as a collective of local drama teachers and theatre makers and the organisation officially became Canberra Youth Theatre in 1972.

The company has moved home a number of times and is now a Resident Arts Company in Gorman Arts Centre, working with and for young people aged between seven and 25.

CYT's artistic director, Luke Rogers, who's now in his fourth year, says the company's core purpose is "providing opportunities for young people to share their voices and express themselves through the making of excellent theatre."

As part of the 50^th anniversary year, Rogers says that in addition to new and ongoing training programs and workshops there will be four major productions - three of them world premieres - at venues in the Canberra Theatre Centre.

To start the season, Rogers is directing a new production of Dags, about an awkward 16-year-old girl with a crush on the most popular boy in school. It opens on April 1.

Oswald came to Canberra from Sydney to study English at the ANU in the 1970s.

"I had a play done at the National Playwrights Conference in Canberra when I was 17 in 1977, The Two Way Mirror, about a teenage girl which I was at the time," Oswald says.

Since its premiere in 1985, Dags has been published and produced in Britain and the US as well as Australia. The play is still being mounted and Oswald has never been asked to update it: while some aspects of life, such as technology, have changed, the underlying emotions and concerns of adolescence have not.

"I feel extremely lucky - I wouldn't have written that play if CYT hadn't commissioned it," Oswald says. She will be coming back to Canberra to see the new production.

Dags, says Rogers, "holds up extremely well - even some of the cast talk about how relatable it still is. Some thought it was a new play that happened to be set in the 80s."

He says the fact it was commissioned by CYT and its ongoing relevance made it an apt choice for the company's 50^th anniversary.

The next production, in June, will be the premiere in the Courtyard Studio of Canberra writer-director Cathy Petocz's Initiation, developed over the past two years in collaboration with CYT students, in which six teenagers are lost on Black Mountain.

"It has teen horror movie tropes mixed with the reality of teenage life," Rogers says.

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In September, Rogers will direct another premiere, Julian Larnich's "big political comedy" How to Vote!, set in the treacherous world of university student politics. Canberra Youth Theatre commissioned the play in 2020 and it was workshopped and developed throughout 2021, including a staged reading in the House of Representatives Chamber at Old Parliament House.

"It will have a final cast of at least 30 on the Playhouse stage."

Finally, in October, Jena Prince will direct the premiere of Kate Walder's Soul Trading, winner of the Australian Theatre for Young People Foundation Commission in 2019. It's set in 2079 where humans are created with gene selection technology and children's best friends are their Learning Bots.

As well as the theatre season, Rogers says there will be new and returning programs to support and expand opportunities for young and early career artists in the Canberra region. The weekly workshop Ensembles for primary and secondary students will be offered at two new venues in 2022 in Gungahlin and Queanbeyan as well as continuing at Belconnen Arts Centre and Gorman Arts Centre.

CYT's Emerging Artists Program provides opportunities for early career artists aged from 18 to 25 to take part in artistic training and creative development programs, explore and shape their individual artistic practice, and build professional networks. Resident Artists - in 2022, they are Caitlin Baker and Sophie Tallis - build their leadership skills, collaborate on productions, run creative developments, and develop their own projects.

Among the returning programs is Scratch, for emerging artists to meet, network, test new material and receive constructive feedback. There will be specialised masterclasses with theatre professionals and young writers can join the Young Playwrights Program or apply for the Emerging Playwright Commission. In the new Engage program, Rogers says, "young people will see and criticise work", meeting to read and watch plays, take part in post-show discussions and publicly share their reviews. Another new program, Backstage , offered in collaboration with the Canberra Theatre Centre, will give young people hands-on experience in lighting, sound, and other technical aspects of theatre.

Rogers says, "I think [Canberra Youth Theatre] has reached 50 years because it continues to evolve in response to the needs and passions of young people."

Dags is on at the Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre from April 8 to 13. For bookings and for more information see canberrayouththeatre.com.au.

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