The Youth Theatre Support Scheme was created to meet a need expressed by our members. Due to limited resources, many youth theatres felt that they were unable to bring in outside facilitators or undertake a more ambitious series of workshops. A desire was also expressed for support in developing projects with other youth theatres.

NAYD developed the Youth Theatre Support Scheme as a way for youth theatres to supplement their existing artistic programmes. There are four strands to the scheme:

Theatre Skills Training: Support to bring in a facilitator to deliver up to four workshops in a particular skill or specialism. In the past youth theatres have brought in facilitators under the Theatre Skills Training to offer training to members in areas such as Commedia Dell’Arte, Clowning, Movement and Stage Combat. If you have a skill in mind but are not sure who is the best facilitator to bring in, you can contact NAYD for advice. €400 is the maximum award under the scheme.

Youth Theatre Partnership: Supports youth theatres in coming together for a workshop/series of workshops. Youth Theatres have used this scheme to help develop relationships with other youth theatres in their region. For example M.A.D. Youth Theatre (Dundalk) and Droichead Youth Theatre (Drogheada) got together for an improvisation workshop facilitated by the artistic directors of both youth theatres. There is up to €300 available towards travel costs and venue hire.

GO SEE YT: Supports youth theatres in attending productions by other youth theatres or professional theatre productions. There is up to €150 available per trip.

Drama Facilitation Support: Allows youth theatres to bring in a relief facilitator. Will cover the facilitation costs for a two hour workshop. Has been used by youth theatres when their main facilitator is unavailable for a week. Can be applied for at short notice.

Applications for the Drama Facilitation Support and GO SEE YT are accepted on an ongoing basis. The Youth Theatre Partnership and Theatre Skills Training have set closing dates. The next closing date for both schemes is 17 May.

How do I Apply?

There is one application form for all schemes. You can download it at http://www.nayd.ie/resources/show/ytsupports

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or need advice. You can phone me on 01-8781301 or email me.

We look forward to getting your applications.

Katie

Katie Martin

Administrative Officer

From 1st March, garda vetting will be a legal requirement in Ireland. The National Vetting Bureau Act is placing on a statutory footing that which up to now has been best practice.

If an organisation/group’s  primary function is work with young people, they must submit their staff and volunteers for garda vetting.  It will take some more time for the legislation to be fully implemented and for all the implications to become clear. NAYD is committed to keeping it’s members updated on developments in relation to the legislation.

Garda vetting can only be accessed through an organisation that is registered with the National Vetting Bureau. It is essential that groups who work with young people have access to vetting. NAYD is a Registered Organisation and operates a Garda Vetting Consortium on behalf of it’s affiliated youth theatres.  If you want to find out more about the Garda Vetting Consortium, please contact me on 01-8781301 or by email. 

Katie

Katie Martin

Authorised Signatory, Garda Vetting

Saturday 10th November has been set as the day for the Children’s Rights Referendum. The proposed amendment will enshrine the rights of children and young people in the Irish Constitution. It will help ensure that the views of children and young people are taken into consideration in issues that affect their lives. The referendum is taking place on a Saturday in an effort to increase the number of young people voting.
Whether you have members of voting age or not, this could be a good opportunity for youth theatres to increase their members’ awareness of the issues involved and of their rights in general.
If you would like to do some work with your members around the referendum and the rights of children and young people in general, Unicef Ireland have created a Children’s Referendum Toolkit on their website: http://www.unicef.ie/its-About-You-176.aspx

Katie

 We have just added a new resource on artistic planning to the NAYD Advice Centre. Here Youth Theatre Officer, Alan King, explains the rationale for its development: 

Since starting as Youth Theatre Officer, almost two years ago now, one of the mainstays of my work has been helping and guiding people with their artistic planning and strategy.

Through our ongoing discussions with groups in development and even with our long established members we have found that long term planning is one of the most challenging areas of youth theatre activity.

For many new and developing groups, so much energy and preparation goes into setting up the youth theatre through such tasks as forming committees, drawing up child protection policies, recruitment, that the one area that can take a back seat is the actual artistic activity.

Once a group has been set up and the first few introductory workshops of getting to know each other and simple improvisation have been explored, where do you go from here? We often plan from week to week with no regard for what happens in week 16 or years two and three.

What is long term planning? Well it’s the ability to plan way into the future, maybe as far as five years. It gives you achievable goals and an interesting and rewarding artistic programme to try with your group.

There is no hard and fast approach to planning your year, and as there are many different types of youth theatres, with different development needs, resources and members, no two youth theatres are ever alike.

It is for that reason that there is no ‘standard youth theatre syllabus’. NAYD has never developed one, nor to we feel it is appropriate to do so. What is appropriate and vital is to develop a programme that reflects your own needs and your desire to engage your members with interesting and challenging work. It is also vital that the group is encouraged to develop artistically, personally and socially and over time develop their own style and take some risks with the artistic programme.

If you were to do the same thing every year, boredom would soon set in and it is unlikely the youth theatre would survive.

We have recently developed a sample three-year artistic plan for youth theatres. It is not absolute or foolproof, but a well thought-out guide that can at the very least form a starting point for your own artistic plans.

It is a three-year cycle with separate terms in each year, programming workshops, with scope for productions. It also addresses the needs for social and fundraising activities for all members and their wider community to take part in and enjoy.

The resource comes in two parts.

The first part is a series of three easy to follow diagrams for each year in the plan. They are clearly laid out month by month. They list a series of artistic and strategic approaches for that time of year. For each year in the cycle the progress and development for the group is very clear.

The second part is a very comprehensive document that lists each activity with a further expansion and explanation as to the logic behind such activities.

Together they form a good guide to help you with your planning.

The three-year plan allows for development and trying new things while putting a strong weekly workshop at the very core of activities. It can be used for a group about to start for their very first year or can be applied to any group at any stage. It works off the rhythm of the academic year and if this doesn’t suit you please use it to coincide with the time-frame that best suits your group.

As I said it is not an absolute but merely a guide and a starting point. We hope that it helps and inspires you to plan effectively for your youth theatre!

Alan

View the 3 year Sample Artistic Plan

 Two members of Monaghan Youth Theatre share their experience of the New Stage Launch that took place on 19 November. They performed some scenes from one of the New Stage plays On Track by Ursula de Brun

Starting out from our little home, the Garage Theatre at eleven on a Saturday morning, to travel to Dublin and perform in the Lir Academy Theatre for fellow members of the NAYD, was one lie-in I didn’t mind giving up! After our quick once-over rehearsal, making sure it was perfect, we hopped on the bus, carrying two extra drama members that couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be there with us. After enduring a half-hour of our wonderful singing on the bus, Barry and Krista decided we should use our time a little more wisely. We began practicing projecting our voices over the loud noises of the bus, while saying our lines. After three verbal run-through’s and a quick stop-off at an Applegreen (we love us some Apple!), we arrived at the theatre.

We took some photos outside and then waited around in the theatre, getting the feel of the stage. After the other two youth groups arrived and had set up their stage, we all took our seats. During the other two fantastic performances, we were shown how simple it can be to create comedy, and how good the young members of our group can be. Even though we already know our junior members are amazing! We got up to perform our own ‘trailer’, (with butterflies in our stomachs!), and, if I do say so myself, it was pretty good! Meeting the playwright and getting told that we brightened her day was probably the highlight of the day. She was so nice and praising of our performance, best compliments to get after a play! On the way home we celebrated our performances, with lots of singing, junkfood and yes another stop at Applegreen! The day itself was an amazing experience and was made even better by the fact I got to do it with my best friends. Learning from other drama groups and the NAYD itself, was fantastic and I’m glad that the Monaghan Youth Theatre was chosen to take part. For us the members, as well as our mentors Krista and Barry. I love drama and thank you NAYD!

Eimear Deery

The day started off with a quick rehearsal and then we were all squished onto a bus and set off to Dublin. Again we ran through lines  on the bus but as soon as we had finished we relaxed and sang at the top of our lungs.
When we arrived we were led into a black box theatre. This was the first time I had ever seen let alone performed in one. The first play It Only Ever Happens in the Movies  was instantly my favourite. I enjoyed the concept of sixteen year old Derek seeking love. The ideas that his friends come up with are not the best bits of advice. The chat up lines were brilliant.
In Quest of A Play was the second play which also had a genius concept of a play about making a play. The sounds created by the cast really put us into the jungle along with the twins.

Finally we were up. I felt relaxed performing the play but I was slightly nervous because I had never used a black box theatre. Our play went well and I was shocked to hear that the writer Ursula De Brun was there but was overwhelmed when she told us how much she enjoyed it.

Overall I enjoyed the entire day and would like to thank NAYD for organizing the great day out.

Josh Mc Phillips

Find out more about New Stage. 

NAYD has just added a new Forum Theatre Resource to our website. The creator of the resource John Taite, ArtsTrain Assistant Coordinator, gives us some background on Forum and his own interaction with the form:

Forum Theatre is a form of interactive theatre developed by the late Brazilian Theatre director, Augusto Boal as part of his Theatre of the Oppressed. In Forum Theatre, an audience is shown a short play in which a central character encounters an oppression or obstacle they are unable to overcome. When the play has been performed members of the audience can take to the stage and replace the character, acting out alternative paths and decisions. The aim is not to discover the ideal solution but to encourage the audience to analyse the situation and to try out strategies for countering oppression. The format encourages a positive and thoughtful approach to social problems through debate and theatrical interaction.

I first encountered Forum Theatre through participation in workshops over ten years ago and found it a fascinating and very worthwhile concept. Over the years I have been lucky enough to meet and workshop with some of the leading figures in the movement including Augusto Boal and Adrian Jackson. As I discovered more about the material and techniques used in Forum, I also found it to be a wealth of workshop material that can be applied to all types of drama and theatre exploration. I began facilitating Forum workshops to Artstrain in 2002 and the training has remained a part of the programme ever since. This year we were given the opportunity to expand on this training and to deliver some of the material to a number of youth theatres as part of a project in conjunction with the Equality Authority of Ireland. The Forum Theatre training was delivered to the Artstrain group and they were then supported in designing their own workshops and drama pieces within a Forum Theatre framework. They delivered these workshops to each other as part of a peer process before writing them up and then identifying youth theatre groups to deliver them to. The workshops were then delivered over a series of weeks to a number of youth theatres.

As part of the project the Introducing Forum Theatre:Workshop Resource Pack has been created. It is hoped that this will be a valuable resource for drama practitioners and youth theatre leaders who wish to explore and deliver Forum Theatre but also as a source of material for all types of workshops. The Resource Pack is now available for download from the Resources section of the website.

John

The Skills Sharing Network is a independent collective of drama facilitators and youth drama leaders who meet bimonthly at agreed venues throughout the country hosted by different facilitators each time. It is back after a short hiatus and Alan King, NAYD’s Youth Theatre Officer, was at the recent meeting in Monaghan:

So as I caught the early bus to the Garage Theatre in Monaghan I began wondering what the day would look like for the upcoming Skills Sharing Network daylong workshop.

As someone who facilitates regularly it is always a nice treat to go a workshop as a participant and not have to lead a group. I am sure those of you who facilitate regularly often feel the same. The feeling of just standing in a workshop and being able to play and have fun is a rare one these days and one that I welcome with open arms.

As I arrived the atmosphere was relaxed and inviting. Krista and Eileen hosted the event in the wonderful Garage Theatre. The participants were a mixture of old friends and new unfamiliar faces. Over tea we swapped stories of recent encounters and upcoming plans for youth theatre events.

Niamh McGrath led us through her workshop on Recyclable Puppets. We did a thorough warm up; especially focusing on our arms and fingers, essential for puppetry don’t ya know. Following some fun improv exercises we got down to the very serious work of making our own puppets from junk.

Niamh had brought a huge selection of everyday household items; milk cartons, scrap fabric, brushes and kitchen utensils along with other arts and crafts materials. Her many boxes of eyes I found fascinating and disturbing in equal measure.

I would consider myself someone who is not every creative when it comes to arts and crafts; my paintings and drawings are basic at best. Soon I was shifting through the tables of junk, finding new creativity with every new piece I discovered, be it a BBQ tongs or a pipe cleaner. I wasn’t alone; everyone was milling around, gluing, tying and stapling incongruous pieces of junk together to make recognizable faces and characters. By lunchtime we had a cast of characters ready for play.

Thanks to our gracious hosts we all enjoyed a wonderful lunch and another round of tea and chats. More ideas were swapped and plans made for future events.

After lunch we presented our puppets and performed some short improvs. There was such creative enjoyment in the room and all in a very fun and supportive environment. Certainly this is the type of workshop we could all do again and again. It was so enjoyable.

To finish off the day we all had suggestions for our favourite games and exercises and played these out. It was great to see similarities in familiar exercises but also how subtle or radical variations can make a tired game come alive with renewed vigour.

I think this is what makes the Skills Sharing Network such an essential asset to our work as workshop facilitators and youth theatre leaders. We all facilitate week in week out and are always on the look out for new and interesting ways to engage with our groups. Whether it’s teaching them new skills, building on what we already have or just exploring new ways of having the craic, we all need new ideas.

What’s more given this country’s current economic woes we don’t have a lot of money to spend on taking training courses. Training courses can be expensive and are sometime offered so the facilitator can generate some income. Nothing wrong with that except very often these courses can have little new to offer or the material is delivered at the most basic level. I’ve certainly left some of these with a feeling of ‘well sure I knew that already, I could have done that myself’.

The Skills Sharing Network is different in that those offering workshops are doing so for free. As they are committed youth theatre leaders I can only assume that their hope is to share their knowledge with fellow youth drama practitioners in the hope that they too will take something new away with them. I certainly did.

This is a great initiative and special recognition must go to Aine Caulfied for taking the ball and running with it. Very often we all say that we will do things and often don’t. Aine said she would take the lead on this and she certainly has. Those who were in attendance in Monaghan certainly got the benefit of her hard work and networking skills. Special mention must go to Kirsta, Eileen and Barry for hosting the event all to all those that attended. It was a brilliant day and well worth all the effort.

This is going to be the start of something great so you better get in there early if you want to host or take part in future events. Ultimately we will all benefit from initiatives like the Skills Sharing Network, and this can only be a good thing. For everyone.

Alan

Aug 2011

To find out more about the Skills Sharing Network, visit their Facebook page.

 The National Youth Theatre is on stage at the Peacock this week with It Only Ever Happens In The Movies…directed by Mikel Murfi. For the first time in many years the production is devised and this has made for an even more unique and challenging experience for the young cast. Clodagh Duggan, of County Wexford Youth Theatre, describes the experience:

Being a member of the cast of the National Youth Theatre is like joining a family. We’ve all became so close within a matter of days since then have spent every possible moment together. It really is fantastic because we all share the same passion for theatre and making something that is truly ‘of’ us.

The devising process was a whirlwind because every element of the play was created by us, every day was different. The days that we got less work done than usual really shocked us, whereas when we had a day where all the pieces came together we felt more of a company of actors than before. It’s really nice to see everything coming together and see an idea turn into a scene in the play. We were able to put our own style on the play even as far as music and movement.
The audience will essentially follow Derek as he desperately tries to find love in a world where he sees all his best friends and movie icons find it without hassle. The play shows how our generation experiences love and what we want to say about it. We create different pictures, movement pieces and scenarios displaying where love can occur and how easy it is, to go un-noticed.

We have all learned many things artistically particularly in the form of physical theatre. A lot of the scenes in our play are derived from some sort of movement exercise that expanded into an idea for a bigger piece. We learned how to bounce ideas off each other and try to find the one that suited our vision for the play. Not only have we learned to work as an ensemble of actors, we have spent hours in dance and singing classes to improve our overall stage presence and hopefully improve the direction we have finally decided to take the play in.

This experience has meant so much to me. It was a chance to work with talented young actors from all over the country and really put all our skills to the test. The chance to work with Mikel Murfi is something I will never forget and I am so grateful I had the opportunity to do so. I will never forget all the friends I made here, we truly all became a family. As Mikel would say “THANKY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD”.

Clodagh

 Sharon Costello of Free Range Youth Theatre, Kerry was a participant on the recent Leading On.. residential in Maynooth. She shares her experience with us now!

Travelling from Kerry to Maynooth for the annual ‘Leading On’ residential weekend over the last couple of years has proven itself to be an inspiring and memorable trip for me. And this year’s June 2011 weekend was no exception. Guaranteed to excite and ignite the creative flame within, NAYD’s ‘Leading On’ course in Maynooth does just what it says on the tin. Facilitators Alan King and Dave Kelly led the group from start to finish on a journey which allowed us to navigate and explore the many exciting and different ways ‘in’ to creating and devising drama.

The group was comprised of drama facilitators and teachers from all around the country who share a similar interest in their love for practicing and teaching drama.  Warm up sessions with Dave are memorable due to his love of ‘Brain Gym’. Dave’s exercises will test your right and left brain coordination skills to their limit. Future participants’ be warned! May leave you feeling slightly frustrated and confused! What was so amazing about the introductory workshop for me was the ‘Greeting Carousel’. Here, participants moved around the imaginary carousel meeting and greeting each other.Each person was given a brown paper bag with some very simple but cleverly placed items inside to use at various intervals as directed by the leaders. A great welcoming session which got us using our imaginations right away while having lots of fun getting to know each other.

We learned a lot from each other and from the work we completed in the workshops which was both challenging and stimulating. Dave and Alan opened our eyes up to new avenues and ways in to the ‘story’ of the drama. I really feel that I have come away from it with a well of valuable material to bring to and use with my own group in the coming year. ‘Leading On’ is also about making connections and forming new relationships which may impact the ways in which we move forward, collectively. I can honestly say it is a fantastic way to finish off the school year.

Sharon

Orla Hughes of County Wexford Youth Theatre shares her experience of NAYD’s recent Audition Clinic for youth theatre members:

On Monday the 21^st of February I was one of eight participants to work with Alan King in NAYD’s Audition Clinic. The workshop was for youth theatre members who had an interest in auditioning for acting colleges. Everyone was applying to different places UCD, RADA, DIT and The Lir. But we all had the same goal, to improve our monologues.

We warmed up and played a few games. A beneficial exercise we did was one where Alan asked us questions about the character from our weaker monologue. He asked basic things about the play, for example:

When is the play set?

Is this monologue in the beginning, middle or end of the play?

Who are they talking to?

How would your character stand?

What emotions are in each line?

These challenged some of us to find out more and think more about the background of our characters. I found this helpful and it made me realise I need to know my character from my Classical monologue better. If I don’t know much about who I’m playing, no audience will find my character believable.

After this we set to work  getting up one-by-one and performing our monologues for each other. We saw everything from Shakespeare to a crazy guy who was over-protective of fruit! Even when it wasn’t your turn, the comments other people got were useful for learning.

Each person went home with a better understanding of what they were doing and what they needed to work on. I found it a really worthwhile day and would like to thank NAYD for organising the workshop.

Orla

If you couldn’t make the workshop, but want some tips for your audition, we have added an Advice Sheet on Auditioning to the Advice Centre of our website.