New Stage is NAYD’S new writing initiative for Irish Youth Theatres. This is a huge project and we want as many youth theatre’s to get involved as possible.

NAYD has commissioned three playwrights to write three new plays for Irish youth theatres. The three plays are:

Understanding Marcus by Veronica Coburn

A group of Dublin Teenagers take the Dart everyday to Summer School. With the arrival of a strange young man, their lives are turned upside down with tragic consequences.

Two For Joy By Raymond Scannell

In the wake of her death in a joyriding accident, part time dealer and small time hood Joanna Foley tries to piece together her final hours amongst Cork City’s Boy Racers.

The Terrace By David Parnell

The lives of a group of young people unfold around the dramas of their local team in a small Irish Town.

These three plays explore very different themes from three distinct worlds but they are all issues and settings with which young people in 21st century Ireland can identify. The plays offer exciting dialogue and unforgettable characters for young actors to explore and play. For audiences they offer a chance to see plays written for Irish voices in Irish settings. From the dark dirty boreens of Cork’s City Limits to the coastal stretch of the DART from Howth to Dun Laoghaire to the small time passions of local soccer.

For youth theatre leaders, producers and directors they offer new exciting challenges. Purposefully written to require minimal sets and lighting, the scope for a director’s vision are not bound by cost and budget but by their own ingenuity and imagination. How do we stage the full scale modified car rallies in Two for Joy or the intensity of the crowd at a crucial football match in The Terrace?

The scripts are only the beginning of the New Stage journey. Between now and November we are asking youth theatres to come on a thrilling ride with us. With the launch on May 17th we will all get to hear the scripts being read aloud for the very first time. Which of the three is the best for your youth theatre? How will we stage this piece? What are the challanges for the cast? All these questions and more will be answered on May 17th as the road to New Stage unwinds before us.

In June NAYD will be hosting its Leading On weekend for all our New Stage directors. Under the mentorship of David Kelly and myself, our directors will be taken through the process of Directing New Writing For Youth Theatre over one full weekend. Texts will be explored, ideas shared, problems solved as we work together in unlocking your full potential as a New Stage director. All three writers will be on hand for a session of questions and answers. For your Youth Theatre this could be a great opportunity for senior members to take the reins as a director or to get the director you admire to direct your New Stage script.

When the summer is over the real hard work begins; directing your New Stage script. From September to November, all over the county there will be multiple productions of The Terrace in rehearsal. As one set of actors rehearse their parts in Dublin, different actors will be rehearsing the same parts in Cavan. As one set designer works out the staging possibilities of a dart carriage in a Cork production of Understanding Marcus a different lighting designer will be plotting Two For Joy’s high-speed car chases in Co Sligo. With so many youth theatre’s taking part, no two productions will be the same. Each group will put their own skills and talents into making their productions unique.

As the dark days of winter envelope us the real fun begins. We will be hosting our two regional festivals in mid to late November. This is a great chance for you all to get together and show each other your stuff. Over two fun-packed days there will be performances, workshops, analysis and most of all craic. How different or similar will your production be from the next group?

New Stage doesn’t stop there. Once the regional festival is over its time to go back and present your New Stage play in your own community.

If your still not convinced that New Stage is the Youth Theatre project for 2008 come along to Project on May 17th and let us change your mind. Details are below:

What? Launch and Rehearsals of New Stage plays

Where? Project Arts Centre, East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

When? Saturday 17th May from 11am - 4.30pm

Let us know you’ll be there. Download a booking form from the New Stage section of our website.

We welcome youth theatre members from interested youth theatres to attend.

See you on the 17th,

Alan