An Grianán Youth Theatre’s 2022/23 term was our first nearly normal year after all the disruption caused by the pandemic. Classes were in person and back in the building and it ended up being a very busy year with lots of different projects.
We started in August with a summer school intensive with our senior group who had chosen to produce a full length play for An Grianán’s autumn programme called A Vampire Story.
A dark and moody tale, it proved a great opportunity for the students to really stretch their acting skills, a challenge they were more than up for.
On a lighter note we also took part in the Halloween Parade in Derry which was a lot of fun and in December we revisited the glory days of Bugsy Malone for a reprisal of ‘Fat Sam’s Grand Slam’ at Constellations, a concert which celebrated local performing arts groups here at An Grianán.
In April our members took part in the One Donegal Diversity Showcase with a devised piece about racism by member Saoirse Alleyne.
In June we brought all our classes, junior and senior, together to perform a show devised by the students for Cruinniú na nOg. Inspired by 1980s pop culture this was a promenade style murder mystery show where the audience became part of the show as prospective students for a performing arts academy with an alarmingly high murder rate! It was great fun and very nostalgic for lovers of 80s culture like Fame and The Breakfast Club.
In July we were also delighted to be invited back to the National Festival of Youth Theatres in Kilkenny, our first time post-pandemic. Our resident facilitator Nora Kavanagh was joined by guest facilitator Orson Sterritt to look after our group of 7 students. The festival is always an amazing experience for our students, a whole week where they get to meet lots of other youth theatre students and tutors and experience a wealth of different workshops.
Looking forward to 2023/24
We’re really excited to move forward into a new year and welcome students both returning and new. We’ve recently being working on a new artistic development plan for the youth theatre and have lots of exciting plans in the offing!
We are holding auditions for new members on Sat 2 September – you can learn more here.
