discover a new language through theatre by Christina Matthews
While I have worked at a variety of levels in theatre, from the national stage at The Abbey, to a community hall in Enniskillen, with top professional actors, drama college students, and a multitude in between, there is something that pulled me back to youth theatre as my primary theatrical environment. Each year at Droichead Youth Theatre I get the opportunity to watch 60+ young people discover a new language through theatre, for telling stories, for channelling creativity, and for personal development. There is something magical about working with young people who are on the cusp of forging an identity for themselves in the world, as artists and as human beings, and they present a way of approaching both art and life that is refreshing and bold. According to Jonathan Neelands, “Most actors will spend their lives trying to recapture what was instinctive, natural and raw in them when they were young and first started performing: the heart, the commitment that goes into it is uniquely youthful.� It is this youthfulness, this passion and drive, that calls me back to the rough and ready joys of youth theatre creation time and time again, to delve into the endless discoveries that are possible through the medium of live, raw, unapologetic theatre. Christina Matthews is a freelance theatre maker and facilitator, and the current Artistic Director of Droichead Youth Theatre
www.droichead.com
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