A Dream Play

National Youth Theatre Presents

A DREAM PLAY

AUGUST STRINDBERG
in a new production by CARYL CHURCHILL

Directed by Jimmy Fay

On the Peacock Stage at the Abbey Theatre

Produced by the National Association for Youth Drama

8pm Wednesday 25 – Saturday 28 August, 2010

Previews 8pm Monday 23 & Tuesday 24 August

“It’s a brilliant way to unite people through a shared passion. At the risk of sounding like a Hallmark card written by Steven Spielberg, I think that’s quite beautiful. “

- Joseph Ryan (16) – Dublin Youth Theatre

“The play is mad. When I’m trying to describe it to someone really briefly, I’d usually just label it as “gas craic altogether”. “

- Claire O’Reilly (16) – Independent Youth Theatre, Dublin.

“As Strindberg shows us, even the oddest of odd has it’s place”. - Ben Naughton (16)- Boolabus Youth Theatre, Dun Laoghaire

Christopher Nolan’s new film about dream-stealers, Inception is dividing the Twitterverse this summer. And just as the subject of dreams hits the zeitgeist, Ireland’s National Youth Theatre announces a unique production of Caryl Churchill’s version of Strindberg’s groundbreaking experiment in surrealism, A Dream Play.

The 2010 cast of 16 teenage actors (aged 16-19) are now rehearsing in Dublin 5 days a week with one of Ireland’s leading theatre directors Jimmy Fay. The cast comprises youth theatre members from all over Ireland – Sligo, Cork, Longford, Dublin, Drogheda, Donegal and Tipperary – after a rigorous national audition process.

This talented group , some of whom will receive their Leaving Cert results during rehearsals, will multi-play 39 parts, devising their own scenes within the structure of the play. Renditions of various modern and classic songs by The Smiths and Doug Ellington will be used in the production to illustrate the darkness, chaos and search for meaning that the play explores.

A Dream Play was written in 1901 by Swedish playwright, August Strindberg. Abandoned by his wife, Strindberg wrote A Dream  Play in the midst of a mental breakdown, dubbing the play ‘the child of my greatest pain’. His goal was to write a play that imitated the form of a dream. It remains one of Strindberg’s most well-known and influential plays, and is seen as an important step toward dramatic and literary expressionism and surrealism.

The play attracted some of the twentieth century’s most celebrated directors, including Max Reinhardt, Olaf Molander, Antonin Artaud, Ingmar Bergman, Robert Wilson, Mike Dempsey, and Robert Lepage. This edited version by Caryl Churchill was staged at the National Theatre in London in 2005. “I’m not sure how I’d feel if someone treated one of my plays the way I’ve treated Strindberg’s” she said at the time. “I’d like to think he’d be glad about this version. I’d like to make him smile. But maybe he’d say “Oh woe. Life is wretched.” “

Cast
The final cast for the 2010 NYT Production of A Dream Play are:

Hilary Bowen Walsh(19) – Sligo Youth Theatre; Tadhg Buckley(17) -CSM Youth Theatre, Cork; Darragh Cooney(16)– Backstage Youth Theatre, Longford; Jemma Curran (19) – Dublin Youth Theatre; Gene Holland (16) – Lightbulb Youth Theatre,Mallow, Cork; Janna Kemperman(19) – Independent Youth Theatre, Dublin; Ronan McDevitt(16) – Letterkenny Youth Theatre, Donegal; Ailish McCarthy(17), Independent Youth Theatre; Alex Moloney(16) – Dublin Youth Theatre; Emily Matthews (17) – Fracture Youth Theatre, Nenagh, Tipperary; Leah Minto(17) – Dublin Youth Theatre; Ben Naughton (16)- Boolabus Youth Theatre, Dun Laoghaire; Jack O’Donoghue (16)– Boolabus Youth Theatre, Dun Laoghaire; Claire O’Reilly(16) – Independent Youth Theatre; Joseph Ryan (16) – Dublin Youth Theatre; Daniel Thomson(17) – Droichead Youth Theatre, Drogheda

Creative Team
Director Jimmy Fay
Producer Orlaith McBride, NAYD
Assistant Director John Taite
Choreography: Liz Roche
Set & Costume Design Ferdia Murphy
Lighting Design Eamon Fox
Sound Design: Philip Stewart

Listings Information
Dates: 23 – 28 August, 2010
Nightly at 8.00pm
Previews: Monday 23 & Tuesday 24 August
Opening Night: Wednesday 25 August
Matinee: Saturday 28 August at 2.30pm
Tickets:
Tickets: €12 – €25
Previews €15 – €18
Youth Theatre Member rate €12

The National Youth Theatre is an initiative of NAYD, the development organization for youth drama and theatre in Ireland. www.nayd.ie.

FOR FURTHER MEDIA INFORMATION:

Christine Monk | T: 087 675 5329 | christinemonk@eircom.net