The three Louth Youth Theatres, Dundalk Youth Theatre, Droichead Youth Theatre, and M.A.D. Youth Theatre ( Dundalk), will convene in Carlingford Adventure Centre from the  6th to the of 8th November for an exciting residential weekend of workshops, skills-sharing, and performances called The Conclave in Cooley.

Youth Theatres are a unique youthwork practice, which engages young people as active participants in theatre.  Rarely working from a script, youth theatres meet as a group, usually every weekend, and require commitment and an inquisitive mind on behalf of the members, all of whom are aged between 12 and 18 years old.  The adult leaders are a key part of the success of youth theatres, providing facilitation, leadership, and mentoring skills.

County Louth in 2015 is a hive of youth theatre activity.  In April, M.A.D. Youth Theatre staged the Irish premiere of “Remote”, by Stef Smith, in An Táin Arts Centre, Dundalk.  This visually-beautiful production later traveled to The Lyric Theatre, Belfast.  

Droichead Youth Theatre presented the powerful drama, “The Laramie Project”, by Moisés Kaufman, to great acclaim, and the production returned to Droichead Arts Centre for a second run in May.

In November, Dundalk Youth Theatre will stage the world premier of a new play, “The Gossip Gang”, devised by the company and scripted by Don McCamphill, on the 19th and 20th November in An Táin Arts Centre.

In addition to the weekly workshops and productions, the Louth youth theatres had a busy and exciting year working with other groups and external facilitators.  M.A.D. Youth theatre hosted a group of young actors from Prague Youth Theatre, Droichead Youth Theatre took part in The National Festival of Youth Theatres in Kilkenny, and Dundalk Youth Theatre hosted a series of workshops in association with Tinder Box Theatre Company.

During The Conclave in Cooley, two of Ireland’s finest professional theatre practitioners will facilitate a series of workshops and master classes.  Raymond Keane, Artistic Director of Barabbas, will facilitate a series of workshops entitled “I a clown “and Declan Gorman, playwright/director, will facilitate workshops entitled “A Town Called Now”.   Declan will also perform his acclaimed one-man show, “The Dubliners Dilemma”, over the course of the weekend.

“The three youth theatres in Louth are great examples of young people learning new skills, gaining fresh experiences, and at the same time, setting their own agendas within their own youth theatre.  For them to come together in Carlingford will be both enjoyable and stimulating, and it will also be a great opportunity to learn from two brilliant and innovative theatre practitioners”, said Brian Harten, County Arts Officer.

The Conclave in Cooley is funded by CreateLouth, The Arts Service of Louth County Council, and The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.