6 – 8 October 2006
Perth Theatre
NFYT06 Official Event Report & Evaluation – click here to download a copy.
Powered by Scottish Arts Council, Perth and Kinross Council, The Foyle Foundation, The Garfield Weston Foundation, The Ganochy Trust, and The National Theatre of Scotland.
Youth Theatre is a lot like electricity, unpredictable, powerful, dangerous, and life changing… NFYT06 Live wire, high voltage theatre, powered by and generated for young people.
Early October… the leaves are beginning to settle in the hills and valleys of Perth and Kinross, all is quiet until between two and three hundred young people arrive, by plane, train and automobile, to meet, create, learn and perform, the NFYT had arrived, and Perth came alive…
Youth Theatres from all over Scotland (and from Ireland) met to celebrate the work generated by young performers over 2006. The festival was opened by actor James Mackenzie (CBBC’s THE RAVEN); James welcomed everyone to the NFYT, and was in the Redrooms bar/café late into the night chatting with all of the NFYT delegates.
I wouldn’t be an actor now if it wasn’t for youth theatre. But not only that, it gave me all my friends, so much confidence and the courage to pursue my dreams James Mackenzie
The Line up…
Seven performances featuring devised, scripted, musical and street theatre work, as well as productions from the National Theatre of Scotland’s ‘Exchange’ and Shell Connections projects held this summer took to Perth Theatre’s stage, studio theatre and town centre.
Giacomo’s Circus of the Fantastic!
RSAMD YouthWorks Drama in collaboration with Brunton Youth Theatre
It’s a stormy night when the ramshackle wagons of Giacomo’s Circus of the Fantastic! arrive in Littlington. Is Giacomo a megalomaniac with an evil army of deranged hip-hop clowns or an angel with a chorus of singing grizzly bears? What will become of Littlington?
An all new funky and sharp electro-score musical brought to life by a huge cast of young people!
Junction 25
A stereotype, a cliché, a tired metaphor…
An effort at freshness or vividness of expression
Fancy new words for familiar things…
In untrained or unrestrained hands,
A thesaurus can be dangerous
Junction 25 is the Tramway Theatre’s dynamic new experimental performance company for young people.
Finding Home
West Lothian Youth Theatre
WLYT participants have created and devised this piece of street theatre whereby the actors are the builders and the audience are the bricks!
Recently performed as part of the international street theatre festival in Den Helder, Holland Finding Home is a fun, inclusive, cultural and interactive piece of street theatre relevant to all age groups!
Trans-Global Airways
Toonspeak Young People’s Theatre
Every August, the cream of the world's airlines send their cabin crews to Kongatown to compete for the famed Trolley Dolly Golden Brolly Award. Eviljet have won the competition for as long as anyone can remember and they will stop at nothing to hang on to their title. This year their biggest threat is Toonspeak Trans-Global Airways, the youngest, funniest crew in the skies.
Scotland’s leading ‘open access’ youth theatre deliver a high flying piece of interactive theatre devised by the young people themselves.
Liar by Gregory Burke
Behind the Scenes Youth Theatre
Donnie is the new boy at school. He is also a liar. In fact, he’s not even called Donnie, he’s really called Ronnie, but he thinks that’s the sort of name a girl will go for. Assisted by his two advice giving sidekicks Eck and Beefy and up against the cynical girls, Ronnie picks his way through the social minefield and myriad teenage tribes of your average high school.
Performed earlier this year as part of Shell Connections, Liar is an explosive and cutting edge performance set against an animated backdrop created by the young Fife artists at 4D Animation.
Citizenship by Mark Ravenhill
Kildare Youth Theatre (Ireland)
A teenage boy, Tom, keeps having a recurring dream, in which he is kissing a shadowy figure. The only problem is that he can't tell if the person is a woman or a man...
The award winning Kildare Youth Theatre cross the water to present Citizenship, a bittersweet comedy about growing up written by one of Britain’s leading contemporary writers.
Who Ya Lovin?
East Ayrshire Youth Theatre
In love, out of love. Girls luvin boys, boys luvin girls, girls luvin girls. Anything goes, until things start to get too close to home...
Performed as the opening production for the National Theatre of Scotland’s Exchange Festival earlier this year East Ayrshire Youth Theatre worked with Visible Fictions to devise this gutsy, funny and insightful piece of theatre exploring the story of two sisters and the complex relationship webs they weave.
Not a minute was left unaccounted for the whole weekend. Between performances, some of Europe’s leading theatre, music and dance artists, kept the groups busy learning and laughing. The Wise Up workshop programme consisted of 11 skill development workshops in specialisms from, Cartoon Comedia, to Capoera, Street Theatre to Street Dance, Song Writing, Creative Devising, and the ‘Generate-in-8’ project which after only 8 hours of devising saw a daring cast take to the main stage to perform a piece they had devised together, having only met each other that morning. There were representatives from every youth theatre attending in the generate in 8 collective, with the process and performance facilitated by artists from the NTS.
It wasn’t just the groups performing who made the festival what it was, the other groups participating were, Macrobert Youth Theatre, Lyceum Youth Theatre, Tron Skillshops, Largs Youth Theatre, Falkirk Children’s Theatre, Comrie and Tulloch Youth Clubs, and of course the home crowd of Perth Youth Theatre, every single one of them brought energy and electricity, powering everyone through the weekend.
The NFYT 06 was a huge success, everyone wished they could stay longer, but alack the curtains closed, and all boarded their chosen modes of transport home, with happy but heavy hearts. Don’t just take our word for it though; here is what you had to say…
Dude, I loved all of it! EVERY SECOND! See you next year! – Brunton Youth Theatre member
I enjoyed performing to other performers with the same interest, the feeling of unity that we are all in it for the same thing – Toonspeak member
It rocked! - Tron Skillshops member
I enjoyed taking part in a workshop with people from loads of other youth theatres, learning a new skill and making new friends – V Good! RSAMD member
I most enjoyed the responses from the young people to the productions and discussion about them. Generate in 8 was absolutely brilliant - Lyceum Youth Theatre Leader
A great feeling to the whole event - WLYT Director
Giving young people the chance to learn new skills, while meeting new people and watch and appreciate new theatre! Excellent and exciting day thank you! Tron Skillshops Director
The second National Festival of Youth Theatre continues Promote YT’s mission to raise the profile of youth theatre throughout Scotland The Scotsman
The most electrifying Youth Theatre event to happen in this country Young Scot Magazine
