Youth Theatre Ireland Launch National Recruitment Campaign

Today, Youth Theatre Ireland, supported by the Creative Ireland Programme, have launched a national recruitment campaign to increase awareness and membership of young people across Ireland. This is a particularly difficult time for young people as they face all of the challenges of resuming social and personal interaction with their peers and participation in youth theatre is an excellent and effective way of helping them to meet new people and learn useful life skills.

Eoghan Doyle, Director of Youth Theatre Ireland commented ‘For over 40 years, Youth Theatre Ireland has valued the social, personal and artistic development of young people and today we want to make more people across Ireland aware of youth theatre and the benefits it can have for young people. I want to thank the Creative Ireland programme for the continued belief and support of Youth Theatre Ireland to assist us in achieving our vision to empower young people through youth theatre and to provide access to youth theatre to every young person in Ireland.’

There is widespread concern for the wellbeing and mental health of young people and youth theatre is a proven way to support the social, personal and artistic development of young people. The benefits of youth theatre include *the learning of acting, design or performance skills in addition to other vital supports. Youth theatre helps to develop creativity, increase friendship circles, build confidence and self-esteem, increase wellbeing and happiness, decrease anxiety and stress, increase in fun activities and physical activity, build a sense of achievement and to develop the individual as a team player.

Alongside this recruitment campaign Youth Theatre Ireland, with further investment from the Creative Ireland Programme, are announcing a direct investment of over €34,000 directly into youth theatre groups across the country. This funding will support groups to re-open for in person activities for young people as well as running artistic programmes to attract new members.

Tania Banotti, Director, Creative Ireland commented on the importance of the campaign. “Creative Ireland is delighted to support the wonderful work of Youth Theatre Ireland. This initiative will enable existing youth theatre groups to welcome back young theatre makers who have not been able to meet for over a year. Youth Theatre Ireland has provided so many young people with a creative outlet that in turn supports social interaction and enhances wellbeing and we believe that it is important to make their programmes available to as many young people as possible.”

You can find your local youth theatre and find out about the full list of benefits and programmes provided by Youth Theatre Ireland by visiting YouthTheatre.ie

ENDS

*Source: Centre Stage +20, the third national study of youth theatre undertaken by Youth Theatre Ireland.