Like We Were Born to Move
By Eimear Hussey
Age range
16 +
Cast size
15 +
Approx. running time
90 mins +
Gender breakdown
Male: 6
Female: 7
3 non-binary characters (set genders)
Female: 7
3 non-binary characters (set genders)
Setting
Dance Studio/Shared House in Dublin 2022.
Note
A play about a group of young people navigating dance, care, and agency in Dublin 2022 - for a medium/large ensemble.
First performance
First performed by the cast of the National Youth Theatre, in the Peacock Theatre, August 2023. Commissioned by Youth Theatre Ireland for the National Youth Theatre ensemble 2022-23. Director Niall Cleary and playwright Eimear Hussey worked with an ensemble of sixteen young actors and four young designers from youth theatres across Ireland over eighteen months to create a new play about dance, care, and agency.
Synopsis
Like We Were Born to Move is set in Dublin 2022 and follows a group of 16 interconnected young people as they attempt to navigate life together. Sixteen-year-old Luna’s Mam has upped and left, and Luna has taken shelter in a shared house with Allie and Faith. Luna finds comfort in their new “friendship” with Faye, their lifelong bond with cousin Sofia, but it’s Faith they ask to fill the role of guardian when things feel like too much to handle. The plot also follows Allie’s dance group and their struggles to navigate their early careers, the housing crisis, climate anxiety, post-Covid dating, and life as young carers. LWWBTM is about waiting to be old enough to make your own decisions, and how terrifying it is when you realise you finally have to. It’s about dancers and dancing, adultified youths, and systems of care. There are catty siblings, guilty daughters, and Mam friends. There are fragile bodies, half-lies, and honest ones. It’s about the work we’re not paid for, the pain you shouldn’t ignore, and that boyfriend you really should break up with. The story is told through a series of dance pieces, audience address, and scene work.