The Lit Young Writers Festival 2020 - Registration Open

As you may have heard the 4th annual 'Lit Young Writers Festival' for 14 - 19 year olds is going ahead in a entirely digital format with all events and incredible workshops running through Zoom, running from the 19th - 21st of November.

Since its going to be digital 'The Lit' and everyone can work from the comfort of their own homes we have has a larger lineup of incredible authors, journalists, poets and musicians than usual with this years guests including current Laureate na nÓg - Áine NÍ Ghlinn, Sarah Maria Griffin, E.R. Murray, Amy Beashel, Dave Rudden and Beau Williams. As well as livestreamed music sets by local Hard Rock duo Bankrupt and a performance by local artist Aliens in Caves.

But thats not all as the Lit Team have organized four exciting creative
writing and songwriting workshops hosted by four brilliant guests. Megan Nolan (A brilliant Irish writer and journalist based in London) will be running a workshop on writing in the first person for different mediums, Colm Keegan (A writer and poet from Dublin, Ireland) who will be hosting a workshop on the use of phrases, Ciara Ní É (A poet, activist, broadcast, blogger, and YouTuber, and the founder of the bilingual spoken word event REIC) who will be running a bilingual workshop on capturing the beauty of Irish in the written word and Robert Power (An independent artist from the town of Carrick-On-Suir in County Tipperary, Ireland, who has worked in various mediums.) will be running an incredible workshop on songwriting

All four of these workshops are happening on Friday and are completely free, which you can sign up for through eventbrite - https://bit.ly/36okc6S. If you need assistance registering for any of our workshops or issues with installing Zoom please get in touch by sending an email to info@waterfordyoutharts.com or by calling our office at 051 879377.



Stolen Time Livestream

“See what happens when Imogen wanders into the woods where nobody goes because many years ago a child had a tragic accident there. What is it about these woods that makes them so strange and eerie and what is that sound that she follows? Will Imogen ever emerge again and does she even know what's real or imaginary anymore....”

Waterford Youth Arts and Garter Lane Arts Centre Presents - 'Stolen Time' (A mature and magical youth theatre production written by the highly imaginative local playwright Martina Collender and directed by the incredible Liam Meagher the powerful pair who previously wrote and directed our past productions  'One Hundred Thousand Breaths' in 2016 and 'If The Lights Change' in 2017.)

Originally Stolen Time was set to be performed in Wyse Park but due to the new covid regulations, Stolen Time will
now be live-streamed from Garter Lane Arts Centre on
Thursday the 27th of August at 9 pm, which you can
watch via our official YouTube channel - 
https://www.youtube.com/user/WaterfordFilms
and will run for approximately 70 minutes. Not suitable
for young people under 14 due to mature themes.




Digital Youth Arts - A New Term of Exciting Workshops


Its a tough time for humanity right now due to COVID19 and theres generally not a lot to do to get our minds off it. A lot of businesses are closed but Waterford Youth Arts is still running most of our workshops, through the use of Zoom (Video Communication Technology) for FREE.

Starting the week beginning the 27th of April most of our great workshops - Creative Writing, Drama, Film and Visual Arts will be returning for five weeks and will run until the end of May. 

You can get involved from your own home as Zoom is free and works with most devices and if your living anywhere in the south east and between the ages of 5 and 19 you can get involved. Please note that due to the restrictions we have changed our workshop schedule so check it out before you book - https://bit.ly/2REEEda

All Tutors and moderators of the digital workshops are Garda Vetted so you can be guaranteed that its a safe
environment.  To register send an email to info@waterfordyoutharts.com along with the young persons name, age, address, telephone number 
and the workshops they want to get involved with or 
by booking online through eventbrite -
http://waterfordyoutharts.eventbrite.ie to get started.




The Ted and Mary O'Regan Arts Bursary 2020





Plenty of time to apply for the 16th Annual 'Ted and Mary O'Regan Arts Bursary' ( The purpose of the Award is to assist an individual or individuals, either from or with a strong connection to Waterford City or County, to pursue and develop their chosen arts discipline.) inaugurated in 2005 in honor of this power couple who done so much for the arts in Waterford.

Criteria for the Bursary is open and flexible, people of any age can apply. In the past the Bursary has facilitated recipients to attend a third level arts course, but this is not a requirement. The award will aim to fill the financial gap which prohibits an arts worker or arts student of any age or any arts discipline achieving their
artistic goal.


The Bursary is funded by a combination of local arts organisations and by individual contributions from friends, associates and family of the late Ted and Mary O’Regan. Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford Youth Arts, Waterford Spraoi, and Theatre Royal are among the local arts groups and this combined with the support of Waterford City and County Council makes this annual award possible. Together, these organisations have enabled the awards committee to offer 55 local artists a total of more than €90,000 so far, in support of their activities, since the foundation of the Bursary.
In addition to the general bursary, an additional award of €1500 will be sponsored by Waterford Variety Theatre Group. This award will be as flexible as possible but is designed to offer emerging Musical and Variety Theatre practitioners the opportunity to develop their
careers either locally or further afield.
The closing date for this year’s awards is
Friday, May 29th at 5pm. Further information
and application forms  can be
downloaded from our website - 
https://bit.ly/2RdcExe.
Photos are of Brenda Carroll (top) and Megan Maher (bottom) receiving they'reTed and Mary O'Regan Arts Bursary Awardslast year.

Summer Theatre Project 2020

25 Summer Theatre Productions over the same number of years and now in the second month of our 35th year in business, we are still as passionate as ever about Youth Theatre. This year we are proud to announce our 26th Summer Theatre Project - 'Swinging On The Swings' a brand new production by Martina Collender that will be directed by the one and only Liam Meagher.


This powerful pair have a brilliant track record together having worked on 'One Hundred Thousand Breaths' (2016) and 'If the Lights Change' (2017) this one will definitely be great.

Now its your turn, if you or a young person in your life is between the ages of 15 and 19 years old is a young actor or actress or just interested in theatre and would love to spend six weeks putting on a professional theatre production in the same away professional theatre companies do, this is one event not to miss.

This year the Summer Theatre Project kicks off on Monday the 20th of July and will end on Saturday the 29th of August after several performances, full commitment will be required as its a full time project so make sure your available before signing up. This year there is a maximum of 20 places and it will cost 40 euros to get involved (bursary available if requested). No experience needed to join the fun.

To join pick up a form from Waterford Youth Arts up in the Old Military Barracks on Barrack Street  or request a form by sending an email to info@waterfordyoutharts.com and drop it back to the office by Friday 20th of March by 5pm after which all applicants will be invited to a workshop event on Saturday the 28th of March where Director Liam Meagher and Writer Martina Collender and from this workshops they will decide on the cast for the show.

The Magic of Volunteering

Personal growth is a powerful thing and one of the many ways young people develop into outstanding individuals, is through the arts. 

Waterford Youth Arts is a safe and secure environment for young people to learn, engage and  explore a wide variety of artistic mediums in a fun way, thanks in part to the great practitioners who  pass on their knowledge and know-how and the incredible volunteers who keep our workshops running smoothly. 

WYA is always looking for new volunteers who are driven, open to new experiences, who like working with young people and have a genuine interest in the arts. If this sounds like you and  if you have 2 or more hours each week (consistently) to assist our practitioners with encouraging the young artists of tomorrow get in touch.

As part of the workshops not only will your time and effort be beneficial to young people you will also get a lot back, as it’s a great way for you to learn about the variety of art mediums  – Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Film and Visual Arts through participation in workshops and leading, but you may also learn something new about yourself. 
If you would like more information you can drop into the Arch on Barrack Street, make an enquiry through WYA's Facebook and Twitter pages, contact the company through email at info@waterfordyoutharts.com or call reception at (051) 879377 for an immediate response. All potential volunteers will have to go through Garda Vetting to be considered for the role.



WYA 35 - The Young Playwrights Programme


Waterford Youth Arts is proud to launch a brand new creative writing venture, for aspiring playwrights called - The Young Playwrights Programme.
From now until the 24th of April, we are calling upon young writers (14 to 19 years) to submit 
a short play or an extract from a longer work, maximum length of 15 minutes. Of these submissions three plays will be selected and the writers will be mentored by professional playwrights - Nicola Spendlove, Jim Nolan and Martina Collender, with the final result being a rehearsed reading of the selected plays as part of The Lit Festival 2020.
The Young Playwrights Programme aims to encourage and nurture the talents of young local writers and to give them the challenge of writing plays. Through this new programme we hope it will give them new skills and create exciting pieces of Theatre and give them the opportunity for their work to reach a wider audience.

All submissions should be sent to info@waterfordyoutharts.com 
by Friday 24th April, where they will be evaluated by our
panel of writers and feedback will be provided to all playwrights
even if their work is not selected, so get out there and get writing.




 






Resolutions - A new play about Homelessness

New years resolutions are easier said than done, but this Friday the 24th and Saturday the 25th of January make one resolution that you can keep and go see Waterford Youth Arts brand new one act play 'Resolutions' (A serious play about homelessness, with a sprinkle of humor.).

Set to be performed in St Patrick's Gateway Centre at 8pm each evening and a matinee showing at 2pm on Saturday.Tickets are available at the door for €7 euros or €5 euros concession, all funds raised will go to support the work of 'Helping Hands' the local voluntary group that feeds the homeless group that feeds the homeless every night of the year. 

Resolutions’ is a new one act play that looks into the past, present and future of characters from Waterford City as they go through the tradition of counting down to the New Year. The play was created by the older drama members of Waterford Youth Arts with their director Martina Collender. It is a strong issue based piece and is definitely not aimed at children.

So come along its a great production and its for a great cause. See you then.  

Waterford Youth Arts - January 2020 Workshops

Its officially 2020 blog readers, a start of a brand new decade filled with possibilities and opportunities. This year why not try something new or get back into something you love with our brilliant range of workshops.

Returning this year are  Creative Writing, Dance, Drama, Film and Visual Arts Workshops which are starting back on the week of the 20th of January. With workshops for 3 to 19 year olds we have something for all ages. Membership costs 45 euros per term (nine weeks) except for visual art which is 65 euros to cover the cost of materials. 

To register or get more information on our workshops you can visit Waterford Youth Arts up in the Arch on Barracks Street, give us a call by ringing the office at 051 879377, get in contact via email at info@waterfordyoutharts.com, you can also book online through eventbrite - https://bit.ly/36DG9h6 (additional surcharge applies). 

Take a look at our workshop schedule for the days and times of our workshops or view our website for more information on any of our workshops

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