M.A.D. Youth Theatre’s festival

M.A.D Youth Theatre is bringing their very first ‘Members One Act Festival’ to the Spirit Store on Tuesday April 4 and Wednesday April 5 at 8 pm. The young actors will be performing two new plays, ‘ Trapped’ directed by Lewis Magee and ‘ The Party’ directed by Barry Morgan. The plays are devised by the cast members under the talented facilitation and direction of the directors.

Director Barry Morgan explained: ‘We started this production with ten talented young people, a deadline and a lot of post-its. Very quickly the group decided they wanted to do a realistic play that might reflect the perspective of young people in the town. We then came up with characters, relationships and story arcs. This play looks at a whole range of issues that young people face. However, we were very careful not to be too overt in our approach. We didn’t want to make a Public Service Announcement about the dangers of drugs/sex etc. We wanted to create a complex, subtle and entertaining piece, that feels like it could happen in any house party across the country filled with characters that audience members of all ages will hopefully find very relatable.

‘ Trapped’ directed by Lewis Magee sets a different tone. Ten people find themselves locked inside a room, with no knowledge of how they got there or what connects them. Together they must escape their prison and work together but that is easier said than done.

Youth Theatre leader Geraldine Ball said: ‘ This is an exciting project for the young people to flex their artistic muscle and get the opportunity to work with directors other that our own Kwasie Boyce. Devising is not easy and the process takes careful persuasion and decisiveness. The guest directors did a fantastic job in getting the young actors to produce something they all can be proud of and which those who come to see it can enjoy.’