i went to a school that had a drama department. in fact, it had a sort of adjunct theatre company called midnight youth theatre company. and through high school, i always did the school plays. i never got the lead roles, but i kind of was into it. butjenny davis, who remains a very good friend of mine, who s a theatre maker from perth of my parents generation, sort of wrote me a note one day and said, i m doing this version of love s labour s lost that has songs in it that someone else had written some years before. but we think the songs need to be rewritten, would you write the songs for it? we have a $500 budget, lovejenny. and it was on a card. you know, this is 1994. and i sort of thought, i don t know if i can do that, but if she s asking me to, she must think i can. but you were, what, 16? no, it was the year i turned 18. so i was 17 and a half. still quite an ambitious commission to take on. yes, i suppose so. but it was a youth theatre company
Town Hall Theatre Galway this week announced Lucy Birmingham, Tara Mackin and Noel Minogue as the three young people who will participate in the NASC Network Young Curators programme for 2023/24. Town Hall Theatre and its partner venues in the Nasc Regional Venue Network have teamed up to present a national festival across eight regional theatres - from Letterkenny to Tralee, from Galway to Dun Laoghaire - in June 2024, programmed by the team of young people selected through a nationwide open call.
It is a festival curated by Polka Theatre which showcases and celebrates Early Years Theatre by leading UK and International companies. The Festival includes inspiring shows for children and fascinating talks and workshops for artists and industry professionals.
to be chosen is a writer director from birmingham. cj, congratulations. first of all, how do you feel about being a queen s baton bearer? well, it s an amazing feeling. you know, i m still trying to process it because i didn t get the news that long ago. so, you know, everybody knows about it now. so it s really an amazing feeling. i feel ecstatic about it. now, do you know where you ll be running with it? no, i don t know where i ll be running with itjust yet. i know it will definitely be in the west midlands, but i haven t found out the location just yet. now, the nominees had to be inspirational people. now you re inspirational. what s your background that led to this? so my background is i m a writer and theatre maker, so a lot of people know me through the plays that i ve had on in london, kings cross, and also at the birmingham rep theatre, where i m currently based. so i had a play on last year, and it was during pretty much