Actor for Youth Drama Facilitator

We employ specially designed and unique theatre-based methods of development in assisting individuals and groups to combat social exclusion, educational disadvantage, and poor mental health. With groups, we • use theatre-making to help people share their stories • provide a space where life-skills can be practised while making theatre • Nurture creativity and imagination • Provide a forum for young people to publicly express their ideas in theatrical form • Strengthen positive self-image and identity through performance skills Our main focus is working with teenagers and young adults aged between 14 and 25, some of whom deal with depression, anxiety, and para-suicide-related problems. Others have problems finding a place or group where they can belong, having discovered that their difference is a cause of bullying (being labelled ‘gay’, ‘nerd’, ‘loner’ etc). The majority of our young participants however engage in youth theatre with us because it enhances their enjoyment of living. It also gives them a place where they can create meaning about their lives rather than consume opinion. In an average month we engage directly, for at least two hours, with between 50 ands 100 young people. There are weekly creative workshops that, on average, last for six to ten weeks and are either voluntary or are funded by partners with whom we collaborate. We also run once-off projects such as a week-long Human Rights Youth Theatre Festival every summer. Other programmes are long-term, running over a year or are on-going indefinitely. We do not receive core funding or administrative funding. Our work has been evaluated and studies by a range of organizations, including students from Maynooth University and Assessors from Britain’s National Theatre in London. Our own evaluations have shown that participants benefit from our drama programmes by developing skills such as: • Decision making • Dealing with impulsive behavior • Managing deferred gratification • Accessing information and using it usefully • Negotiating rights and responsibilities • Engaging creative faculties • Harnassing imagination and visualization • Developing critical self-reflection; critical environmental and social awareness; and critical contextualization of self in society • Performance skills • Physical dexterity • Pride of place and sense of belonging • Health and well-being. We have operated a Child Protection Policy since 2000, and our facilitators are all garda-vetted.