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MA DISSERTATION FOR submission to Queens university Belfast
Space to PlayYouth theatre and the built arts infrastructure in rural areas of Northern Ireland
Submitted by Molly Goyer Gorman, BA
in accordance with Higher Degree Regulations for the Degree of MA in Arts Management in the School of Creative Arts of Queen’s University, Belfast on
16 September 2013
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NOTE TO READER
This dissertation was submitted in early September 2013, and the fieldwork was carried out in
June, July and early August 2013. There have been several relevant changes in the N.I. youth arts
sector since then which I would like to highlight.
In April 2015, the Ulster Association of Youth Drama (UAYD), which is referred to throughout
this dissertation, merged with the Northern Ireland Theatre Association (NITA) to become a
new organisation called TheatreNI. TheatreNI is the support and development body for the
performing arts in Northern Ireland, including in its widest terms the areas of drama, dance,
physical theatre, musical theatre and opera. Youth drama is a key priority for TheatreNI and the
organisation has retained several of UAYD’s flagship projects including the Partnerships in
Communities initiative, which gives youth drama groups the opportunity to collaborate with a
professional theatre company. Furthermore, one of TheatreNI’s aims is to ensure access to
youth drama in all 11 council areas.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland’s Youth Arts Strategy was launched on 25 September 2013.
Therefore, the ‘Draft Youth Arts Strategy 2012-16’ referred to in this dissertation is no longer
relevant. Readers should refer to the Arts Council of Northern Ireland Youth Arts Strategy 2013-
2017, available online at < http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-
documents/Youth_Arts_Strategy_2013_2017.pdf> [accessed 9 June 2015]. This is now a working
strategy document. It is interesting to note that several actions in the ‘Draft Strategy’ were
omitted in the final strategy. These ‘dropped actions’ include the following:
‘Encourage local councils and arts venues to provide young people with regular use of rehearsal
space and opportunities to showcase their work’;
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‘Establish a dedicated funding pot that can provide small grants to individuals or groups of
talented young people in support of their creative ventures’;
‘Commission a series of Case Studies to illustrate the contribution professional, arts led
approaches play in enhancing the formal and informal education of children and young people’
‘Create an on-line data warehouse to capture and store examples of local, regional and
international practice documenting the impact of youth arts activity within community and
education contexts.’
‘In collaboration with agencies and organisations working in the formal and informal youth
sector, hold seminars to explore best practice in participative arts.’
‘Work with sector stakeholders e.g. Culture NI, NITB, Belfast and Derry City Councils, in
establishing an online one stop shop providing information on cultural an arts events on offer
for children and young people (something similar to Young Scot)’
‘Encourage our portfolio of youth arts clients to provide young artists with career development
opportunities’.
Some of these commitments were replaced in the final strategy with more generic objectives
such as:
‘Promote the delivery of quality arts opportunities for children and young people by
encouraging more effective use of artists as catalysts for creative engagement’, and
‘Encourage progression, sharing and development amongst the youth arts clients, in view of the
importance of the network of arts organisations as the primary vehicle for improving the quality
of arts provision.’
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Please refer to the Youth Arts Strategy 2013-17 pp. 82-83 for the complete list of objectives
currently being implemented.
It should also be noted that the overall Arts Council Strategy referred to in this dissertation was
also a draft document. It has now been replaced by a fully-functional working strategy:
Ambitions for the Arts: A Five Year Strategic Plan for the Arts in Northern Ireland 2013-18. This is
available online at http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-documents/
Ambitions-for-the-Arts-5-Year-Strategy.pdf [accessed 9 June 2015]. There are several changes
between the draft strategy and the final version. For example, in this dissertation I mention that
the Draft Strategy includes the aim of developing bi-lateral Memoranda of Understanding with
Belfast and Derry City Councils. In the final Strategy 2013-18, this commitment has been
changed to: ‘Support the 11 new Local Councils to develop dedicated Arts Strategies’ – so the
focus has been broadened out from the urban centres.
Please note that some of the web links in my bibliography are no longer active.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS.................................................................................................................................... 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................................ 7
ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMS................................................................................................................. 8
ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................................ 9
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................................ 11
CHAPTER 1: SETTING THE SCENE.......................................................................................................... 13
1.1 Current definitions of youth theatre............................................................................................................13
1.2 Youth theatre in Northern Ireland, 1970s to 2013...............................................................................17
1.3 The term ‘rural’.....................................................................................................................................................20
1.4 ACNI’s Capital Build Programme...................................................................................................................21
1.5 Youth theatre and the built infrastructure...............................................................................................23
1.6 A sense of ownership of building, process and product?...................................................................24
CHAPTER 2: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY............................................................................................26
2.1 Research in this field to date...........................................................................................................................26
2.2 Theoretical influences........................................................................................................................................26
2.3 Delimitation of sample: the bell-wether model......................................................................................29
2.4 Categorisation of sample..................................................................................................................................30
2.41 Youth theatre members.............................................................................................................................30
2.42 Venue managers............................................................................................................................................31
2.43 Youth theatre facilitators..........................................................................................................................32
2.44 Young artists from rural backgrounds................................................................................................32
2.45 Representatives from funding and umbrella bodies....................................................................32
2.5 Research methodology......................................................................................................................................32
2.51 Consultation drama workshops.............................................................................................................33
2.52 Semi-structured interviews.....................................................................................................................33
CHAPTER 3: RESULTS OF FIELDWORK.................................................................................................35
3.1 Consultation workshops with young people...........................................................................................35
3.21 Sample of interviewees..............................................................................................................................40
3.4 Topics covered......................................................................................................................................................42
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3.41 Prioritisation of people or space............................................................................................................42
3.42 Arts communities and sporting communities..................................................................................42
3.43 Review of Public Administration...........................................................................................................43
3.44 Links between youth theatre participation and theatre attendance.....................................43
3.45 Venues embedded in the community..................................................................................................43
3.46 A sense of ownership..................................................................................................................................44
3.47 Technical theatre..........................................................................................................................................44
3.48 Benefits of youth theatre and need for their promotion.............................................................44
3.49 Capital Build Programme..........................................................................................................................45
3.50 Importance of quality facilitation..........................................................................................................45
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF KEY THEMES FROM FIELDWORK.......................................................46
4.1 Limitations of infrastructure in rural areas..............................................................................................47
4.2 The thrill of a professional stage...................................................................................................................51
4.3 Dedicated rural arts venues............................................................................................................................52
4.31 Dynamic groups and leaders...................................................................................................................52
4.32 Embedded venues, and shimmers of community..........................................................................55
4.4 Links between youth theatre participation and theatre attendance.............................................58
4.5 Towards a sense of ownership.......................................................................................................................59
CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS…………………………………………………..64
5.1 Conclusions.............................................................................................................................................................64
5.11 Facilitator training.......................................................................................................................................64
5.12 Links between groups and community venues...............................................................................65
5.13 Promotion of benefits of youth theatre..............................................................................................66
5.14 Local authority advocacy..........................................................................................................................66
5.2 Areas for future research..................................................................................................................................66
5.3 Final remarks.........................................................................................................................................................68
BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................ 69
Books & articles............................................................................................................................................................69
Strategies, project reports & policy documents.............................................................................................70
Interviews, consultation workshops and conference seminars..............................................................73
Websites visited for general research purposes............................................................................................76
Other.................................................................................................................................................................................. 77
APPENDIX......................................................................................................................................................... 0
CASE STUDIES.................................................................................................................................................. 1
Case Study 1: Quadrangle Productions, Ballycastle........................................................................................1
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Case Study 2: Craic Theatre and Arts Centre, Coalisland..............................................................................4
Case Study 3: The Hub Bt80, Cookstown.............................................................................................................7
EXAMPLE OF INTERVIEW DATA ANALYSIS.........................................................................................10
Background.................................................................................................................................................................... 10
Phone interview transcription...............................................................................................................................10
Clustering of themes...................................................................................................................................................14
EXAMPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW........................................................................................15
REPORT ON SHOWSTOPPERS CONSULTATION DRAMA WORKSHOP........................................16
Context............................................................................................................................................................................. 16
The area...................................................................................................................................................................... 16
The venue: The Bardic Theatre........................................................................................................................17
The group: Showstoppers...................................................................................................................................17
Arrival & Introductions.............................................................................................................................................17
Anyone Who…...............................................................................................................................................................18
Dominoes........................................................................................................................................................................ 20
Walking Debate / This or That..............................................................................................................................20
Final discussion............................................................................................................................................................ 23
COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE: THE HUB YOUTH THEATRE........................................................24
Anyone Who…...............................................................................................................................................................24
Walking Debate............................................................................................................................................................ 25
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A heartfelt thank you to all my interviewees for giving of your time and thoughts. A huge thank
you to Showstoppers at the Bardic and the Hub Youth Theatre. Special thanks to Stephanie
Faloon and Carol Doey for assisting with the consultation workshops. Thanks to the Ulster
Association of Youth Drama, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Young at Art for allowing
access to unpublished documents relating to my research question. Thanks to Keara Fulton for
her advice. A very special thank you to all involved in Young at Art’s Shankill Project, especially
Bonnie Soroke (my mentor), Ali FitzGibbon and Claire Kelly. Thanks to Elizabeth Donaldson and
the Spectrum Centre’s Art Den group, who provided the inspiration for this study: long may you
thrive! Thanks to Colin and Claire at Promote YT. Finally, thank you to my excellent dissertation
supervisor David Grant for keeping this work on track.
This study is dedicated to my mother, Kerry Goyer, and to Katy English.
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16, 449 words excl. footnotes (allowance for 10% over)
ABBREVIATIONS & ACRONYMSACNI The Arts Council of Northern Ireland
DCAL The Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure
GAA The Gaelic Athletic Association
LAMDA The London Academy of Music and Dramatic
Arts (UK’s largest statutory Speech and
Drama awarding body)
MAC The Metropolitan Arts Centre (Belfast)
NAYD The National Association for Youth Drama
(umbrella body in Republic of Ireland)
NI Northern Ireland
OED The Oxford English Dictionary
OFMDFM The Office of the First Minister and the
Deputy First Minister (NI)
RYT The Riverside Youth Theatre
UAYD The Ulster Association of Youth Drama
(umbrella body for youth theatre in NI)
UYT The Ulster Youth Theatre
YFCU The Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster
YFC Young Farmers Club
YTAS Youth Theatre Arts Scotland (umbrella body -
formerly Promote YT)
N.B. In this dissertation, I use individuals’ full names on first mention. In subsequent mentions, I
refer to interviewees by their first names and to any other individuals by their surnames.
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ABSTRACT
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has recently come to the end of its twenty-year Capital
Build Programme. A key aim of this programme was the provision of a dedicated arts facility
within a twenty-mile radius of 99 per cent of households in Northern Ireland. In their recent
evaluation of the programme, ACNI states that ‘more people than ever in NI have been able to
access […] the arts, particularly in rural areas’,1 making repeated reference to the programme’s
benefits to young people.2 However, a 2011 consultation by the Ulster Association of Youth
Drama revealed that a lack of access to suitable facilities for workshops, rehearsals and
performances is one of the key challenges faced by the youth theatre sector.3 The problem is
particularly acute in rural areas. This dissertation attempts to gauge ways in which the built arts
infrastructure is contributing to the development of youth theatre in selected rural areas of
Northern Ireland. The focus is on independent community venues rather than local authority
spaces. Drawing from my experience on Young at Art’s Shankill Audience Development Project, I
explore what is meant by a ‘sense of ownership’ of an arts space, and how this can be fostered
amongst young people.
The fieldwork methods consist of consultation drama workshops with youth theatre
groups and semi-structured interviews with practitioners. The sample of interviewees was
determined with reference to the ‘bell-wether’ model, i.e. focusing on a few key dynamic leaders
who are advancing the development of the sector in their local areas. Research methodology
also drew on applied theatre theory including Taylor’s ‘art of crystallization’.4 The fieldwork
results are analysed, cross-compared and considered against Lefebvre’s spatial theory.5
1 ACNI & Deloitte, Standing Ovation (Belfast: ACNI, 2013), p. 34.2 Ibid., p.37, p.38 & p.42.3 UAYD, Corporate Plan 2012-2015 (Belfast: UAYD, 2011), p. 9, p.10, p.24, p.25 & p.27.4 Phil Taylor, Applied theatre: creating transformative encounters in the community (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2003), pp. 129-132.5 Henri Lefebvre, The Production of Space, translation by Donald Nicholson-Smith (Oxford: Blackwell, 1991).
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This dissertation concludes by asserting that, whilst improved access to premises and
facilities is important for the advancement of the sector in rural areas, development of quality
facilitators and advocacy for the sector at local government level are perhaps the key priorities.
Recommendations are made for future areas of research, including investigation of the
economic and social value of youth theatre activity to individuals, groups and wider society in
Northern Ireland.
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INTRODUCTION
From July 2012 to May 2013, arts charity Young at Art undertook an audience development
project in the Shankill, Highfield, Woodvale and Glencairn wards: areas of Belfast which
experience high levels of deprivation. The project proposal notes that in these communities:
‘there is a perceived lack of ownership of some arts activities’.6 A projected outcome of the
Shankill Project was that participants (schools, parents and children) would gain ‘access to, and
ownership of’ public arts venues in the city.7 Belfast has recently enjoyed a period of high
capital investment in the arts, with the development of the large-scale new venue the MAC and
the renovation of several other cultural venues including the Lyric Theatre. The Shankill Project
recognised that it may be difficult for some communities in the city to feel as if they have a stake
in these venues, or, indeed, in the artistic activities which they house.
I interned as Assistant Co-ordinator on the Shankill Project from December 2012 to May
2013. I was involved in a process of endeavouring to foster a sense of ownership of the arts in
Belfast amongst groups and individuals from the project’s target communities. In my capacity as
documenter and evaluator, I interviewed many children, parents and teachers about their
experiences of live performance and exhibitions. I found that the older children (roughly in the
age range of nine to fourteen) tended to focus on physical descriptions of the venue spaces. For
example, one participant remembered ‘shiny and glittery stairs’ at the MAC.8 I had the privilege
of accompanying the Spectrum Centre’s Art Den group on their visit to the MAC. The Art Den is
a dynamic group of fifteen eight to fifteen- year-olds who meet during term-time to do visual art
activities. They visited an Andy Warhol exhibition before attending a theatre performance. I was
struck most not by the young people’s reactions to the exhibition and performance, but by the
6 Ali FitzGibbon (2011), ‘Audience Development Proposal: A Submission to Belfast City Council under Peace III’ [unpublished; accessed by kind permission of Young at Art, Belfast], p.8.7 Ibid, p. 6.8 Molly Goyer Gorman and Bonnie Soroke (2013), ‘Shankill Audience Development Project Report’ [unpublished; accessed by kind permission of Young at Art, Belfast], p.54.
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way in which they engaged with the MAC’s space. They were at first somewhat hesitant, sticking
together as a group. They bought sweets and sat quietly together on seats shaped like cacti.
However, a change in group dynamics took place when they visited Warhol’s ‘Silver Clouds’
installation. The young people began to relax and play with the oversized floating silver pillows.
This playful mood increased on their emergence from the exhibition. They all piled onto a large
sofa to have their photo taken, then split naturally off into groups. Several of the groups began
to play-act. A fifteen-year-old began miming that she and her friends were having a ‘posh tea
party’ at one of the foyer tables, and others followed suit. The mood was jubilant; the teenagers
had found their ‘space to play’.
This experience led me to reflect more deeply on Young at Art’s idea of building
ownership of cultural venues as well as of arts activities. My artistic background is in youth
theatre facilitation. I sit on the boards of the Ulster Association of Youth Drama and of
Quadrangle Productions, a Ballycastle-based youth theatre group. I grew up in the tiny village of
Cushendun where, as a teenager, I ran a youth drama scheme in the local parish hall. I was
aware that ACNI’s Capital Build Programme had increased the availability of dedicated arts
spaces in rural areas of Northern Ireland. I was also aware that the borough of Moyle (of which
Cushendun is part) has no such space, and falls into the 1% of areas which are further than
twenty miles from a dedicated arts venue.
I began to place my experiences of rural youth theatre in dialogue with my practice-
based reflections during my Young at Art internship, and my wider knowledge of the youth arts
sector. The impetus for this research was a curiosity to explore what is meant by young people
developing a sense of ownership of an arts venue, and a desire to gauge whether, and in what
ways, the sense of ownership of a physical space can impact on artistic practice.
Although the focus is on youth theatre, I am aware that issues discussed in this
dissertation may also apply to other art forms in the youth arts field.
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CHAPTER 1 SETTING THE SCENE
In this chapter, I will explore definitions of the terms ‘youth theatre’ and ‘rural’, proposing my
own interpretations of these terms for the purposes of this study. I will provide a brief history of
the youth drama sector in Northern Ireland, before addressing the relationship between rural
youth theatre and the built arts infrastructure, with reference to ACNI’s Capital Build
Programme. I will then explain the genesis of my research question.
1.1 Current definitions of youth theatre
Youth theatre is a world-wide practice. It is a hybrid art form with roots in applied theatre,
community and amateur theatre, Drama in Education, Theatre in Education, professional
theatre, youth work and community development (to name a few!). One might also include here:
Speech and Drama, musical theatre and celebrity culture.
Applied theatre is arguably the newest and most complex of these fields. Helen
Nicholson explains how the terms ‘applied theatre’ and ‘applied drama’ gained currency in the
1990s ‘as a kind of shorthand to describe forms of dramatic activity that primarily exist outside
conventional mainstream theatre institutions, and which are specifically intended to benefit
individuals, communities and societies’.9 Nicholson notes how some academics have
distinguished between the two terms, using ‘applied drama’ to denote a greater emphasis on
what Phil Taylor refers to as ‘drama in education strategies to teach about issues, events,
relationships’.10 ‘Applied theatre’, by contrast, is viewed by Taylor as more connected with
artistic practice and ‘powered by a strong sense of aesthetic education’.11 David Grant points to a
9 Helen Nicholson, Applied Drama: The Gift of Theatre (Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2005), p.2.10 Phil Taylor quoted in S. Grady, ‘Accidental Marxists? The Challenge of Critical and Feminist Pedagogies for the Practice of Applied Drama’, Youth Theatre Journal, 17 (2003), pp. 65-81, p.68.11 Ibid.
13
similar distinction between the uses of ‘community drama’ and ‘community theatre’.12 However,
both Nicholson and Grant themselves seem ambivalent about these categories.13 In strategy and
policy documents from Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, little time is spent making
theoretical separations between the terms ‘youth drama’ and ‘youth theatre’. That said, ‘youth
theatre’ is commonly used to describe a specific group/company of young people who mount
productions, as well as referring to the nature of their work. ‘Youth drama’, by contrast, is more
commonly used to denote the nature and practice of drama workshops and rehearsals, without
reference to their artistic products. Productions in theatre brochures are more often billed as
‘youth theatre’ than as ‘youth drama’, perhaps conveying more of a sense of an art form. It
should be emphasised, however, that these distinctions are tenuous. For ease of reference, in
this research I will endeavour to use the term ‘youth theatre’ to denote both the art form as a
whole and its working process and practices, as well as to refer to a specific company of young
people (a youth theatre).
A distinguishing feature of the applied theatre field is that it is often concerned with
social change. Nicholson notes: ‘Theatre […] has a particular part to play in the collective
exploration of ideas, values and feelings – as a space and place in which society might be
reshaped through the imagination.’14 Cathie McKimm, board member of the Ulster Association
of Youth Drama, posits that youth theatre can contribute to such an ‘imaginative re-shaping’ of
Northern Irish society. Cathie believes that in the process of exploring their own experiences,
and translating these into dramatic expression, young people will be encouraged to challenge
the politics of fixed identities:
12 David Grant, Playing the Wild Card: a survey of community drama and smaller-scale theatre from a community relations perspective (Belfast: Community Relations Council, 1993), p.8 & p.10.13 Of Taylor’s definitions, Nicholson writes: ‘I have not found this distinction in common use elsewhere’, Nicholson, Applied Drama, p.4.14 Nicholson, Applied Drama, p.19.
14
The best youth drama models will be ones that allow young people to involve themselves, to be at the centre of a process where they develop some kind of toolkit to open up their heads and hearts. In doing so, they will learn to ask those questions that are really hard to ask and, even more importantly, to listen to things that may be quite hard to listen to.15
UAYD’s Corporate Plan 2012-2015 does not offer a fixed definition of youth theatre. In
July 2013, UAYD launched a new membership scheme which is open to any individual or group
with a stake or interest in youth theatre. This scheme does nonetheless suggest some guidelines
for the development of the sector. Discount is provided for not-for-profit groups, and all
members are asked to subscribe to five core development principles. The first of these is that:
‘Young people are actively engaged in the creative process […] and feel they have a stake in both
the organisation and the work produced.’16 Fostering amongst young people a sense of
ownership of their artistic activity is thus central to UAYD’s mission.
Umbrella organisations for youth theatre in other parts of these islands have more
specific definitions of the art form. The Republic of Ireland’s National Association for Youth
Drama excludes profit-making organisations from its membership. Its conception of youth
theatre is closely associated with the youth work sector. NAYD assert that: ‘Youth Drama is […] a
unique youth work practice that engages young people as active participants in theatre by using
group or ensemble drama approaches.’17 However, NAYD also consider youth theatre as an
artistic practice: ‘a unique form of theatre that is defined by the contribution of young people’.
This conception of youth theatre as an art form in its own right is also emerging in Scotland. The
Scottish umbrella body for the sector, Youth Theatre Arts Scotland (formerly Promote YT), are
currently engaged in artistic development projects for ‘ambitious and provocative’ youth
theatre of the highest quality.18
15 Cathie McKimm, (2013), Interview on the Ulster Association of Youth Drama. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Common Grounds Café, Belfast, 16 July 2013.16 Ulster Association of Youth Drama (2013), Membership Pack, available to download at < http://www.uayd.co.uk/Become_a_Member.aspx > [accessed 12 September 2013].17 National Association for Youth Drama, www.nayd.ie (2013) ‘<http://www.nayd.ie/youth-theatre/what/> [accessed 15 July 2013].18 YTAS, www.ytas.org.uk (2014), http://www.ytas.org.uk/chrysalis/ [accessed 11th April 2015]
15
Although UAYD take inspiration from both NAYD and YTAS, UAYD’s current priority is
inclusivity of membership so they are eschewing definitions which could be seen as exclusive. I
have been privy to discussions around the definition of youth theatre at UAYD’s 2013 Skills Tap
conference. There is an on-going debate about how to balance the need for a quality
developmental process with the desire to work towards a quality artistic product. Some within
the sector question whether productions with very large casts, such as popular musicals, can
achieve the outcomes of personal and creative development as effectively as smaller-scale
devised projects can. However, in these debates, and in my interviews for this research, a key
point of consensus was the need for young people to take ownership of their youth theatre
activity, whether this is a musical, a scripted play or a wholly devised piece.
For the purposes of this research, I will propose my own interpretation of the term
youth theatre. Taking the lead from NAYD, I see youth theatre as a distinct art form and artistic
practice, but one which has strong links with personal development and youth work. Indeed,
quality youth theatre practice ‘makes an art’ out of personal and social outcomes. Youth theatre
as an art form demands that participants feel they have a stake in both process and product.
Youth theatre’s inclusive and developmental approach ensures that, as young participants learn
about the aesthetics of theatre, they are also engaging in a process of personal and social
development, which will ultimately enable them to reflect more deeply on themselves and
society, and, as facilitator Carol Doey asserts: ‘to make the life choices that are right for them’.19
1.2 Youth theatre in Northern Ireland, 1970s to 2013
Northern Ireland has a rich history of amateur drama activity in rural areas. In the brochure for
the 1971 Ulster Festival, the ‘Quality of Life’ section declares that: ‘There is hardly a town or
village in Ulster that does not have its drama group.’20 Whilst this statement could be read as
19 Carol Doey (2013), Interview on the Hub Bt80 venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], the Hub Bt80 (Cookstown), 1 August 2013.20 Brochure quoted in Mark Carruthers & Stephen Dodds (eds), Stepping Stones: The Arts in Ulster 1971-2001 (Belfast: Blackstaff, 2001), p.3.
16
promoting a certain idealistic view of rural communities, David Grant affirms in his 1993 study
that: ‘As is clear from the Arts Council's Public Attitudes Survey, amateur drama is immensely
strong in Northern Ireland.’21 Within the past four years alone, amateur drama festivals have
taken place in Lislea, Newry, Portadown, Bangor, Newtonabbey, Enniskillen, Carrickmore,
Newtonstewart and Strabane, as well as in Belfast and Derry.22 Grant explains that the
composition of amateur drama groups is largely middle-aged, and ‘there has never been a
systematic attempt to build up a youth aspect’ of the movement.23 Up until the late 1990s, youth
theatre in Northern Ireland was largely the preserve of the Arts Council.
In the late 1970s, Peter Melchett, NI Education Minister under direct rule, identified
community arts as a potential means of addressing the fixed identity politics and social
deprivation which he believed were fuelling the Troubles. Melchett gave the Arts Council the
following aim: ‘To encourage the artistic efforts of people living in deprived areas, particularly
when the artistic activity […] is especially relevant or linked to the lives and experience of local
people.’24 As part of its response to this brief, the Arts Council set about establishing a province-
wide network of youth theatre groups, who would deliver a centrally determined syllabus of
drama workshops. By 1978, twelve regional youth theatres were established. These were led by
facilitators who came mainly from the amateur drama tradition and they followed a set
curriculum determined by the Arts Council. The emphasis in these groups was on ‘process
drama’ and they were heavily influenced by the work of theatre educator Dorothy Heathcote.
Heathcote promoted the idea of using the process of drama workshops as a means of fostering
young people’s personal and social development, and of giving them decision-making skills to
help them become more responsible citizens.
21 Grant, Wild Card, p.12.22 Source: Amateur Drama Council of Ireland, ‘Map for ACDI Festivals’, < http://www.adci.ie/> [accessed 3 August 2013].23 David Grant (2013), Interview on the history of youth theatre in Northern Ireland. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Queens University Belfast, 19 July 2013.24 Peter Melchett quoted in Grant, Wild Card, p.7.
17
Although ACNI’s centrally determined curriculum did not last very long, its regional
groups continued to offer drama workshops across Northern Ireland for the next twenty years.
These groups received a steady drip of funding from the Arts Council. They contributed to
festivals such as ‘Connections’ at the Lyric theatre, and NI-wide summer productions, billed as
the Ulster Youth Theatre. David Grant speculates that, whilst artistically productive, this
centralised approach to delivery ‘may have inhibited the growth of an independent youth
theatre sector’.25
Towards the end of the 1990s, the Arts Council were under pressure to disengage from
direct artistic production. After a period of consultation, an independent organisation was
launched in May 1998: the Ulster Association of Youth Drama. A full-time administrator was
appointed in early 1999. The Arts-Council-run regional groups were abolished, and a strategy
was rolled out whereby UAYD would act as a membership support organisation for all youth
theatre groups. As a ‘secondary but integral role’, UAYD would also administer an annual youth
drama summer scheme based in an urban centre.26
In its Strategic Plan 2004-2009, UAYD reflected on the long-term impact of its
independence from the Arts Council: ‘This independence has been a double-edged sword in that
the organisation, on present resources, has been as yet unable to employ an individual who can
develop and deliver a long-term coherent artistic strategy.’27 This aspiration to one day employ
an artistic director was never realised. In 2007 to 2008, UAYD undertook the sectorial research
study ‘Mapping Youth Theatre’, which informed the development of their next Strategic
Business Plan, 2008-2011.28 This document marked a shift of UAYD’s activities away from
working directly with young people and towards providing services with a strategic benefit
such as festivals and skills development schemes. UAYD initiated Drama Fest, a celebration of
youth theatre which ran for three consecutive years. However, in 2011, UAYD’s role shifted yet
25 Grant, Interview on the history of youth theatre, 19 July 2013.26 UAYD, The Etna Effect: a strategic plan for youth drama, 2004-2009 (Lisburn: UAYD, 2004), p. 5.27 UAYD, Etna Effect, p.3.28 UAYD, Strategic Business Plan 2008-2011 (Lisburn: UAYD, 2007).
18
again, due in part to a reduction in funding from the Arts Council. Following further sectorial
consultation, a new strategy was developed for 2012-2015, which marks a clear break from
artistic production. UAYD now defines itself wholly as a development and support body. Its
focus is on building a communications infrastructure for the sector and on providing training
and networking opportunities for facilitators. Drama Fest has, for the moment, been shelved.29
Meanwhile, since the demise of the Arts-Council-run groups, an independent youth
drama sector has been slowly building up across the province. The practice of these groups
varies widely, and all do not necessarily subscribe to Heathcote’s principles of process drama.
Some groups, known colloquially in the sector as ‘Stage Academies’, draw from aspects of
current celebrity culture to train young people in specific styles of popular entertainment.
Others are more informed by youth work practice, still others by an emphasis on preparation
for LAMDA’s Speech and Drama exams. In their recent audit, UAYD attempted a loose
categorisation. They found over seventy youth theatre groups across Northern Ireland, which
were categorised as follows:
Organisations occasionally delivering
youth theatre
Council-run youth theatres
Educational-based youth theatres
Private youth theatres
[Not-for-profit] youth theatres30
1.3 The term ‘rural’
29 Since this dissertation was submitted, UAYD have decided to merge with the NITA (the umbrella body for professional theatre in NI) to form a new support and development body called Theatre NI. This merger is due to be completed by summer 2015.30 UAYD (2013), ‘Database of results of UAYD Mapping & Audit’, March 2013 [accessed by kind permission of UAYD].
19
UAYD’s most recent consultation found that: ‘rurally isolated groups are most affected by a lack
of opportunities to develop practice and quality standards’.31 In my practice as a rurally based
drama facilitator and a board member of Quadrangle Productions, I have experienced at first
hand this sense of isolation, the feeling that, as one of my interviewees expressed it: ‘it’s all
happening in Belfast, Derry or Dublin’.
32 The Arts Council’s current draft strategy (2013 to 2018) places strong emphasis on access and
participation. Their priority for the drama sector is ‘to drive demand amongst excluded
audiences’.33 Bearing this in mind, now is an apt time to reflect on the challenges facing the rural
youth theatre sector.
None of the UK’s four Arts Councils provides a definition of the term ‘rural’. The Arts
Council of Wales and Creative Scotland employ it in policy documents and in the framing of
certain projects.34 In its recent draft strategy, ACNI proposes to: ‘increase the proportion of arts
related activities delivered in rural areas across Northern Ireland’, but it does not elaborate on
how these areas are delimited.35 Rather than setting any arbitrary geographical limits, I will
consider ‘rural’ to be what Raymond Williams refers to as a ‘keyword’.
Williams postulated that certain words have meanings which are inextricably bound up
with the areas and issues they are used to discuss. He argued that terms such as ‘culture’ and
‘society’ cannot be limited to precise dictionary definitions, because these terms express ‘deep
conflicts of value and belief’, and their meanings are very dependent on the contexts in which
31 UAYD, Corporate Plan 2012-2015, p. 9.32 Carol Doey, Interview, 1 August 2013.33 ACNI, Consultation Draft: Ambitions for the Arts – a Five Year Strategic Plan for the Arts in Northern Ireland 2013-2018 (Belfast: ACNI, 2013), p.20.34 Since 1980, the Arts Council of Wales has administered an initiative called ‘Night Out’, which it describes as ‘a rural and community touring scheme’ See < http://www.nightout.org.uk/ > [accessed 16 May 2013].Creative Scotland administers a Rural Innovation Fund. See <http://www.creativescotland.co.uk/explore/showcase/innovation-fund> [accessed 6 July 2013].35 ACNI, Ambitions for the Arts, p26. N.B. Since this dissertation was submitted, ACNI have released the final version of their 2013-18 Strategy, which still contains the aim of increasing arts activities in rural areas. However, the mention of rural areas was removed from the ‘key targets’ section p. 20. See http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-documents/Ambitions-for-the-Arts-5-Year-Strategy.pdf [accessed 11th April 2015].
20
they are used.36 In my fieldwork, interviewees from sizeable towns such as Cookstown referred
to their groups as ‘rural’ when making comparisons with Belfast and Derry. Likewise,
interviewees from small villages referred to their situations as ‘rural’ when compared with
larger towns. It might even be possible to use the terms ‘regional’ and ‘rural’ interchangeably, to
denote any youth theatre activity taking place outside of greater Belfast and Derry. However the
term ‘rural’ conveys more of the sense of isolation which UAYD identified as a problem in the
sector. I will therefore focus on small towns or villages in the countryside which may suffer
from this sense of isolation, bearing in mind the complexities of the term ‘rural’ as a keyword.
1.4 ACNI’s Capital Build Programme
Between 1994 and 2008, ACNI distributed over £70m of capital funding to establish dedicated
arts and cultural venues across Northern Ireland. This Capital Build Programme was motivated
by a policy drive to ensure that 99 per cent of households in the province had an arts centre
within a twenty-mile radius. A total of thirty-nine projects received funding for new buildings,
refurbishment or renovation. In Ambitions for the Arts, ACNI boast that their aim has been
achieved, and that ‘everyone has access to a dedicated arts facility as a result of Arts Council
investment’.37 In August of this year, ACNI and Deloitte produced an evaluation of the Capital
Build Programme focusing on eleven regional venues. This evaluation is entitled Standing
Ovation, further evidence that ACNI consider the programme to have been a success.
A 2011 DCAL study surveyed the geographical areas which fall inside such a twenty-
mile radius.38 These are indicated in purple on the map below. Green indicates the areas which
fall outside of such a catchment radius.
36 Raymond Williams, Keywords, Second Edition (London: Fontana, 1983), p.23.37 ACNI, Ambitions, p.4.38 DCAL & ACNI, (2011), Mapping of government funded arts venues, activities and festivals in Northern Ireland 2010/11, available at < http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/quick-links/research_and_statistics%203/research_publications/mapping_of_government_arts_page.htm> [accessed 14 August 2013].
21
Figure1: Areas of Northern Ireland where residents are within a twenty-mile radius of an arts venue 2010-2011 (source: DCAL & ACNI, 2011, Mapping of government funded arts venues, activities and festivals in Northern Ireland 2010/11)
It was not within the scope of this research to determine definitively how many of the venues
funded through the Capital Build Programme have their own youth theatres. UAYD’s recent
audit did not request this information. ACNI’s Standing Ovation focuses primarily on local-
authority-run arts venues, so in order to provide a very rough gauge of youth theatre provision
in these facilities, I contacted a sample of five out of the eleven venues mentioned in ACNI’s
evaluation. These were: the Burnavon (Cookstown), the Alley (Strabane), the Strule (Omagh),
the Braid (Ballymena) and the Ardhowen (Enniskillen). None of these five venues have their
own in-house youth theatre groups. However, several hire out their space to external youth
theatre providers.
22
1.5 Youth theatre and the built infrastructure
In his 1993 study of community theatre, Grant notes that: ‘Everyone appreciates the substantial
investment required for purpose-built facilities, […] but all stress how much more could be done
with better access to premises’.39 Youth theatre as an independent art form does not have a
strong tradition of venue ownership. The National Youth Theatre (the largest youth theatre
organisation in the UK) has its own rehearsal rooms, but mounts productions as a guest
company in a range of professional urban theatres. The Dublin Youth Theatre and Graffiti are
the only youth theatres which I could find in the Republic who possess their own working
venues. In Belfast, Youth Action’s Rainbow Factory have a performance venue. These notable
exceptions aside, there are two common ways in which youth theatres access space for
workshops, rehearsal and performance:
1. they are linked with a professional theatre venue, and thus can access that venue’s space
free of charge;
2. the youth theatres are wholly independent groups and rent premises on a more or less
ad-hoc basis.
The first of these methods does not appear to be very prevalent in Northern Ireland. In Belfast,
the Grand Opera House has its own youth theatre, but the Youth Lyric theatre group is
completely independent from the Lyric Theatre. Derry’s Millennium Forum runs a summer
youth drama project but does not facilitate a year-round group. My preliminary analysis of
UAYD’s audit indicates that few other venues have their own groups. Therefore, it would seem
that the majority of Northern Ireland’s youth theatre activity takes place in hired facilities.
In January of this year, the Arts Council issued a ‘Draft Youth Arts Strategy’ for
consultation. One of the proposed actions in this document is to: ‘encourage local councils and
arts venues to provide young people with regular use of rehearsal space and opportunities to
39 Grant, Wild Card, p.48.
23
showcase their work’.40 This recommendation suggests that ACNI have identified access to
facilities as a key area of need within the youth arts sector.
However, a sense of ownership is about much more than whether or not a group has
legal ownership of a property.
1.6 A sense of ownership of building, process and product?
The discourse of ‘ownership’ occurs frequently in policy documents and strategies. One of
YTAS’s key principles is that ‘young people are engaged as active participants in the creative
process’.41 NAYD asserts that youth theatre ‘has its own identity forged by members’42 and
UAYD has the core principle of ensuring that young people feel they have ‘stake in both the
organisation and the work produced.’43 Drawing on my work on the Shankill Project and my
involvement with UAYD and Quadrangle, I began questioning what is encompassed in this idea
of ‘owning’ or ‘having a stake’ in an activity. Does it refer solely to the creative process, or could
it also have implications for the spaces in which this process takes place? My research question
is as follows:
‘What are the implications of the built arts infrastructure for the development of youth
theatre in rural areas of Northern Ireland?’
From this ‘top-line question’, I developed five areas of enquiry:
40 ACNI, ‘Draft Youth Arts Strategy 2012-2016’ (unpublished, accessed by kind permission of Gavin O’Connor, ACNI Arts Development Officer for Youth Arts), p.86.N.B. Since this dissertation was submitted, the Arts Council released a final version of their Youth Arts Strategy 2013-2017, which no longer contains this aim of working with local councils to open up spaces to young people. See http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-documents/Youth_Arts_Strategy_2013_2017.pdf [accessed 11 April 2015].41 Colin Bradie, CEO of Promote YT (2013), Developing Youth Theatre, Seminar documented by Molly Goyer, UAYD SkillsTap Conference, The MAC Belfast, 1 March 2013.42 National Association for Youth Drama, www.nayd.ie (2013) ‘<http://www.nayd.ie/youth-theatre/what/> [accessed 15 July 2013].43 Ulster Association of Youth Drama (2013), Membership Pack, available to download at < http://www.uayd.co.uk/Become_a_Member.aspx> [accessed 12 September 2013].
24
1. What are the limitations and barriers faced by youth theatre participants and practitioners in
rural areas?
2. In what ways do these issues relate to access to physical space, facilities and the built arts
infrastructure?
3. Is there a link between youth theatre participation and theatre attendance in rural arts
venues?
4. In what ways are venue managers and facilitators attempting to foster a sense of ownership
of rural arts venues amongst youth theatre members?
5. Outline some key recommendations for the advancement of the sector in terms of developing
‘space to play’ in rural areas.
In the following chapter, I will outline the methodology for my research into this question of
‘space to play’.
25
CHAPTER 2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
2.1 Research in this field to date
To date, there have been few published academic studies focusing specifically on youth theatre
in Northern Ireland. The level of sectorial research in the field is also low. Since their inception
in 1998, UAYD has commissioned several small-scale audits and consultations, but a shortage of
staff and resources has restricted their scope. UAYD currently has just one full-time staff
member, undertaking both a developmental and administrative role. By contrast, YTAS and
NAYD (currently operating on a respective full-time staffing quota of six and three) routinely
commission national-level research.44 However, this research in ROI and Scotland tends to be of
a strategic and corporate nature, designed to be of immediate operational use within the youth
theatre sector. There is little engagement with academic theory. In embarking on this very
small-scale project, I felt that some engagement with theory would provide a necessary
grounding to my fieldwork practice. I have drawn from the fields of applied theatre and
community arts.
2.2 Theoretical influences
Francois Matarasso is a researcher and consultant in socially engaged arts practice who
produced a strategy for community arts in Belfast in 1995. Matarasso argues that it is
unrealistic for the arts sector to aim for complete scientific objectivity in its research into social
44 Recent examples: Promote YT (2012), Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012, available at <http://www.promoteyt.co.uk/findoutaboutyt/resources/> [accessed 5 August 2013] &National Association for Youth Drama (2009), Centre Stage + 10: A Report on Youth Theatre in Ireland, available at < http://www.nayd.ie/resources/research-projects/> [accessed 4 August 2013].
26
outcomes.45 He suggests allowing space for a variety of subjective perspectives, in order to
‘create a composite picture which is, if not the truth, at least a reliable basis for further action’.46
Although Matarasso was in this case addressing the issue of how to evaluate the social impact of
arts programmes, his concept of a ‘composite picture’ also has implications for the field of
ethnographic research in the arts. The questions of how to measure the social outcomes of an
arts programme and how to map the sectorial needs of an art form are linked because in both
cases the evaluator or researcher will be dealing with people, and their often divergent and
subjective perspectives on a topic.
I will use Matarasso’s concept of a ‘composite picture’ in approaching my fieldwork. My
data will be mostly of a qualitative nature as it will derive from semi-structured interviews. I
will endeavour to generate a limited amount of quantitative data by means of drama games in
my youth theatre consultation workshops (see Appendix p.16 and p.25). However, the idea of a
‘composite picture’ implies something deeper than simply a mix of quantitative and qualitative
evidence. It also invites an exploration into issues of validity and reliability in research.
Dr Simone Krüger defines validity as ‘the accuracy of findings and the degree to which
research actually measures what it proposed to measure’, and reliability as being ‘concerned
with whether the results of a study can be duplicated or replicated’.47 Krüger’s student guide
into ethnography in the performing arts cites the process of triangulation as a means by which
some ethnographers ‘seek to increase the scientific rigour’ and credibility of their research.48
Triangulation, Krüger writes, is a process ‘by which multiple sources of data serve as
confirmation or corroboration for each other’.49 However, sociologist Laurel Richardson refutes
the idea that having three (or more) different sources confirming a point must necessarily imply
that a researcher has achieved ‘truth’. Richardson writes: ‘in postmodernist mixed-genre texts,
45 Francois Matarasso, ‘Evaluating Arts Programmes’ in The Social Impact of Arts Programmes (Stroud:Comedia, 1996), pp. 15-21.46 Ibid., p. 14.47 Dr Simone Krüger, Ethnography in the Performing Arts: a Student Guide (Palatine/JMU: Liverpool, 2008), p.67.48 Ibid.49 Ibid.
27
we do not triangulate; we crystallize. We recognise that there are far more than “three sides”
from which to approach the world.’50
In his 2003 study, Taylor posits that Richardson’s concept of crystallization is an art in
itself, and one which has relevance to ethnographic research in theatre. He asserts that ‘crystal’
serves as a good metaphor, because ‘it contains a variety of different shapes and patterns and
both refracts and reflects’.51 For Taylor, an ‘especially eloquent’ aspect of the art of
crystallization is that it continually ‘opens us up to new possibilities of seeing, and new ways of
knowing’.52
In my small sample of field research, and with little prior experience of ethnography, I
shall certainly not presume to any grand ‘truths’ or ‘revelations’ about youth theatre. What I
hope to do is to give a platform to a variety of perspectives from within the sector, allow them to
enter into dialogue with one and other, and in doing so, generate some insights which may point
towards ‘new ways of knowing’. My process will involve ‘crystallization’ in so far as I hope to
point towards some potential new areas of research. However, I do not wish to get carried away
in a vista of crystals so far as to lose sight of the project in hand. In this study I am concerned
with the precise question of the built infrastructure. As such, I hope to achieve some
corroboration – or ‘truth’ – not about the entire NI sector, but about the specific localities and
contexts in which I have conducted my research. It may be that these small nuggets of localised
insight have wider implications for the field; but this would be matter for a wider piece of
research.
With the concept of crystallization in mind, I will organise my sample into categories,
and will seek two sources for each category. I hope that this will allow for a dialogue between
interviewees’ voices, whilst recognising that perspective is subjective and depends on particular
50 Laurel Richardson, ‘Writing: A Method of Inquiry’ in Handbook of Qualitative Research, Second Edition, edited by N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln, (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2000) pp. 923-48, p.927.51 Phil Taylor, Applied theatre: creating transformative encounters in the community (Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2003), p.129.52 Ibid.
28
contexts and viewpoints. I will aim for objectivity in my analysis. However, I will remain
conscious that certain aspects of this sample will inevitably be refracted through my
experience-based position as a practitioner in the field.
2.3 Delimitation of sample: the bell-wether model
In approaching my fieldwork, I wished to find an appropriate method of determining my
sample, to avoid a ‘scattergun’ approach. The OED defines a bell-wether as ‘the leading sheep of
a flock, on whose neck a bell is hung’. It cites a second figurative sense of the term as referring to
a ‘chief or leader’. I do not wish to suggest that some youth theatre practitioners are ‘ahead of
the pack’ in any competitive sense. As Ben Cameron asserted in his keynote address at the All-
Ireland Arts Conference 2012, the concept of raw competition between arts providers is not
helpful to the sector, particularly in this climate of reduced arts funding. Cameron posits instead
that ‘co-opetition’ is key:
We must discover the power of bypassing competition in favour of co-opetition, as Yale author Barry Nailbuff urges — arguing that we can continue to compete for a piece of a fixed or shrinking pie, or co-opetate to grow the pie for us all, even as we continue to inevitably compete for a piece of it.53
It is in this spirit of ‘co-opetition’, therefore, that I see good leadership as necessary to influence,
motivate and effect change. Cameron posits that we are currently in the midst of a cultural
reformation.54 Academic Sue Kay concurs with Cameron, suggesting that this current era of
‘fundamental cultural transformation’ involves a ‘shift from the provision of culture to the
53 Ben Cameron, ‘Making Ourselves Relevant’, speech delivered at All-Ireland Arts Conference 2012, re-printed on www.nitheatre.com (2012), <http://www.nitheatre.com/files/docs/Charlotte/Ben%20Cameron%20Speech.pdf> [accessed 23 October 2012], p.9.54 Cameron, ‘Making Ourselves Relevant’, p.4.
29
participation in and making of culture’.55 Kay suggests that leadership in the arts and cultural
sector may no longer simply involve ‘stewardship of practices’, but may also now encompass
the role of influencing and advocating for the nature of the practices themselves.56
In the light of these comments, I will interpret the concept of ‘the bell-wether’ as
referring to individuals within the youth theatre sector who appear to be advancing the field in
terms of art form development, innovative practice and advocacy. I use the term ‘leaders’ to
refer not only to those involved in governance, but also to progressive practitioners including
youth theatre facilitators, venue administrators, and, importantly, young theatre artists.
2.4 Categorisation of sample
My sample will be organised into five categories, aiming to reflect a representative, though by
no means exhaustive, variety of perspectives on youth theatre.
2.41 Youth theatre membersUAYD’s youth membership strand is open to young people under the age of eighteen. Its strand
of youth theatre membership is open to groups and organisations providing activities for eleven
to twenty-five year-olds. Neither NAYD nor YTAS offer a youth membership category. NAYD
specifies the age range of twelve to twenty-five for groups, and YTAS does not specify any age
restrictions. Many youth theatres have both junior and senior membership, with junior
membership being open to children. Young at Art defines ‘children’ as ages nought to ten, and
‘young people’ as ages eleven to eighteen.57 Given Young at Art’s fifteen-year history of youth
arts practice in Belfast, and its current position as a ‘bell-wether’ in the NI sector, I will align
myself with their delimitation of this field. I will interpret ‘young people’ as referring to ages
55 Sue Kay, ‘Scratching the seven-year-itch: a commentary’ in A Cultural Leadership Reader (London: Creative Choices, 2010), pp. 8-15, p.11.56 Ibid.57 Ali FitzGibbon, Young at Art Strategy 2011-2015, available to download at <http://www.youngatart.co.uk/reports> [accessed 14 March 2013], p. 3.
30
eleven to eighteen. Within this age range, individuals are more likely to engage in activities of
their own volition, rather than in accordance with their parents’ wishes. However, they are not
legally adults, and are less likely to be financially independent or have access to their own
means of transport (although some privileged seventeen-year-olds do have cars!).
I will engage with two youth theatre groups, endeavouring to work with an equal or
near-equal number of participants from each. These will be groups operating in rural areas, as
defined in Chapter 1 as areas in the countryside which may suffer from a sense of isolation.
2.42 Venue managersI will interview managers of two arts venues in small towns or villages which have their own in-
house youth theatres. As ACNI’s Standing Ovation focuses on local authority venues, I will
endeavour to provide a small counterpoint by focusing on independent community-run
facilities. By this I am referring to dedicated arts venues which have been established by
residents of a particular locality either through the efforts of dedicated (‘bell-wether’)
individuals or through a popular campaign – or, as is often the case, through a combination of
both.
I will also include the Riverside Theatre as a third party in this category. The Riverside is
not strictly rural: it is situated on the outskirts of the large town of Coleraine. However, it
occupies a unique position as NI’s only university-run theatre with its own in-house youth
theatre group. Furthermore, the Riverside Youth Theatre draws a sizeable 20 per cent of its
membership from small towns and villages.58 It may therefore provide interesting points of
comparison with the other two venues.
2 .43 Youth theatre facilitators I will interview two youth theatre facilitators currently running their own groups in small towns
or villages. I will endeavour to include the perspective of a practitioner who hires workshop and
58 Source: Jeremy Lewis, General Manager of the Riverside (2013), Interview on the Riverside venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], the Riverside theatre (Coleraine), 26 July 2013.
31
performance space from a community venue, and the perspective of a practitioner who is
attached to a dedicated arts space.
2.44 Young artists from rural backgrounds Although UAYD’s youth membership stops at age eighteen, its youth theatre membership is
open to groups working with young people up to age twenty-five. However, this is not my prime
motive for including a category entitled ‘young artists’. Whilst I will confine this category to
individuals aged eighteen to twenty-five, I do not propose to interview current youth theatre
group participants in this age bracket. Instead, I wish to explore the progression from youth
theatre activity to third-level drama study and/or careers in the professional theatre sector. I
will focus on individuals who grew up in small towns or villages and who are currently studying
drama or working in theatre.
2.45 Representatives from funding and umbrella bodiesThe inclusion of perspectives from the Arts Council and UAYD is essential to this research. The
Arts Council is shortly to issue NI’s first ever ‘Youth Arts Strategy’, and UAYD is the network and
support body for the youth theatre sector.
2.5 Research methodology
2.51 Consultation drama workshopsIn engaging with youth theatre members, I will employ the method of consultation drama
workshops. This is a useful and fun way of capturing the opinions of a group without the use of
evaluation forms. See Appendix p.1 and p.21 for details of these games. As the games rely on
physical responses to ‘yes/no’ statements, I will use the results to generate a small amount of
quantitative evidence. I will also record participants’ comments during the game. This method
32
requires two facilitators: one to lead the game, and the other to document. I will lead the game
and will ask the group’s own facilitator to document the young people’s responses.
2.52 Semi-structured interviewsI will conduct semi-structured interviews with all the individuals in my sample. Educational
researcher Nigel Newton explains:
A useful concept in describing types of interview is the continuum; any particular interview can be placed somewhere between ‘unstructured’ and ‘structured’. The ‘unstructured’ pole is closer to observation while the ‘structured’ use of ‘closed’ questions is similar to types of questionnaire.59
I will place my interviews near the middle of this continuum, though closer to the ‘unstructured’
pole. Closed questions may inhibit the generation of insights into what is an under-researched
field. However, I do not propose to have a social conversation with interviewees. I will prepare
five to six areas of interest in advance of each interview (see Appendix p. 15), but will allow each
interviewee space to air their views on other areas which they feel may be relevant to my
research question. As Taylor refers to the ‘art’ of crystallization, so might one refer to the ‘art’ of
a semi-structured interview: this will not be an exact science.
59 Nigel Newton (2010), ‘The use of semi-structured interviews in qualitative research: strengths and weaknesses’, paper submitted in part completion of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, University of Bristol, retrieved online at <http://www.academia.edu/1561689/The_use_of_semi-structured_interviews_in_qualitative_research_strengths_and_weaknesses> on 1 July 2013, p. 1.
33
CHAPTER 3 RESULTS OF FIELDWORK
In this chapter I will outline specific circumstances which may have affected or influenced my
data. I will then provide an overview of principal themes in order to give a sense of the entire
body of data. See Appendix pp. 10-14 for an example of my data analysis. I analysed the data as
soon as possible after each meeting, which meant that, as the fieldwork progressed, I was able
to draw on material from previous interviews and to track emerging themes. Whilst
endeavouring scrupulously not to influence the opinions of subsequent interviewees, I did
address particular themes if they had emerged strongly from previous interviews.
3.1 Consultation workshops with young people
Summer youth theatre generally consists of time-bound ‘schemes’, as most permanent groups
operate from September to May/June. However, I wished to engage with as many young people
as possible who were part of a year-round group, in order to generate more considered
responses which came from a place of experience. I consulted with two youth theatre summer
schemes which were attached to particular venues, and which included many members of each
venue’s permanent group.
My first engagement was with Showstoppers musical theatre group, who meet in the
Bardic Theatre in the village of Donaghmore. I led a workshop with twenty-seven young people
aged five to seventeen, with only five of the young people being under age the age of eleven.60
60 I had initially enquired about the possibility of just meeting with the eleven to seventeen-year-olds, but the facilitator did not wish to split the group.
34
Around 70 per cent of this group also attended the year-round Showstoppers classes.
Showstoppers have been meeting in the Bardic since 2009, when the group was established by
its current leader Stephanie Faloon, herself a Donaghmore native. Showstoppers hire the space
from the Bardic, but, interestingly, Stephanie asserts that they are ‘very much known/seen as
the "Bardic youth/upcoming talent" by both the general public and the Bardic committee’.61
The year-round Showstoppers group currently comprises ninety members with a
waiting list of thirty. They produce musicals which run for two to three nights in the Bardic,
playing to consistently full houses.
As I facilitated the consultation myself, I was able to gauge areas of potential relevance
to my research question and to probe further where possible. A significant misunderstanding
came about during the ‘Walking Debate’ game, which was to prove a fruitful source of insight
into the young people’s relationship with the venue. When I made the statement: ‘Love meeting
in the Bardic/ Would prefer to meet somewhere else’, all the participants immediately flocked
to the ‘Love meeting in the Bardic’ side of the room. Through discussion, it became apparent
that they conflated ‘meeting in the Bardic’ with ‘being a member of Showstoppers’ in their
minds. Participants justified their choice of side by citing all the benefits of being in
Showstoppers, including: ‘it is like a family unit’.62 I decided to probe this apparent conflation of
group and venue further by asking whether Showstoppers would still be the same if the group
met in another venue. The consensus was that ‘it had to be in the Bardic’.63
In our concluding discussion, several senior participants demonstrated an in-depth
knowledge of the Bardic’s theatre space, citing specific inadequacies such as an unreliable mic
system, and making recommendations for improvement rather than wishing for a new venue.
61 Stephanie Faloon, e-mail sent to Molly Goyer on Friday, 6 September, 2013 at 9:22 AM.62 Participant in Showstoppers Consultation Drama Workshop, Workshop facilitated by Molly Goyer Gorman in the Bardic theatre, Donaghmore, 11 July 2013 and documented by S. Faloon. See Appendix p. 16.63 Ibid.
35
The young participants are probably not aware of their group’s status as tenant, and for them,
the Bardic is a ‘home venue’ because the group has always rehearsed and performed there.
Due to a cancellation of my original second youth theatre workshop, Carol Doey from
the Hub Youth Theatre agreed to lead the consultation with her group. It would have been
preferable to facilitate myself, but given that the group were preparing for a production, I did
not want to disrupt their rehearsals with a new face. This meant that I was unable to gauge how
participants interpreted my questions.
The Hub has been active as a venue only since March 2013 and its youth theatre began
meeting in April 2013, so members do not have a long history of involvement with the space.
However, several members have a long-standing relationship with Carol as facilitator/director.
Furthermore, many participants in the summer scheme were due to join the Hub’s year-round
youth theatre in September. Carol conducted the consultation with the secondary school group
(ages eleven to eighteen), of whom there were twenty-eight, a sample which tallies well with the
twenty-seven participants in Showstoppers.
From the results, it was apparent that participants had interpreted the statement ‘Love
meeting in [current venue] / Would prefer to meet somewhere else’ differently from the young
people in the Bardic. The Hub young people understood this statement as referring to whether
or not the Hub was their preferred social space to meet, rather than their preferred space in
which to do youth theatre. Thus, out of the 50 per cent who answered that they would prefer to
meet somewhere else, participants cited ‘the cinema’, ‘the disco’ and ‘in town’ as preferable
social meeting spots.64 This difference of interpretation nonetheless points to a similar
association of youth theatre activity with the existing arts venue. ‘The cinema’ or ‘down the
town’ are not places in which the young people meet to make theatre, so it seems as if, like the
Showstoppers group, the only place in which the Hub group can conceive of doing youth theatre
is in their existing space. However, in contrast to Showstoppers, the Hub participants did not
64 See Appendix p.26 for ‘Completed Questionnaire: the Hub Youth Theatre’.
36
spend much time praising their own group. This may be due to the fact that the group, and the
venue, are so new: it takes time to build up a ‘family ethos’ such as is established within
Showstoppers.
Due to several other inconsistencies of interpretation, I was able to include only half the
data in the comparative charts below. It is worth bearing in mind that the Hub does not yet
receive touring performances, whereas the Bardic has been an active venue for over twenty-five
years. This may explain why fewer young people have visited the Hub for purposes other than
youth theatre attendance. Donaghmore is a village of approximately 2,600 people whereas
Cookstown is a town with a population of over 12,000. This could explain why the young people
from the Bardic are almost entirely reliant on lifts from family members in order to attend.
Existing venue is too far from
where I live
I get a lift to youth theatre
I walk to youth theatre
I visit venue outside of
youth theatre classes
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Showstoppers (The Bardic, Donaghmore)
The Hub YT (The Hub BT80, Cookstown)
Figure 2: Results of ‘Anyone Who’ game
37
% of group
Has ev
er bee
n to w
atch a
play
Has bee
n to th
e thea
tre w
ith th
eir fa
mily
Has ev
er bee
n to a
play in
Belf
ast
Would
like t
o work
in th
eatre
0
20
40
60
80
100
Showstoppers (The Bardic, Donaghmore)The Hub YT (The Hub BT80, Cookstown)
Figure 3: Results of ‘Walking Debate’ game
3.2 Interviews
Interviewees were asked at the beginning of each session how much time they could spare, and
I ensured that interviews remained strictly within this time frame.
38
% of group
3.21 Sample of interviewees
Category of interviewee Date of interview Duration
Venue managers
Jeremy Lewis (theatre manager, the
Riverside, Coleraine)
Brian Duffin, Mickey Carolan and
Laragh Cullen (venue managers,
founders & former staff member, Craic
Theatre and Arts Centre, Coalisland)
Carol Doey (the Hub Bt80, Cookstown)
26 July 2013
18 July 2013
1 August 2013
1 hr
1 hr + venue tour
40 mins + venue
tour
Youth theatre facilitators
Caroline McAfee (Quadrangle
Productions, Ballycastle)
Carol Doey (the Hub Bt80, Cookstown)
Joanna O’Neill (Glens Young Farmers
Club, Carey)
31 July 2013
(see above)
3 August 2013
35 mins
20 mins (via
telephone)
Young artists from rural backgrounds
Seamus O’Hara (professional actor
from Cushendun, aged 24)
Chris Grant (professional actor from
Annaclone, aged 24)
Lee McLaughlin (amateur actor from
Ballycastle and senior member of
Quadrangle productions, aged 19)
14 July 2013
2 August 2013
30 July 2013
30 mins
2 hrs
55 mins
Representatives from funding and umbrella
bodies
Gavin O’Connor, ACNI Arts
Development Officer for Youth Arts
Cathie McKimm, (now former)
Development Officer, Ulster
2 August 2013
16 July 2013
45 mins
50 mins
39
Association of Youth Drama
40
3.3 Limitations of interview research
Some features of the above sample may have affected the data produced.
It is apparent that all the interviews are with individuals, except the session with the
Craic managers. This is not because I deliberately avoided group interviews; it most cases, it
was simply easier to make arrangements with one person. However, in the case of Craic, I was
encouraged to meet with a group. This may reflect the ‘collective venue management’ system
which is in operation at Craic (see Appendix p. 5). The inclusion of a group interview means that
my data reflects several perspectives on Craic whereas in all other cases there is just one
viewpoint.
Although I tried to adhere to the framework of two sources per category, I was
conscious that the organic process of fieldwork might throw up additional material. This was
indeed the case: on a night when my consultation workshop with Quadrangle had been
cancelled, Quadrangle member Lee volunteered himself as an interviewee. Joanna O’ Neill was
added to the facilitators’ category as I felt that some perspective from a YFC representative was
needed. Carol Doey features in two categories because she is both a facilitator and a venue
manager.
Indeed, Carol was not unique in transcending categorisation. Although I tried to
approach my interviewees according to their given role – ‘as facilitators’ or ‘as umbrella body
representatives’ – in practice, interviewees brought all their youth theatre (and indeed life)
experience to bear in addressing my research question. What became evident is that people’s
knowledge and lived experiences often do not fit neatly into given job titles, and, particularly in
the creative arts, people perform several roles at once, including those for which an official title
has not yet been invented!
41
Finally, the ‘young rural artists’ are all male. In this fieldwork and in my sectorial
experience, it appears as if males are in the minority gender in youth theatre. YTAS’s most
recent review confirms that this certainly is the case in Scotland.65 All of the young artists
addressed this issue of gender imbalance directly or indirectly.
3.4 Topics covered
Interviews were recorded and recordings were transcribed (see Appendix p.10 for example).
Listed below are the topics of conversation/themes which occurred most frequently.
3.41 Prioritisation of people or spaceIn eight out of the ten interviews, I asked whether having a suitable space is more or less
important than having the right facilitator or a dynamic group of participants. This issue of
prioritising ‘people or space’ was touched upon directly or indirectly in all interviews. In
hindsight this may have been too direct an approach to engaging with these issues. There is not
necessarily an ‘either/ or’ answer to this question. However, it did elicit some interesting
discussion material which I will address in Chapter 4.
3.42 Arts communities and sporting communitiesThe theme of connections between the arts and sports communities emerged in my interview
with Seamus, who asked: ‘What fifteen-year old boy in Cushendun is going to put down his
hurling stick and think: “no, I’m going to do drama?”’66 As a result of this, in seven of the nine
subsequent interviews, I included a question on the value of linking arts and sports. This theme
is only tangentially related to my research question (through issues around shared leisure
facilities). However, I feel that this is an under-researched area in the arts sector, and one about
65 Promote YT (2012) Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012, available at <http://www.promoteyt.co.uk/findoutaboutyt/resources/> [accessed 5 August 2013], p. 4.66 Seamus O’Hara, (2013), Interview on Seamus’s experiences as a young actor from a small village. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Cushendun, 14 July 2013.
42
which many practitioners have significant insights, so I wanted to ‘test the water’ for future
research.
3.43 Review of Public AdministrationIn the case of venue managers and umbrella body representatives, I included a question on the
projected effects of the Review of Public Administration. This is the official title for the
imminent process of the reduction of the twenty-six NI borough councils into eleven ‘super-
councils’, the projected completion date of which is in 2015. I wanted to gauge whether
interviewees felt that these changes would have any impact on their practice. In the fieldwork
results, the issue of the RPA appears as a large question mark hovering over the near future: no
interviewee gave a definitive statement as to what effect they believe it will have on the youth
theatre sector, but tentative speculations were generally negative. Potential issues cited
included the fear of arts venues in amalgamated boroughs competing for funding, and the fear of
local councillors favouring their own local areas.
3.44 Links between youth theatre participation and theatre attendanceI asked venue managers whether they see a link between youth theatre participation and
theatre attendance. Facilitators and young artists were asked whether they think theatre
attendance is important for participants involved in youth theatre. I included these questions
because the ‘built arts infrastructure’ encompasses spaces to attend theatre as well as to
rehearse and perform. I wanted to capture opinions on whether or not theatre attendance is
relevant to the development of youth theatre as an art form.
3.45 Venues embedded in the communityDiscussions with venue managers from Craic and the Hub involved considerable description of
how these venues came into being: the community campaigns, the intense periods of renovation
work by volunteers etc. Managers talked at length about the importance of their venues being
embedded in the wider local community. Jeremy Lewis at the Riverside also spoke of the
importance of his theatre being relevant to and well-used by people in its local catchment area.
The Riverside’s special situation as a university-owned venue became apparent, including the
43
fact that the theatre is not on the same campus as the drama degree course so is seldom used by
students, and the fact that the Riverside Youth Theatre can access large rehearsal spaces in
adjoining university buildings. All interviewees seemed to see wider community support for
venues and groups as a crucial factor in the development of youth drama.
3.46 A sense of ownershipI introduced this idea in all interviews, but then tried to allow interviewees to interpret it for
themselves. When asked for clarification I explained the concept as ‘feeling as if the venue is
home’ or ‘feeling at home in the venue’.
3.47 Technical theatreI asked venue managers, facilitators and young artists whether they provide, or had themselves
received, training in technical theatre. Technical equipment is arguably the most financially
costly aspect of theatre practice, and I wished to gauge whether or not practitioners in rural
areas face barriers in terms of accessing this equipment and the necessary training to use it.
3.48 Benefits of youth theatre and need for their promotionAll interviewees placed strong emphasis on the benefits of involvement in youth theatre in
terms of young people’s personal, social, creative and professional development. Another
common theme was the need for improved articulation and promotion of these benefits at a
public level. Seamus, Joanna and Lee spoke of a knowledge gap in the Glens about what quality
youth theatre actually involves, and alluded to a local sporting bias. Cathie described the need
for a making a better case for the arts in lobbying activities. Craic managers acknowledged their
reluctance to self-promote or ‘trumpet’ their activities, but seemed confident in the level of
understanding of and support for youth theatre within their local community.67
3.49 Capital Build ProgrammeOnly one interviewee, Jeremy Lewis, alluded directly to the Capital Build Programme, and he did
so in critical terms, remarking that ‘everybody’s got a venue now, but no money to run it with’.68
67 Brian Duffin (2013), Interview on Craic venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Craic (Coalisland), 18 July 2013.68 Jeremy Lewis (2013), Interview on the Riverside venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], the Riverside theatre (Coleraine), 26 July 2013.
44
Jeremy believes that government funding for the arts is ‘as important as government funding of
the NHS’, but implies that the Arts Council may have got their priorities wrong in focusing on the
built infrastructure at the expense of subsidy for art forms themselves.69
3.50 Importance of quality facilitationThe importance of confident, responsive and creative youth drama facilitation was the most
prevalent theme. The facilitator’s role as an inspirational figure for young people was cited
frequently. Carol Doey spoke of her desire for external drama facilitators to visit the Hub
leaders and inspire them with a new burst of creativity. Cathie depicted one of UAYD’s roles as
being to provide spaces for facilitator networking: ‘put people together in a room, things happen
naturally, […] one idea sparks off another…’70 Several interviewees referred to the absence of
accredited drama facilitation courses in Northern Ireland. So perhaps the issue of ‘space to play’
is relevant to facilitator training as well as to youth groups?
In the next chapter, I will analyse key themes from my data, placing them in dialogue
with my theoretical and sectorial reading in order to shape insights into my research question.
69 Ibid.70 Cathie McKimm (2013), Interview, 16 July 2013.
45
CHAPTER 4: ANALYSIS OF KEY THEMES FROM
FIELDWORK
Chapter 1 identified five questions which formed my line of inquiry. This chapter will address
these questions through the investigation of key themes which have arisen from my fieldwork.
My original data will be placed in dialogue with Arts Council policies. I will also draw on the
spatial theories of Henri Lefebvre and the application of his materialist spatial theory in Michael
McKinnie’s study City Stages, which focuses on theatre and the economy of urban space in
Toronto. In doing so, I aim to provide a materialist analysis of the current use of some
independent rural venues for youth theatre in Northern Ireland, demonstrating the links
between the practice of specific groups and venues and the wider social, cultural, economic and
political environments in which they operate. Whilst my analysis will address my five initial
questions, it will not be restricted to a narrow ‘answering’ of these questions; I will allow the
data to open up new lines of enquiry.
A word on play
As ‘rural’ was identified in Chapter 1 as a key word, so ‘play’ also qualifies as a term which
eludes exact dictionary definition. The word has nineteen entries in the OED. The fifth of these
may offer a shard of insight into the research question. It defines play as: ‘free action; freedom,
opportunity, or room for action; scope for activity’. The current emphasis in play research
appears to be on child-led or child-initiated play.71 This would seem to correlate with the
concept of a sense of ownership: a child should have a sense of ownership of play activity, just
as young people should feel a sense of ownership of youth theatre.
71 See, for example, Association of Teachers and Lecturers, Playing to learn: a guide to child-led play and its importance for thinking and learning (London: ATL, 2012) or Jenni Clarke (2008), ‘Child initiated learning’, available at < http://www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/child-initiated-learning-6861> [accessed 1st June 2013]
46
In terms of NI government policy the emphasis is on physical space and facilities, with little
room accorded to arts-based play.72
4.1 Limitations of infrastructure in rural areas
When asked what he considers to be the highest priority in terms of theatre infrastructure in his
native Cushendun, Seamus O’Hara was quick to answer: ‘A safe environment would be a good
start’.73 Cushendun is a village of less than 1,000 people. At present, the area’s only stage is
housed in the local parochial hall and is rarely used due to health and safety concerns. The hall
has no lighting rig or sound facilities; but of greater concern is the fact that the backstage space,
and some areas of the stage itself, are out of bounds due to unsafe floorboards. Cushendun
parochial hall is typical of certain small parish venues in rural areas which suffer from chronic
neglect.
A key criterion of any potential space for youth theatre is that it should be, literally, safe.
Youth theatre workshops typically involve participants moving around the space at various
speeds and levels. Activities include mime, fast-paced improvisations or dance, all of which
require a clean floor space free from hazards. However, in some rural venues, safety cannot be
taken for granted. Caroline McAfee asserts that the hall in which she leads her group would pass
a ‘very basic safety test’, but then proceeds to describe how the roof leaked last winter, meaning
that users had to avoid a certain area of the room.74 Of course, the law requires youth groups to
undertake a risk assessment of a space prior to using it, but when there are very few suitable
72 OFMDFM (2008), Play and Leisure Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, available at < http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/equality/children-young-people/play-and-leisure-policy.htm> [accessed 7 June 2013] and OFMDFM (2006), A ten-year strategy for children and young people in Northern Ireland 2006-2016, available at < http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/equality-and-strategy/equality-human-rights-social-change/children-young-people/children-and-young-people-strategy.htm> [accessed 8 July 2013].73 Seamus O’ Hara (2013), Interview on Seamus’s experiences as a young actor from a small village. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Cushendun, 14 July 2013.74 Caroline McAfee (2013), Interview on Quadrangle Productions. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Ballycastle, 31 July 2013.
47
spaces and poor venue management, meeting the legal requirements for health and safety can
be a constant challenge.
Second to basic safety is the requirement that a space be comfortable. Caroline and
Quadrangle member Lee describe how the McAlister Hall in the small town of Ballycastle is
‘always freezing’ in winter.75 Quadrangle have repeatedly asked for improved heating of the
space, but this problem has yet to be resolved.
Caroline believes that this neglect is due to an absence of centralised management of the
venue. The McAlister Hall is administered by the busy parish priest, who has recourse to parish
committees if necessary. However, there is no committee directly responsible for the hall, no-
one undertakes the role of caretaker, and the only medium through which the various user
groups can interact is via the sign-in book. Even when a venue management committee is in
place, as in the case of Annaclone Rural Regeneration Committee, which manages Annaclone
village parish hall, there is no guarantee that that committee will be sympathetic towards youth
theatre. Annaclone native Chris Grant recounts his experience of being the only young person
on the committee: ‘I realised I was there to tick a box, not to give an opinion’.76 Chris’s proposal
to set up a youth theatre in Annaclone repeatedly got lost in the slow three-hour traffic of
meetings, to the point at which he gave up the proposal and resigned from the committee.
The issue of how to manage shared community spaces is pertinent to the development
of all groups who use such spaces. When that space is a parish hall, the composition of the
management committee will determine how the space is used, and parish committees
(deservedly or not) have a reputation for conservatism and a lack of youth representation.
Furthermore, the hall’s connection to a certain religious tradition may affect the provenance of
its users. The managers of Craic Arts Centre describe the audience behaviour of the Coalisland
Protestant community, who are in a minority: ‘99.9 per cent of them would have never gone to
anything in the [Catholic] Parochial Centre. But when we opened Craic, they started coming in in
75 Lee McLaughlin (2013), Interview on Lee’s experiences as a young actor from a rural area. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Ballycastle, 30 July 2013.76 Chris Grant (2013), Interview on Chris’s experiences as a young actor from a small village. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], QUB Postgraduate Centre, 2 August 2013.
48
significant numbers.’77 The issue of shared spaces in the context of post-Agreement community
relations is already the subject of a considerable body of research. I wish to draw attention to
the difficulties inherent in the practice of user groups sharing community venues whether or
not any sectarian tensions are in play.
The Hub was founded with the development of youth theatre its main objective, but,
already, manager Carol Doey finds it a challenge to balance youth theatre classes with the other,
numerous demands for the venue space. The Hub has responded to local need by casting itself
in the role of enabler of social capital in these times of recession: it houses sewing machine
classes, jumble sales, and workshops in furniture renovation. Whilst she welcomes these
additional uses of the Hub, Carol is already hoping to secure another space which will be used
for youth theatre alone: ‘In there, it will be our space. Totally for drama. It’ll be lovely.’78
Caroline McAfee relates a similar story of the limitations which are placed on
Quadrangle by the fact of their sharing the McAlister Hall with many other groups. In this case,
the groups are all external tenants of the hall so there is less opportunity for negotiation than in
the Hub, where the youth theatre remains the ‘home group’. Caroline tells of some ‘past history’
between users of the hall. What would have been the green room is currently employed as
storage space for other groups. This summer Quadrangle could not use the stage at all because
the playgroup had requisitioned it to store large plastic play-houses.
The contradictions inherent in this image of a stage being used as storage space for play
equipment provide an apt point at which to introduce some spatial theory. Henri Lefebvre
outlines three modes in which humans interact with, and thus produce space.79 Perceived space
describes how we see space on a superficial level, as we move through it in our daily trajectories
and routines (for example: negotiating our way through city spaces on a commute to work).
Conceived space refers to the way in which space is used to produce a certain social order. Also
known as ‘representations of space’, this is the mode through which the state designs civic
77 Mickey Carolan (2013), Interview on Craic venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Craic (Coalisland), 18 July 2013.78 Carol Doey, Interview, 1 August 2013.79 Lefebvre, Production of Space, p.33 & pp. 38-39.
49
buildings in order to represent a certain social hegemony. For example, the facades of state
buildings proclaim certain messages. The third mode is ‘lived space’. This is the space of
‘inhabitants’, and it denotes the way in which the human imagination charges physical spaces
with its own symbolic significance, by means of ‘a more or less coherent system of non-verbal
symbols and signs’, to create ‘representational spaces’.80 Thus, a simple bus stop may be infused
with emotional significance for a particular couple, because that is where they first kissed.
According to Lefebvre, culture and art operate generally, though not exclusively, via these lived
spaces.
In City Stages, McKinnie uses Lefebvre’s theories to explore the spatial economy of
theatres and theatre companies in Toronto. He relates the anecdote of how the director of
Toronto Workshop Productions sacked one of his actors for walking across the stage outside of
a production or rehearsal context. McKinnie explains that the actor had failed to recognise the
separate, quasi-sacred position that the stage occupied in the company’s ‘lived space’: ‘For
Toronto Workshop Productions, theatre space was not a physical space that could or should be
used like any outside the walls of the theatre.’81 It will be obvious by now how far removed the
McAlister Hall is from this code of a ‘sacred stage’. Quadrangle, the only drama group to use the
venue, were not able to utilise a space which wider society associates primarily with drama,
because another user group saw that space simply as additional storage room. In this case, the
‘lived space’ of the McAlister Hall was so markedly different for two user groups that it impeded
the artistic practice of one of these groups.
This image may also be read as a metaphor for the way in which the NI government
policy favours a view of play which is bound up with physical space rather than with creative or
imaginative processes. Indeed, Gavin O’Connor (speaking in a personal capacity) laments the
fact that OFMDFM’s Play and Leisure Policy (2009) was ‘very much about physical space’.82 This
80 Lefebvre, Production of Space, p.39.81 Michael McKinnie, City Stages: Theatre and Urban Space in a Global City (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007), p. 104.82 Gavin O’Connor (2013), Interview on the Arts Council’s policy on youth theatre and the built arts infrastructure. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast, 2 August 2013.
50
document focuses on parks and playgrounds, to the detriment of arts-led interventions through
play. Youth theatre does not feature at all.
4.2 The thrill of a professional stage
Several of my interviewees referred to the thrill of performing on a large urban stage.83 ACNI’s
evaluation of their Capital Build Programme declares that the programme has been of particular
benefit to young people’s self-esteem as it has given them opportunities to participate in
‘professionally run art productions using modern equipment and high quality facilities’.84 It is
undeniable that the experience of performing on a purpose-built theatre stage represents an
important milestone in a young person’s experience of youth theatre. Lee relates: ‘Rehearsing in
a theatre was like a dream-come-true. You were able to do so much.’ 85
Many rural venues have serious limitations when compared with urban theatres. No-
where is this more evident than in the case of technical facilities and expertise. Most parish halls
do not have lighting rigs or PA systems. The Hub has a small lighting rig, but Carol says she is
not confident that any of their facilitators, or indeed any of the Burnavon staff, would have the
expertise to train young people in its use. Caroline and Lee believe that the acquisition of
Quadrangle’s own lighting equipment would represent a ‘step up’, both in the quality of their
productions and in the breadth of the theatre training which they can offer.86 However, in
Ballycastle as in Cookstown, there is a lack of trained technicians able to pass on their skills to
young people.
Young people like Lee, who hopes to build a career in theatre but comes from an area
where there is no arts centre, are forced to travel to access better facilities. For young people
without a driving licence, this means either spending money on public transport, or enlisting
family members to provide lifts. Lee describes how he spent a total of £110 travelling between 83 Although Carol Doey considers the Burnavon to be the Hub’s ‘home theatre’, she believes it is valuable to give Hub members the chance to perform on a stage in Belfast, Derry or Dublin, for the ‘wow factor’. 84 ACNI & Deloitte (2013), Standing Ovation: a strategic evaluation of the Arts Council’s Capital Build Programme (Belfast: ACNI, 2013), p.37.85 Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013.86 Caroline, Interview, 31 July 2013; Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013.
51
Ballycastle and the Riverside theatre during a ten-day course.87 This amount was greater than
the cost of course itself. UAYD used to administer training bursaries for young people through
the Kenneth Branagh Renaissance Award and Ken-Friends Bursary schemes, but these were
discontinued in 2011.
4.3 Dedicated rural arts venues
It would be a mistake to assume that the experience of performing on a large urban stage is the
desirable ‘end goal’ of all youth theatre practice. In 2011, Quadrangle mounted a production on
the Riverside stage, but this experience made the group realise that, whilst it was exciting to
perform on a ‘proper stage’, they saw their mission as ‘bringing drama to Ballycastle
audiences’.88 All the young artists whom I interviewed demonstrated a desire to improve youth
theatre provision in their native towns and villages. When this sense of local pride and
attachment to place is coupled with a dynamic facilitator or theatre group, then visions of a
dedicated arts facility can start to take shape.
4.31Dynamic groups and leadersAll independent community arts venues are born out of shared visions. Brian Duffin describes
how, as the Coalisland Players were re-forming and engaging with young people, ‘all the time we
had this dream that we could get a place of our own’.89 When Carol Doey was on the point of
giving up her practice as theatre facilitator, support from Open Door Theatre Company led her
to think: ‘No, we can’t quit. We have to find somewhere to rehearse.’90 Caroline, Lee and Seamus
all harbour dreams of dedicated arts spaces in their home areas of Ballycastle and Cushendun.
In Standing Ovation, ACNI assert that the Capital Build Programme has provided areas
which previously had poor access to the arts with ‘modern, fit-for-purpose facilities’ in which
the arts and culture can flourish.91 They boast that the new regional venues are ‘champions for 87 Amount comprised of ten return tickets between Ballycastle and Coleraine, at £11 per ticket.88 Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013.89 Brian, Interview on Craic venue, 18 July 2013.90 Carol, Interview, 1 August 2013.91 ACNI, Standing Ovation, p.44.
52
the arts’, which have helped to ‘illustrate the reach of the arts beyond Belfast’.92 According to
Standing Ovation, the network of regional arts venues can act as promoters and advocates for
the arts across NI society. This language ties in with Ambitions for the Arts, ACNI’s recent draft
five-year strategy in which one of the aims is to ‘champion the arts’.93
McKinnie describes how a building can act as a ‘physical metaphor’ for the viability of
the activity which it houses.94 In discussing his dream of an arts centre in Cushendun, Seamus
touches on this concept that a purpose-built arts venue can help assert the viability of the arts
themselves. He believes that having a dedicated facility would raise the profile of the arts in
Cushendun by giving them a shared physical embodiment:
Somewhere you could go to, that would give people the chance to be exposed to drama in not such a ‘thrown-together’ way. […]It’s about bringing people together, and giving them a space where it’s like: ‘This is where we do this’. It’s not meeting up in somebody’s living room, it’s saying: ‘Yes. We have somewhere to go to do what we want to do’.95
When such a vision comes from the community grassroots as opposed to central government or
local authority, it requires immense resources of commitment and dynamism to bring about its
realisation. Craic managers speak with fondness of the large corps of community volunteers
who helped renovate their building. They even give credit to a certain streak of ‘madness’ in the
degree of commitment required: ‘People came in after work and worked till ten, eleven at night.
We never thought about it. If you hadda thought about it, you wouldn’t have done it.’96
In his dreaming of an arts venue for the Glens, Seamus is also aware that a committed
artistic group with dynamic leaders must be in place first. He speaks of the need for ‘pressure’ to
92 Ibid. , p.31.93 ACNI, Ambitions, pp. 12-15.94 McKinnie, City Stages, p. 106.95 Seamus, Interview, 14 July 2013.96 Mickey Carolan, Interview, 18 July 2013.
53
build and maintain local interest in such a project.97 The Arts Council entitled a recent press
release celebrating the Capital Build Programme as: ‘If you build it, they will come’.98 However,
in the case of independent community venues, it would seem that it is necessary to have a local
collective in place before you can think of building the place.
Craic and the Hub have successfully embodied a community-led vision. They make for
an interesting comparison with the Moyle area, where no dedicated arts venue exists as yet.
Although geographically close together, the Hub and Craic are situated in the differing boroughs
of Cookstown and Dungannon & South Tyrone. Like Moyle, both these boroughs have a Catholic
majority of around 60 per cent.99 The GAA is very active in all three boroughs, although hurling
is the sport of choice in Moyle and Gaelic football is favoured in Cookstown and Coalisland.100
They are neither very poor nor highly affluent areas: Moyle is ranked ninth out of twenty-one in
the NIMDM Index, where one indicates the most deprived borough. Cookstown ranks fifteenth
and Dungannon twelfth. Given these similarities, what are the factors, then, which have led to
Cookstown and Coalisland having community-run arts facilities whereas Moyle has none?
Caroline and Lee speak of a lack of local interest in drama and a sporting bias in
Ballycastle, which hampers their dreams of a dedicated theatre. Lee describes the Ballycastle
amateur drama scene as disjointed, cliquish and dominated by the over-forties. Both Craic and
the Hub, by contrast, grew out of popular, unified amateur drama movements: the Coalisland
Players was revived in a bid to provide positive activities for young people and Open Door
Theatre Company in Cookstown grew from the efforts of a dynamic drama facilitator (and is
now very much a collective). Coalisland Players also have strong links with the town’s sporting
communities: founder member Brian Duffin is a respected local football coach. Both Carol and
the Craic managers are very aware that their venues would not exist without the support of the
97 Seamus, Interview, 14 July 2013.98 ACNI (2013), ‘If you build it, they will come’, Press Release on 4th June 2013, available at <http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/showcasing-the-arts/article/northern-ireland/arts-venues-if-you-build-it-they-will-come> [accessed 2 September 2013].99 These and subsequent statistics on Moyle, Cookstown and Dungannon & South Tyrone are sourced from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency’s ‘NINIS’ search tool, <http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/Public/Home.aspx> [accessed 2 May 2013].100 Gaelic Athletic Association (2013), < http://www.gaa.ie/clubzone/club-info/find-a-club/> [accessed 20 August 2013].
54
local community: families, businesses and groups who recognise the value of the arts. Craic
raised £22,000 in sponsorship from Coalisland businesses, and the Hub was entirely furnished
through in-kind donations. Perhaps it is this virtue of being embedded in, and relevant to, their
local communities, which ensures that both venues can thrive.
4.32 Embedded venues, and shimmers of communityMcKinnie sees the goal of urban planning as the realisation of optimal relationships of
‘production, circulation, exchange and consumption’, through striving towards a ‘higher and
better’ use of space.101 This concept recognises that certain uses of the built environment will be
higher (of a superior type) and better (of a superior use within a type) than others. An example
of a ‘higher use’ is the production of social capital. In Standing Ovation, the Arts Council asserts
that the Programme has ‘played a significant role in developing the human capital of local
people and the communities that the venues serve’.102 The discourse of ‘regeneration’ and
‘community cohesion’ can be found throughout many Arts Council and DCAL policy
documents.103 Standing Ovation concludes by asserting that in these times of public funding cuts
and local government re-organisation, it is more incumbent than ever on arts venues to prove
they are deserving of public funding by evidencing their ‘impact on the surrounding area as
catalysts for town centre renewal and re-generation’, citing in particular the need to
demonstrate economic and social impact.104 I posit that the Arts Council has over-emphasised
economic outcomes to the detriment of social outcomes, although I am aware that these two are
linked. In Standing Ovation, economic impacts are accorded twelve pages and social outcomes,
just six. This perhaps reflects the NI Executive’s ‘number one priority’ of re-balancing the
economy.105
101 McKinnie, City Stages, p. 123.102 ACNI, Standing Ovation, p.39.103 For example, Ambitions for the Arts (Belfast: ACNI: 2013), p. 5 & p.23; or DCAL’s Business Plan 2013-2014, available at < http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/dcal_business_plan_2013-14_-_final_version_for_publication.pdf> [accessed 16 August 2013].104 ACNI, Standing Ovation, p.43.105 NI Executive (2011), Programme for Government 2011-2015: Building a Better Future, available at <http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/pfg-2011-2015-final-report.pdf > [accessed 27 March 2013], p.12.
55
It is not within the scope of this project to examine in detail whether or not youth
theatre has a role to play in the economic regeneration of communities. The argument for youth
theatre as a catalyst for community cohesion, however, featured prominently in many of my
interviews. By this token, venues which act as ‘home spaces’ to successful youth theatre groups
could be seen as facilitators of social capital. Craic, the Hub and the Riverside have fashioned
themselves as vital, integrated parts of the communities in which they operate. Their self-
fashioning involves demonstrating the ‘higher and better’ use of their buildings: the Hub used to
be an abandoned shop and Craic used to be a disused factory space.
I have already alluded to the fact that the Hub acts as a catalyst for a variety of
‘recession-busting’ community activities. The Hub Youth Theatre classes are scheduled to
facilitate minimal ‘taxi-ing’ from parents, and weekend classes are organised so they don’t clash
with local sports groups. Carol elaborates: ‘We’re gearing it round them. Because we know how
beneficial drama is for our kids.’106 Indeed, the Hub’s slogan ‘Centred Around You’ shows the
degree to which it strives to prove its relevance to its users and their wider community.
I feel (and this is a personal opinion, pace Matarasso’s ‘composite picture’ and Taylor’s
‘art of crystallisation’) that these activities are of immense benefit to individuals’ social, creative
and spiritual well-being as well as being of potential economic benefit.107 On the day of my visit
to the Hub, the interview was repeatedly interrupted by members of the local community
dropping in to the open foyer, including a mother who wanted to show Carol a shimmering
costume which she had hand-made for her daughter’s youth theatre performance.
In the Riverside, the youth theatre is a key element of the venue’s audience development
strategy. Jeremy Lewis strives to build a family ethos by making an effort to get to know each
parent and organising annual barbeques. He provides free play tickets for youth theatre
members because he believes that instilling a theatre-going habit in teenagers will help build
106 Carol, Interview, 1 August 2013.107 I use the term ‘spiritual’ in a very broad sense, not aligning my opinion with any particular faith tradition, but leaving the term open to interpretation.
56
loyal audiences for the future: ‘Get them young – there’s always a good chance they’ll stay with
you.’108 So an established youth theatre can become a nexus for involving entire families in a
cycle of personal development and relationship-building with an arts venue.
A recurrent theme in my interviews was the need for articulation and promotion of the
benefits of youth theatre. In the case of Quadrangle Productions, this is an acute area of local
need: whilst it has retained many founder members, Quadrangle struggles to recruit new
participants. By contrast, Craic, the Riverside, the Hub and Showstoppers youth theatres are all
heavily over-subscribed. For these groups, the issue of the promotion of youth theatre applies
less to their immediate local contexts, and more to wider society. Improved recognition of youth
theatre as a unique form of artistic and personal development will, they hope, lead to improved
funding and support. The four aforementioned groups all have ‘permanent homes’ in dedicated
arts centres (with Showstoppers being a long-term tenant in the Bardic). These venues are
either established and need no self-promotion or, in the case of the Hub, are generating a ‘buzz’
by virtue of their novelty.
I posit that association with dedicated theatre venues, which are making strategic efforts
to be embedded in their local communities, is an important factor in determining the level of
community support for youth theatres. Other factors are undoubtedly in play, such as the Craic
and the Hub’s rich association with amateur drama and with the sporting community. However,
I would argue that a youth theatre’s attachment to an active, community-based theatre and arts
venue represents a very powerful recruitment draw and source of popular appeal.
4.4 Links between youth theatre participation and theatre attendance
Craic and the Riverside have schemes to encourage theatre attendance amongst young people.
As mentioned previously, the Riverside Youth Theatre are given free tickets to plays. Sixty seats
108 Jeremy, Interview, 26 July 2013.
57
for every play are set aside for youth theatre members. They get first preference details e-
mailed to them, with suitability information, before anyone else sees the Season Programme.
Jeremy asserts that approximately 70 per cent of senior members avail of this offer, which
suggests a highly successful scheme. Craic offer ticket discounts to their youth theatre members
but did not offer figures demonstrating uptake. The Hub has recently acquired a minibus which
it hopes to use for theatre trips. All youth theatre participants in the sample had been to see at
least one play, although fewer had been with their families.
It would be interesting to compare this with a larger sample of local authority venues, to
ascertain whether the latter tend to offer ticketing schemes for young people. In Scotland, the
Young Scot card gives discount to eleven to twenty-five- year olds across many theatres.109
Northern Ireland has never had such a province-wide youth scheme.
4.5 Towards a sense of ownership
In Chapter 1, I identified young people’s sense of ownership of their rehearsal and performance
spaces as a potential key factor in the development of youth theatre. Instilling a sense of
ownership amongst young people is an important priority both for the Riverside and for Craic.
On nights when Craic’s senior youth theatre mount productions, this group of ‘Big
Craicers’ are given full responsibility for running the venue. As well as performing, the ‘Big
Craicers’ work backstage and manage the front of house, having received prior training from the
adult staff. Laragh Cullen asserts: ‘it’s the young people that you meet when you walk through
the door, when you go to get your programme. […] They become the theatre.’110 Brian Duffin
concurs, explaining that ‘the young people literally take over the place. Everybody else takes a
back seat to them.’111 The fact that Craic staff have the confidence to delegate full responsibility
for the venue to young people is a testament to the degree to which youth development is
109 See < http://www.youngscot.org/> for further details [accessed 19 May 2013].110 Laragh, Interview, 18 July 2013.111 Brian, Interview, 18 July 2013.
58
central to the venue’s ethos and mission. Craic facilitators describe how young people’s self-
esteem develops throughout the course of their involvement in the youth theatre. ‘Improved
confidence and self-esteem’ are perhaps the most-cited outcomes for youth arts (they feature
heavily in Standing Ovation) and as such, they may be in danger of becoming trite. However,
when embodied in practices such as the ‘young people’s takeover’ of Craic, these positive
developmental outcomes resonate with a new vigour.
Laragh and Brian believe that Craic’s youth-centred ethos is also reflected in the fact
that all their performances are devised: ‘The young people own the productions. They’ve made
it up, it’s out of their own imaginations.’112 They compare this to urban-based ‘Stage Academies’,
where there is a set curriculum.
The Riverside theatre offers an interesting counterpoint to Craic, because it does not
produce purely devised work, yet does actively seek to instil a sense of ownership of the venue
amongst young people. The Riverside Youth Theatre produces musicals: in 2011 it was ‘The
Jungle Book’ and in 2012, ‘Aladdin’. The Riverside’s 2013 theatre summer scheme involved a
semi-devised production based on Disney’s ‘The Lion King’. This production, ‘Pride Rock’,
largely followed the Disney film script, but was interspersed with occasional comedy skits
devised by cast members.113 Several of the songs were written and composed by the young
people and the Musical Director was a seventeen-year old member of the youth theatre. Whilst
this production was run by an external company, it did involve many members of the youth
theatre, and the lead facilitator was a former RYT member. ‘Pride Rock’ reflects a less engaged
form of devised theatre than that employed in Craic: participants did not give dramatic
expression to experiences from their own lives, and their imaginations were bound by the
framework of an already-fixed story and cast of characters. However, control over some of the
means of production – such as the role of Musical Director– was devolved to young people.
This practice of ‘deviations from a script’ is mirrored in the Riverside’s youth-led theatre
tours. As part of its outreach strategy, the Riverside offers free tours of the theatre to any
112 Laragh, Interview, 18 July 2013.113 Production attended by Molly Goyer at the Riverside theatre on Friday 9 August 2013.
59
visiting group. Jeremy Lewis selects members of the youth theatre to lead these guided visits. At
present he has a pool of eight young people (out of 60 RYT members) whom he regularly calls
upon to act as tour guides. Jeremy provides them with a basic script containing theatre history
and anecdotes, but the young people then have the flexibility to improvise around this script.
Jeremy views these tours as a confidence-building process, a means of developing a sense of
ownership of the building amongst young people and of showcasing the Riverside’s
commitment to youth development to external visitors. Jeremy adds that, because the RYT use
rooms in university buildings as well as in the theatre itself, many of the young people have
developed a sense of ownership of the university as well.
The cases of Craic and the Riverside demonstrate two differing approaches to fostering a
sense of ownership: in one case, complete imaginative ownership of the artistic process,
product, and physical responsibility for the building (for one night per term), go hand in hand.
In the other, the artistic product is largely pre-determined, the process more fixed, but young
people are still allowed to assume control in some areas. Ownership of the building is instilled
through involving users in showcasing the venue to the outside world via guided tours.
This youth-led practice corresponds to contemporary thinking about applied theatre as
a participant-led and participant-centred process, albeit supported by skilled facilitators. Helen
Nicholson elaborates:
Working in [applied] drama often requires a change in institutional culture, a shift in thinking from the idea that professionals control the situation (because of their expert disciplinary knowledge) to a recognition that client groups have specialised knowledge of their own situations and experiences which are central to the work.114
Although Nicholson is referring here to the practice of facilitating devised theatre workshops,
her recognition of the need for ‘a change in institutional culture’ might be applied to the practice
114 Nicholson, Applied Theatre, pp. 55-56.
60
of running arts venues themselves. Craic and the Riverside are both venues which include young
people in their operational culture, to a greater or lesser degree. The young people are not
passive ‘recipients’ of outreach schemes, but are (relatively) active collaborators in the self-
fashioning of the venue. By contrast, when Quadrangle members staged a play their local council
recreation centre, they felt like unwelcome outsiders. Caroline and Lee found the staff
‘unpleasant’,115 ‘unco-operative’116, and speculated that: ‘I don’t think they really like young
people’.117
Cathie McKimm passionately believes that local authority venues must become more
welcoming and inclusive of young people. In her practice as arts management consultant, she
has visited many local authority venues and has become adept at making judgements on what a
venue’s priorities are, based on their use of space. Lefebvre reflects on this practice of ‘reading’
spaces: ‘That space signifies is incontestable. But what it signifies is dos and don’ts.’118 Cathie
sees these dynamics of licence and prohibition as key to understanding the constructed nature
of local authority venues as ‘representational spaces’ – conceived spaces which are geared
towards the priorities of the state, and run by arts managers who are also civil servants. She
reflects that in her experience: ‘you see a very different dynamic in local government spaces
than you would see in spaces like the Hub, Craic and the Bardic, which have been created by
people, by themselves, for themselves’.119
My fieldwork has revealed that teenagers engaged in youth theatre are adept at building
their own sense of ownership of a space, even when the venue is less than ideal. This is evident
in the way in which groups from the Hub and the Bardic cannot seem to imagine doing youth
theatre in any other space. Facilitator Caroline outlined serious physical failings of the McAlister
Hall, but, whilst participant Lee was aware of these failings, his sympathetic depiction of the
venue reflects his emotional attachment to Quadrangle as a group: ‘You’ve grown to, like, love it.
It’s not the most perfect stage and it’s always freezing, and is hasn’t got a lot to offer, but […] we 115 Caroline, Interview, 31 July 2013.116 Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013.117 Caroline, Interview, 31 July 2013.118 Lefebvre, Production of Space, p. 142.119 Cathie, Interview, 16 July 2013.
61
like being there.’120 Chris Grant reveals a similar emotional attachment when describing the
venue in Banbridge where his first youth theatre would meet. This was a room on the top floor
of an otherwise disused, ‘abandoned’ building – which may objectively seem somewhat
unwelcoming – but Chris remembers the place as ‘class’.121 These young people’s ability to
imaginatively appropriate a given venue reflects Lefebvre’s idea of ‘lived spaces’.
‘Space’ denotes not just the built infrastructure but also the imaginative infrastructure
which emerges from the creation of spaces between people. Space is, as Lefebvre and McKinnie
assert, a social construct. Youth theatre is an art form which is very pre-occupied with
economies of space, and the spaces between people. A typical workshop begins with
participants walking around the room, being told to ‘try and fill up all the spaces’. Throughout
the course of a workshop, a good facilitator will endeavour to build a shared abstract space in
which everyone feels included and safe enough to express themselves. It is possible, though
more difficult, to create such a space in a building which lacks lighting rigs, clean toilets, a
functional stage or a green room. Indeed, Lee speculates that Quadrangle productions have
‘more heart’ than those of the Riverside Youth Theatre, because the limitations which the
McAlister Hall places on Quadrangle have forced it to develop a more radical creative practice:
‘In the Riverside Youth Theatre, they have a lot of things given to them […], whereas here [in
Quadrangle], we have to work our butts off, and there’s a lot more blood, sweat and tears going
into our productions’.122
In these comments, Lee may be revealing a shimmer of insight into artistic practice.
Nevertheless, blood and tears are certainly not compatible with health and safety priorities, nor
should they be.
A key insight which has crystallised throughout this analysis is that good spaces are
created by people, not by the quality of the built infrastructure alone. Gavin O’Connor asserts:
120 Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013.121 Chris, Interview, 2 August 2013.122 Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013.
62
‘you could have the best facility in the world, but if you have a facilitator who’s either not
experienced or not clued-in to the client group that they’re working with, then […] ‘so what?’’123
I posit that Gavin’s comment also applies to venue managers, umbrella bodies and any
independent individual or group who dreams of a dedicated youth theatre space. As outlined in
section 4.1 of this chapter, the quality of physical space and the accessibility of facilities remains
unevenly spread across some areas of the province, despite the Capital Build Programme. The
Arts Council, UAYD and other stakeholders must work towards a more level playing field in
terms of access to youth theatre space. However, a beautiful playing field alone will not raise
artistic quality or enhance social outcomes. It must be peopled with players who are wholly
committed to the game.
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Conclusions
I asserted in Chapter 3 that I would avoid drawing any ‘grand truths’ from my fieldwork, but
rather use small localised insights to point towards ‘new ways of knowing’ and potential fields
of research. The only over-arching conclusion which I would like to draw from this study is, in
simple terms, that ‘people are more important than buildings’ and so ‘good people make good
spaces’. The quality of the built arts infrastructure does seem to play a role in the development
of rural youth theatre. In my sample, those youth theatre groups which have ‘homes’ in
dedicated arts venues are more popular and have greater scope for artistic development than
those who meet in parish halls. However, the provision of buildings should not be prioritised
over the development of quality facilitators, support for groups, promotion of the benefits of
123 Gavin, Interview, 2 August 2013.
63
youth theatre and advocacy at a local authority level. The latter four factors should, I believe, be
the key priorities for the sector in rural areas. I will address each of these areas briefly,
summarising insights from my fieldwork and suggesting recommendations for action.
5.11 Facilitator trainingThe importance of quality youth theatre facilitation was the most prevalent common theme in
my fieldwork. Gavin O’Connor and Cathie McKimm cited facilitator development as the number
one priority for the sector. The space in which Quadrangle Productions meet is far from suitable,
but group member Lee testifies to a fondness for it. This would not have been the case if
Quadrangle’s facilitators hadn’t succeeded in creating a positive abstract space within the cold,
ramshackle McAlister Hall. Facilitators are responsible for creating a welcoming, inclusive
atmosphere in workshops, as well as for ensuring that all participants feel a sense of ownership
of the artistic process and product. At present, Northern Ireland does not have any accredited
training course in drama facilitation. NAYD’s ‘Arts Train’ course in the Republic is not open to
applicants from NI. UAYD is currently planning a new youth drama facilitators’ training
programme and register.124 UAYD will lobby for this programme on behalf of the sector. My
research confirms that the establishment of such an accredited programme would be of
significant benefit to the sector, creating space for facilitator networking as well as for skills
training, and thus helping to combat the sense of isolation felt by several of the facilitators from
rural areas whom I interviewed. Transport bursaries and part-time study options would be
necessary in order to ensure equality of access to this scheme for all practitioners (particularly
those from rural areas).
5.12 Links between groups and community venues
From my sample of rural venues and groups, it seems that those youth theatres which are
connected to arts venues embedded in their local communities are most successful at recruiting
participants. The fact of a group having a ‘permanent home’ in a theatre venue allows for the
development of a sense of ownership of that space amongst young people, and the fostering of a 124 UAYD, ‘Programme 2013-2014 (updated May 2013)’ accessed by kind permission of the Ulster Association of Youth Drama.
64
theatre-going habit in participants and their families. Groups such as Quadrangle, which are not
attached to dedicated arts spaces, require additional resources and extra support to become
embedded within their local communities. I would recommend all theatre venues to seriously
consider the provision of in-house, year-round youth theatre groups. This may require changes
in institutional culture; however, there are many successful models to draw from, like Camden’s
Roundhouse or the Contact Theatre in Manchester.125 The building of links between youth
groups, venues and local communities has wider implications beyond the youth theatre sector:
opening up arts venues to young people will help build artists – and audiences – for life.
5.13 Promotion of benefits of youth theatre
All interviewees spoke of the benefits of youth theatre involvement. Several commented that
there appears to be a knowledge gap in their local areas about what youth theatre actually
involves. In the Moyle/ Glens area in particular, there appears to be a sporting bias at the
expense of interest in drama. Three interviewees from this area also cited a stigma about young
male involvement in theatre. I would recommend mapping of youth theatre ‘cold spots’ such as
the Glens, with a view to UAYD co-ordinating a localised campaign to promote the benefits of
youth theatre involvement in these areas. NAYD’s recent ‘Capture YT’ initiative may provide a
source of inspiration.126
125 See websites for more details of these youth-focussed venues: The Roundhouse (2013), < http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/> [accessed 7 August 2013]; Contact Theatre Manchester (2013) < http://contactmcr.com> [accessed 2 June 2013].126 See NAYD (2013) < http://www.nayd.ie/programmes/capture-yt> [accessed 4 April 2013].
65
5.14 Local authority advocacy
Many of my interviewees seemed uneasy about the impact of the imminent RPA on local arts
funding. In Ambitions for the Arts, ACNI proposes to help the eleven new super-councils to
develop dedicated arts strategies.127 ACNI’s ‘Draft Youth Arts Strategy’ proposes to work with
local councils to encourage them to facilitate the provision of rehearsal and showcase space for
young people’s work.128 If effectively implemented, both of these proposals would be of
significant benefit to my interviewees. Furthermore, the development of ‘youth theatre
advocates’ within local government would enhance the quality and range of spaces available in
local communities.
5.2 Areas for future research
In Ambitions for the Arts, ACNI state that ‘we know we have to make a more persuasive and
compelling case as to why public funding for the arts is essential, especially in straitened times,
and what impact it has on the lives of our communities and individuals’.129 ACNI’s ‘ Strategy’
cites ‘Promoting the value of youth arts’ as a key action.130 In the light of this study, it would
seem that youth theatre offers a particularly fruitful field in which to gather arguments to
contribute towards a wider discourse on the value of youth arts to NI society. Research could
explore not only the oft-cited outcomes of ‘increased self-esteem’ and ‘improved confidence’,
but also the contribution of youth theatre activities to economic regeneration and community
cohesion, as demonstrated in the example of the Hub.
In view of the imminent changes in public administration, further research into the role
of local councils and local-authority-run venues in promoting youth arts would be of strategic
benefit to the sector. ACNI proposes to develop bi-lateral Memoranda of Understanding around
127 ACNI, Ambitions, p. 18.128 ACNI, ‘Draft Youth Arts Strategy’, p. 86.129 ACNI, Ambitions, p. 13.130 ACNI, ‘Draft Youth Arts Strategy’, p. 82.
66
arts provision with Belfast and Derry borough councils only.131 It is vital to ensure that rural
areas do not get left behind in this process. Research into the government’s role in fostering
rural youth arts could encompass comparisons with policies in other areas of the UK and
abroad.
The importance of independent rural arts venues being embedded within their local
communities was another important theme in this research. Deeper and wider investigation
into the nature of this ‘community embedding’ in rural areas could be fruitful. Of particular
interest are the links between arts and sports communities in the countryside.
Finally, this study did not address the role of the Young Farmers Clubs. Many
practitioners within the Belfast arts community seem unaware of YFCU’s involvement in the
arts. Given the apparently high level of drama activity within YFCU, this issue would merit a
dedicated academic study in its own right.
5.3 Final remarks
I believe that, in an auditorium during a theatre performance, ‘the play’ is more than the
performance onstage. Instead, ‘the play’ is in the air, in the space between performers and
audience. A sensitively designed theatre auditorium will enhance the scope for this abstract
‘play’, as will skilful artistic deployment of a theatre’s technical facilities. However, these are not
the main determining factors of a play’s success. The quality of a play depends first and
foremost on people: on the relationship between actors and audience.
Three of my interviewees referred to a ‘special buzz’ amongst audiences in rural
communities, a markedly different atmosphere from urban venues, where they perceived
131 ACNI, Ambitions, p. 18. N.B: Since this dissertation was submitted, ACNI released a final version of its Strategy 2013-18, in which this aim has been changed to ‘Support the 11 new Local Councils to develop dedicated Arts Strategies’, and the mention of Memoranda of Understanding for Belfast and Derry had been dropped. See http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/images/uploads/publications-documents/Ambitions-for-the-Arts-5-Year-Strategy.pdf, p.20, [accessed 11th April 2015].
67
audiences to be more detached and critical.132 In good youth theatre workshops, as in good
performances, a shared abstract space is created in which each individual feels they have a
stake. In rural communities, the creation of these abstract artistic spaces – be they through
workshops or performances – is a highly effective means of combating isolation and creating a
sense of community identity, whilst leaving space for influences from elsewhere. Good spaces
are created by committed people, and rural communities in Northern Ireland need more space
to play.
132 Seamus, Interview, 14 July 2013; Lee, Interview, 30 July 2013; Chris, Interview, 2 August 2013.
68
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_final_version_for_publication.pdf> [accessed 16 August 2013].
DCAL & ACNI (2010), Mapping of government funded arts venues, activities and festivals in
Northern Ireland 2010/11, available at <
http://www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/quick-links/research_and_statistics%203/
research_publications/mapping_of_government_arts_page.htm> [accessed 14 August 2013].
FitzGibbon, Ali (2011), Young at Art Strategy 2011-2015, available to download at
<http://www.youngatart.co.uk/reports> [accessed 14 March 2013].
FitzGibbon, Ali (2011), ‘Audience Development Proposal: A Submission to Belfast City
Council under Peace III’ [unpublished; accessed by kind permission of Young at Art,
Belfast].
Goyer Gorman, Molly and Bonnie Soroke on behalf of Young at Art (2013), ‘Shankill
Audience Development Project Report’ [unpublished; accessed by kind permission of Young
at Art]
Grant, David, “Family Album”: Pilot Project of the Virtual Reality Theatre Company,
(Belfast: Virtual Reality, 1994).
Grant, David for the Community Relations Council, Playing the Wild Card: a survey of
community drama and smaller-scale theatre from a community relations perspective (Belfast:
Community Relations Council, 1993).
71
Harrow Arts Centre (2013), Case Study: The Guestlist, available at
<http://culturehive.co.uk/resources/membership-schemes-for-young-people-youth-
engagement-and-participation> [accessed 5 June 2013].
Imaginate (2010), Evaluating the Performing Arts: a step by step teaching guide, available at
< http://www.imaginate.org.uk/learn/schools-teachers/> [accessed 15 May 2013].
Jarvis, Pam (2013), A Night Less Ordinary: Evaluation, available at
<http://culturehive.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/A-Night-Less-Ordinary-
evaluation.pdf> [accessed 1 June 2013].
Marketing: arts (2004), Cre8 – Audience Development in Ross on Wye, available at
<http://www.takingpartinthearts.com/content.php?content=991> [accessed 15 May 2013].
National Association for Youth Drama (2009), Centre Stage + 10: A Report on Youth
Theatre in Ireland, available at < http://www.nayd.ie/resources/research-projects/> [accessed
4 August 2013].
NI Executive (2011), Programme for Government 2011-2015: Building a Better Future,
available at <http://www.northernireland.gov.uk/pfg-2011-2015-final-report.pdf > [accessed
27 March 2013].
NI Statistics and Research Agency (2011), Young Persons’ Behaviour and Attitudes Survey
Bulletin available at <http://www.csu.nisra.gov.uk/YPBAS%202010%20Headline
%20bulletin.pdf> [accessed 16 May 2013].
OFMDFM (2008), Play and Leisure Policy Statement for Northern Ireland, available at <
http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/equality/children-young-people/play-and-leisure-
policy.htm> [accessed 7 June 2013].
OFMDFM (2006), A ten-year strategy for children and young people in Northern Ireland
2006-2016, available at <
http://www.ofmdfmni.gov.uk/index/equality-and-strategy/equality-human-rights-
social-change/children-young-people/children-and-young-people-strategy.htm>
[accessed 8 July 2013].
72
Promote YT (2012), Youth Theatre Sector Development Plan 2013-2015, available at
<http://www.promoteyt.co.uk/findoutaboutyt/sector-development-plan-2013-2015/>
[accessed 16 July 2013].
Promote YT (2012), Review of Youth Theatre in Scotland 2012, available at
<http://www.promoteyt.co.uk/findoutaboutyt/resources/> [accessed 5 August 2013].
Rural Cultural Forum / Littoral (2010), Creative Rural Communities: Proposal for a Rural
Cultural Strategy, available at <
http://www.ruralculture.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/RCS_web.pdf> [accessed 25
July 2013].
Schaefer, Kerrie, ‘Performing environmental change: MED Theatre and the changing face of
community-based performance research’ (2012) in RiDE: The Journal of Applied Theatre
and Performance, 17, 2, (May 2012), pp.247-263.
Theatre for Young Audiences UK (2011), Drama, Theatre and Young People: a Manifesto
available at <http://rjtheatrearts.com/tya-alpha/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/DRAMA-
THEATRE-AND-YOUNG-PEOPLE-190511.pdf> [accessed 5 May 2013].
Ulster Association of Youth Drama, The Etna Effect: a strategic plan for youth drama 2004-
2009 (Lisburn: UAYD, 2004).
UAYD, Strategic Business Plan 2008-2011, (Lisburn: UAYD, 2007).
UAYD, Corporate Plan 2012-2015 (Belfast: UAYD, 2011).
UAYD, Business Plan 2012-2013 (Belfast: UAYD, 2011).
Interviews, consultation workshops and conference seminars
1. Doey, Carol and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on the Hub Bt80 venue and youth theatre
73
Doey, C. (2013), Interview on the Hub Bt80 venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer
[in person], the Hub Bt80 (Cookstown), 1 August 2013.
2. Duffin, Brian, Mickey Carolan, Laragh Cullen and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on Craic venue and youth theatre
Duffin, B., Mickey Carolan and Laragh Cullen (2013), Interview on Craic venue and youth theatre.
Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Craic Theatre and Arts Centre (Coalisland), 18 July
2013
3. Grant, Chris and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on Chris’s experiences as a young actor from a small village
Grant, C. (2013), Interview on Chris’s experiences as a young actor from a small village.
Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], QUB Postgraduate Centre, 2 August 2013.
4. Grant, David and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on the history of youth theatre in Northern Ireland
Grant, D. (2013), Interview on the history of youth theatre in Northern Ireland. Interviewed by
Molly Goyer [in person], Queens University Belfast, 19 July 2013.
5. Lewis, Jeremy and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on the Riverside venue and youth theatre
Lewis, J. (2013), Interview on the Riverside venue and youth theatre. Interviewed by Molly Goyer
[in person], the Riverside theatre (Coleraine), 26 July 2013.
6. McAfee, Caroline and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on Quadrangle Productions
74
McAfee, Caroline (2013), Interview on Quadrangle Productions. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in
person], Ballycastle, 31 July 2013.
7. McKimm, Cathie and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on the Ulster Association of Youth Drama
McKimm, Cathie (2013), Interview on the Ulster Association of Youth Drama. Interviewed by
Molly Goyer [in person], Common Grounds Café, Belfast, 16 July 2013.
8. McLaughlin, Lee and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on Lee’s experiences as a young actor from a rural area
McLaughlin, Lee (2013), Interview on Lee’s experiences as a young actor from a rural area.
Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Ballycastle, 30 July 2013.
9. O’Connor, Gavin and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on the Arts Council’s policy on youth theatre and the built arts infrastructure
O’Connor, Gavin (2013), Interview on the Arts Council’s policy on youth theatre and the built arts
infrastructure. Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Belfast,
2 August 2013.
10. O’Hara, Seamus and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on Seamus’s experiences as a young actor from a small village
O’Hara, Seamus (2013), Interview on Seamus’s experiences as a young actor from a small village.
Interviewed by Molly Goyer [in person], Cushendun, 14 July 2013.
11. O’Neill, Joanna and Molly Goyer Gorman
Interview on the Glens Young Farmers Club drama activities
75
O’Neill, Joanna (2013), Interview on the Glens Young Farmers Club drama activities. Interviewed
by Molly Goyer [via telephone], 3 August 2013.
12. Showstoppers Youth Theatre and Molly Goyer Gorman
Consultation drama workshop
Showstoppers (2013), Consultation drama workshop. Workshop facilitated by Molly Goyer
Gorman in the Bardic theatre, Donaghmore, 11 July 2013.
13. The Hub Youth Theatre and Molly Goyer Gorman
Consultation drama workshop
The Hub Youth Theatre (2013), Consultation drama workshop. Workshop prepared by Molly
Goyer and facilitated by Carol Doey, the Hub Bt80, Cookstown, 6 August 2013.
14. Colin Bradie and Molly Goyer Gorman
Seminar: ‘Developing Youth Theatre from Small-Scale to Major International
Collaborations’
Bradie, Colin (2013), Developing Youth Theatre from Small-Scale to Major International
Collaborations. Seminar documented by Molly Goyer, UAYD SkillsTap Conference, The MAC
Belfast, 1 March 2013.
Websites visited for general research purposes
Culture Hive (2013), < http://culturehive.co.uk/>, site managed by the Arts Marketing
Association [accessed 12 May 2013].
Daisi (2013), <http://www.daisi.org.uk>, Devon-based network body for youth art [accessed 3
April 2013].
76
Gaelic Athletic Association (2013), < http://www.gaa.ie/> [accessed 20 August 2013].
National Association for Youth Drama (2013), < http://www.nayd.ie/> [accessed 15 July 2013].
National Association of Youth Theatres (2013), <http://www.nayt.org.uk/ > [accessed 12 July
2013].
National Rural Touring Forum (2013), < www.ruraltouring.org.uk > [accessed 17 July 2013].
Night Out / Noson Allan (2013), < http://www.nightout.org.uk/ >, rural touring support scheme
run by Arts Council of Wales [accessed 16 May 2013].
Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, NINIS search tool (2013),
<http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/Public/Home.aspx> [accessed 2 May 2010].
Rural Community Network (NI),< www.ruralcommunitynetwork.org> [accessed 1 August 2013].
Promote YT (2013), < http://www.promoteyt.co.uk/> [accessed 14 July 2013].
Wide Awake Devon (2013), <http://www.wideawakedevon.com/ >, support & development body
for the arts in Devon [accessed 15 April 2013].
Young Farmers’ Club of Ulster (2013), < http://www.yfcu.org/> [accessed 24 August 2013].
Young Scot (2013), <http://www.youngscot.org/> [accessed 19 May 2013].
Other
Arts Council of Northern Ireland (2013), ‘If you build it, they will come’, Press Release on 4
June 2013, available at
<http://www.artscouncil-ni.org/showcasing-the-arts/article/northern-ireland/arts-
venues-if-you-build-it-they-will-come > [accessed 2nd September 2013].
Ben Cameron, ‘Making Ourselves Relevant’, speech delivered at All-Ireland Arts Conference
2012, re-printed on Northern Ireland Theatre Association website, www.nitheatre.com
(2012), <http://www.nitheatre.com/files/docs/Charlotte/Ben%20Cameron
%20Speech.pdf> [accessed 23 October 2012].
UAYD (2013), ‘Database of results of UAYD Mapping & Audit’, March 2013 [accessed by kind
permission of UAYD].
77
APPENDIX
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CASE STUDIES………………………………....................... p.1 Case study 1: Quadrangle…………………………. p.1 Case study 2: Craic…………………………………… p.4 Case study 3: The Hub……………………………… p.7EXAMPLE OF INTERVIEW DATA ANALYSIS……………………………………………………… p.10EXMPLE OF INTERVIEW QUESTIONS…………………………………………………… p.15REPORT ON SHOWSTOPPERS CONSULTATION DRAMA WORKSHOP……………………………………… p.16COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE: THE HUB YOUTH THEATRE………………………………………….. p.25
0
CASE STUDIES
Case Study 1: Quadrangle Productions, Ballycastle
Quadrangle Productions are a youth theatre company of nineteen members aged eight to
nineteen. The company has four facilitators: an Acting Coach/Director, a Technical
Manager/Acting Coach, a Dance Tutor and a Voice Tutor. All these facilitators work for free.
Quadrangle was established in 2010 by University of Ulster drama graduate Caroline
McAfee, herself a native of Ballycastle. Caroline noticed a distinct lack of young people in the
local amateur drama scene, which was then comprised of the GAA Drama Group and the
Ballycastle Choral Society. Senior Quadrangle member Lee McLaughlin describes these groups
as social clubs, featuring ‘the Who’s Who’ of the town […]. They only brought young people in if
they needed them for a specific production.’ Quadrangle was founded to fill this gap and to
provide positive activities for teenagers in Ballycastle, a town in which the complaint that
‘there’s nothing for the young people’ can frequently be heard. Quadrangle is now the only
remaining active drama group in Ballycastle. They produce devised work, plays scripted by
members, and dance routines.
At first, Quadrangle rehearsed in the Scout Den. This building has ‘a tiny stage, like two
kitchen tables’ and a problem with damp. The company’s first production was staged in the
Sheskburn Recreation Centre, home of Moyle District Council. Lee does not have happy
memories of this venue: ‘I didn’t feel like we were welcome to be performing there. We were
paying, just like everyone else, but the way they treated us wasn’t nice. And they were very un-
co-operative.’ Caroline concurs, adding that the staff were ‘unpleasant’ to them, and seemed as if
they ‘didn’t really like young people’. The Sheskburn is very rarely used for drama but often
used for youth sports. The fees for one night were £130, so Quadrangle ended up ‘handing over
the entire evening’s profit to the Council’.
1
As Quadrangle membership expanded, they moved their workshops from the Scout Den
to the McAlister Hall, a parish hall owned by the neighbouring Catholic Church. Their second
production was staged at the Riverside Theatre. Lee describes a moment of realisation during
this production which made him and other members question their choice of venue: ‘It was like:
“Why are we doing this, when our whole thing is that we want to provide drama for
Ballycastle?”’ Quadrangle members realised then that they saw their mission as bringing drama
to Ballycastle audiences.
Since 2011, Quadrangle have used the McAlister Hall as their regular space for
rehearsals and productions. The stage has no lighting rig, no ‘get-round’ unless Quadrangle put
up a cyclorama and no sound system. The backstage room is used as storage space for the local
playgroup, so Quadrangle have to use a small upstairs space as their dressing room/green room.
Throughout winter 2012 to 2013, part of the roof leaked. Lee is somewhat defensive of this
space: ‘You’ve grown to, like, love it. It’s not the most perfect stage and it’s always freezing, and
is hasn’t got a lot to offer, but, like, y’know, it does the job, and I think that’s important. And we
like being there.’
Caroline is less effusive: ‘for the amount you pay, I think the facilities are very poor’ (the
rent is £10/hour). She explains that whilst the venue would pass a ‘very basic’ Health & Safety
test, there are recurrent problems with the heating and the condition of the facilities (such as
old nails sticking out of tables). She adds that when Quadrangle first started using the hall, the
toilets were a ‘sheer disgusting mess’, but that after they made a complaint, the situation
improved. The McAlister Hall is shared by several local community groups including the
mothers-and-toddlers, boxing and bingo groups. Bingo takes place every Friday night; this
seems to be an inflexible arrangement, meaning that Quadrangle can never stage productions
on Fridays. There is no central body responsible for the management of the hall and no official
caretaker. The local priest takes on the role of venue administrator, consulting parish
committees as required (the Parish Child Protection Committee had to ascertain Quadrangle’s
2
compliance with their policy). Caroline speculates that this lack of a central venue management
body is the reason why the hall is neglected and why there are sometimes tensions between
groups which share the space: ‘That is the problem, there is nobody there that takes control.’
Both Caroline and Lee dream of having a dedicated theatre space in Ballycastle, and both
harbour carefully designed visions of how such a space would look. However, they seem
fatalistic about how unlikely this dream is to ever be realised: ‘It would be lovely to have our
own theatre. There is space for one, but you’re never going to get the support here.’
3
Case Study 2: Craic Theatre and Arts Centre, Coalisland
Craic is a community-led, community-embedded arts space which has been going strong in rural
Tyrone for over fifteen years. It is located in the small town of Coalisland (population circa
5,600). Craic grew organically out of the local amateur drama scene.
In 1996, Coalisland (Catholic) Parish Council succeeded in reviving the area’s amateur
drama group as part of a drive to provide more positive activities for young people in the parish.
The revived Coalisland Players initially rehearsed in the parish hall, but, as founder member
Brian Duffin explains, ‘all the time we had this dream that we could get a place of our own’. The
Players approached their local Development Association about the possibility of renting a
derelict building, and were delighted to be offered the space at an extremely low rent. This
initial acquisition of the space was followed by gargantuan efforts in fundraising and building
renovation from the committed founder group, with the support of their local community. Brian
relates how he and his co-worker Mickey amassed £22, 000 from the business community in a
matter of weeks: ‘It gave us an indication of how well-got we were within the community, how
[…] people appreciated what we were doing.’ Locals also volunteered their time and skills in
renovating the space, with the result that, apart from the heating system and the suspended
ceiling, every single renovation in the building was done by volunteers. Mickey Carolan
remembers: ‘People came in after work and worked till ten, eleven at night. We never thought
about it. If you hadda thought about it, you wouldn’t have done it!’
Former Craic youth theatre facilitator Laragh Cullen believes that the venue is now at
the heart of the local community: ‘It’s a local feature that everybody’s very proud of, and it’s
been built up that way. It’s a community ownership.’ Brian relates how, when the Coalisland
Players operated out of the parish hall, very few Protestants would take part in or attend their
shows. However, Craic is seen as a ‘neutral space’, and its user group is now very diverse.
4
From its origins as part of a youth work initiative, youth theatre has remained one of Craic’s
core activities. Their youth theatre currently comprises one hundred and sixty members aged
four to eighteen, and there is a waiting list. Facilitators often have to use every available room in
the building to accommodate over-subscribed groups, but they are loath to turn people away.
Brian and Mickey speak of the youth theatre as a family, referring to ‘our ones’. They relish the
fact that parents who were former members now send their children to the workshops. When
teenage ‘Craicers’ stage a production, they literally take over the running of the entire venue,
managing the Front of House as well as backstage. Laragh explains: ‘the young people become
the theatre. That’s the way you really see this place work.’
Indeed, although there is a team of core staff (many of whom helped to build the venue),
there is no official hierarchy of job titles in the Craic management system. Rather, staff
members have areas of expertise, and then roles are regularly shared out based on priority.
Brian Duffin elaborates: ‘The title of Manager/General Manager varies between people – it
doesn’t matter a damn!’ One might speculate that this lack of a formal, fixed management
system means that the venue is more easily accommodating to young people taking over the
space. If, for example, the role of Front of House Manager is seen as just that – a role, rather than
a specific person – then there is (perhaps) less anxiety or preciousness about that role being
passed on to someone else.
An area which Brian and Mickey still struggle with is the building of links been
participation in the venue’s arts activities and attendance at its performances. They try to give
their youth theatre members a discount for all appropriate shows, but the uptake of this offer is
variable. Brian is disappointed ‘that a lot of people who have performed on Craic stage, who are
involved in Craic, don’t regularly attend performances.’
Leaving aside this lack of information about arts audience motivation (a sector-wide
problem), Craic is extremely well used by the local community. However, Brian and Mickey are
reluctant to officially promote their achievements: ‘We often receive the comment from the Arts
5
Council that: “You don’t big yourselves up enough. You should be trumpeting everything you
do.” And we say, but maybe we’re from a country area, […] we just don’t do that […]. We say, if
people want to see what we’re about, come along here and see what we’re about.’ They believe
that Craic’s role and standing within its local community is unique, even in comparison with
urban venues. Brian cites the fact that all their youth theatre consists of devised work as
evidence of Craic’s commitment to originality, as opposed to the ‘Stage Academy’ approach
where there is a set programme of activity which rarely changes. Craic staff are now keen to
build an education and outreach programme around the history of their building and, by
extension, the history of Coalisland.
Craic’s founder members are occasionally called upon to consult with other
development bodies about the building of arts venues. These experiences of consultancy have
reinforced Brian’s view that Craic’s success is due in part to the fact that it was designed and
built by the people who use it: ‘We’ve always said that if we were planning on getting a new
theatre, we wouldn’t let an architect near it! Until we designed it. We would have to design it
first.’
6
Case Study 3: The Hub Bt80, Cookstown
The Hub’s logo proudly proclaims: ‘Centred Around You’, and indeed, few could claim that this
newly-established community space in Cookstown does not serve its local population. Open
since March 2013, the Hub is home to a youth theatre, music classes, a weekly jumble sale, a
cookery school, sewing machine workshops, open mic nights, fashion shows and, of course,
plays. The venue is the brainchild of playwright, director and trained drama facilitator Carol
Doey.
After completing her diploma in Drama Facilitation, Carol moved back to Cookstown
with the aim of bringing theatre to her home town: ‘When my husband and I were let go with
our certificates, we thought we’d move mountains. And we did.’ Carol established Open Door
Theatre Company in 2000, and the company has produced eight plays to date, including four
large-scale community productions. However, Open Door never had a permanent base for
rehearsals. They performed in the Burnavon, the local council-funded arts and cultural centre,
but the Burnavon were unable to provide them with rehearsal space, so the company ‘lugged’
their materials between the leisure centre, the local technical college, the St Vincent de Paul and
Women’s Aid. During one production, they were forced to hold a night’s rehearsal in a disused
sheep-shed. Carol was so demoralised by this experience that she was ready to give up.
However, other company members said to her: ‘That’s not fair. You introduced us all to drama
[…] and now you’re quitting.’ This gave Carol the spur she needed to begin seeking a permanent
home for the company.
Open Door obtained the lease on what is now the Hub in early 2012. A former sweet-
shop and take-away, the building had been lying empty for two years. It is situated on the Burn
Road, opposite the Burnavon theatre, and just down the road from the South West College
Campus, which runs a BTEC in Performing Arts. The Burn Road is central to Cookstown
Council’s draft Master Plan for community development: the Council aims to ‘further promote
7
the Burn Road as an entertainment hub’.133 Whilst this master plan focuses on the economic
potential of the Burnavon and the Cineplex, the Hub is fast making its name in the local area as a
facilitator of social capital.
Although the Hub was intended as a rehearsal venue, Open Door Theatre had to find
ways of paying the £10,000/year rent. However, the Company did not wish to ‘make money just
for the sake of it’. They wanted to offer creative activities which, at the same time as raising
funds, would also help the local community to develop useful skills for surviving the recession.
From this desire grew the sewing machine classes, the furniture repair workshop, the jumble
sale and the meditation group. This last group meets in the ‘Quiet Room’, a uniquely peaceful
space in the centre of the Hub which anyone can visit for a moment of calm. Indeed, many
people do just drop in: during my visit, there was a steady stream of people availing of the free
tea and coffee. So, in this hive of activity which blends the social, the practical and even the
spiritual, where does the youth theatre fit in?
Carol is adamant that youth theatre remains one of the primary reasons for the Hub’s
existence. Open Door started their first permanent youth theatre in April, and the seventy-five
places in this group were soon filled. There is now a waiting list of an additional seventy-five
young people, whom Carol is trying to accommodate into this September’s intake. She shares
the facilitation with her husband and with a young actor from Enniskillen. However, Carol hopes
to persuade the Hub committee to acquire new premises which would be solely for rehearsals.
Whilst she is happy about the way in which the Hub has accommodated so many other
activities, Carol dreams of a space dedicated entirely to youth drama: ‘In there, the kids open it:
it’s our space. It’s totally for drama. […] It’ll be lovely.’
The case of the Hub shows the creative impact which one dynamic, well-connected and
popular individual can have within a community. Carol has a talent for strategic networking.
133 Cookstown District Council (2012), Cookstown Town Centre Master Plan, available at < http://www.cookstown.gov.uk/development/towncentreregeneration/towncentremasterplan/> [accessed 17 August 2013), p.95.
8
Last year, during her annual community chat show, she interviewed representatives of local
sporting organisations, seeking to establish common ground: ‘We connect with everybody
because we know that it’s better to work with them than work against them. And I think if
children aren’t in sports, they should be in the arts.’ Carol has also negotiated a mutually
beneficial relationship with Cookstown Council. The Hub has never requested funding from
their local authority; instead Carol asked that the Council provide long-term developmental
support: ‘I said to the Council: “Take me under your wing. Support me in everything I do. If I’m
stuck with something, allow me to ring and get straight through to somebody, and send
somebody down to help me.” And they do that.’ This model of concerted non-financial support
from a local authority is one which the Arts Council may well take interest in, if they implement
their recommendation to develop dedicated arts strategies with the new eleven ‘super-councils’
in 2015.
9
EXAMPLE OF INTERVIEW DATA ANALYSIS:
Phone conversation with Joanna O’Neill, 3 August 2013
BackgroundJoanna grew up on a farm outside Ballycastle, Co. Antrim. She was involved in the Glens Young Farmers Club as a teenager and took part in many of their drama activities. Joanna went on to study Drama at the University of Ulster (Magee). She is currently back living at home, working in the mental health services in Ballycastle whilst pursuing her interest in film acting. Joanna now takes on a leadership role in promoting drama within the Glens YFC.
Phone interview transcription (Molly’s notes in italics)
Nodes of meaning Theme
Molly asks for an overview of the Young Farmers’ Club’s involvement in drama activities. Joanna replies that the YFC operates in local areas across NI, so each local branch organises its own drama activities. YFC headquarters are in Belfast, where an Events Co-ordinator provides support for local branches to organise events and also co-ordinates province-wide competitions such as the Arts Festival.
Molly asks for further information about the Arts Festival. Joanna explains that each participating club must submit a 20-min piece of dance/drama/sketches/ ‘craic’. There are regional heats in the larger towns like Ballymena and Ballymoney, and a Gala Final in Belfast or Derry where the winning club is announced. There is also an annual ‘Drama Dinner’ where prizes are awarded.
Lots of drama activity in YFCU
YFCU Arts Festivals and Drama Dinners are prestigious and exciting.
YFC as a hive of drama activity
10
Joanna then adds that YFCs can also submit a 1-act, or 3-act ‘drama’ to the annual One-act and Three-act Drama Festivals.134 The YFC website has a bank of scripts to choose from. Each club is sent out competition forms, and then it is up to them to organise rehearsals and the performance. Clubs fundraise to cover these costs.
Molly asks which venues are most frequently used for these purposes by Joanna’s own branch, the Glens YFC. Joanna replies that they generally use the McQuillan’s Gaelic Athletic Club to rehearse, but if they’re doing ‘something bigger’ for which a stage is required, then they would use the Carey Hall or the McAlister Hall. However, they haven’t used the latter two venues for far this year.
Molly asks what the venue fees are like. Joanna replies that she thinks the GAC charge Glens YFC for heat and light only. Molly asks whether they can access the Carey or McAlister Hall for free or at a discounted rate. Joanna replies that The Carey and McAlister Halls do charge, but advises contacting them for details of their hire fees.
Molly asks about access to technical equipment for YFC drama activities. Joanna replies that the Glens YFC productions are generally ‘low-tech’, using ‘basic lights’, ‘no specialised gels’ and generally a CD player. She adds: ‘You work with what you have, then whenever you do get things like proper lights, well, that makes life easier’.
GAC is main venue for drama activity, but bigger halls with stages are hired for special events.
Gaelic Athletic Club fees are reasonable. Interviewee unable/unwilling to give info on other venue fees.
YFC productions are ‘low-tech’ by necessity not choice.
YFC drama participation is high
Links between drama group and GAA
Lack of suitable theatre equipment and facilities.
134. See <http://yfcu.org/pages/52/one-and-three-act> for script suggestions. Festival adjudicators in 2013 were Stephen Beggs and Jenny Long.
11
Molly asks about the level of participation in drama activities within YFC. Joanna replies that it is ‘very high, and very competitive’. She qualifies this by commenting that in her immediate local area, she is trying to get more young people involved in drama because ‘some of the young boys and girls are more interested in sports’. However, levels of participation are high on a province-wide level and at the Arts Festival ‘everyone’s wanting the coveted title’, and the calibre of productions is ‘quite high’. Joanna comments that even young boys, ‘farming fellas’, get involved and ‘there’s not a stigma about drama’ – it is recognised that drama provides ‘fun, craic and club camaraderie’.
She goes on to say that at a local (Glens) level, ‘drama’s not something that’s publicised around here’, explaining that: ‘You mention something about drama to some of the boys in our club and they look at you as if to say: “Yeah right’”. She adds ‘But I just tell them they’re doing it. That’s it.’
Joanna goes on to speak about the value of involvement in YFC. She explains that young people become involved from the age of 12 right up till they’re 25 or even 30. Joanna asserts that ‘it’s a great way for young people to socialise’ and that it’s ‘healthy’ as opposed to hanging around in bars. She explains that as a young person involved in YFC, she had the opportunity to ‘travel all around the country’. She adds that YFC allows you to meet people from other religions too, which is a ‘good thing’.
at national level. But less participation in Glens – sporting bias?
Some social stigma does exist (external to YFC) around “farming fellas” involvement in drama. YFC activities challenge this.
Value of drama not articulated/promoted in Glens society. Some males reluctant. Need for confident facilitators.
YFC plays a positive role in young people’s development and in challenging sectarianism.
Sporting bias in Glens
Social stigma around males in drama.
Need for greater promotion of value of drama. Young male reluctance to become involved in drama.
Value of groups providing positive activities for rural young people.
12
Molly thanks Joanna and asks if there’s anything else she’d like to share. She tells Molly about an upcoming BBQ on 30th August to re-launch the Glens YFC. There will be a tug-of-war, which she says is very popular with the boys. Molly asks how many members are in the Glens YFC, and Joanna replies that there are ‘20-25, maybe 30’, and that participation levels depend on the specific activity/ competition in question. She adds that: ‘there are competitions for everyone’, specifying that sport is particularly popular in her local area.
Molly thanks Joanna for her time.
Sport very popular in Glens, particularly amongst males.
Sporting bias in Glens.
13
Clustering of themes
YFC as a hive of drama activity.Value of groups like YFC providing positive activities for rural young people.
Need for greater promotion of value of drama at a local level.
Links between drama group and GAA (x2)Sporting bias in GlensSporting bias in Glens.
Lack of suitable theatreequipment/facilities.
Social stigma around males in drama.Young male reluctance to become involved in drama.
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EXAMPLE OF QUESTIONS FOR INTERVIEW: Questions for Craic Managers, 19 July 2013
1. Could you briefly talk me through the history of the Craic venue?
2. How important were young people to the establishment of Craic? How do you see their role now?
3. In what ways do young people currently use the physical space of Craic?
4. Do you as a venue encourage your youth theatre members to attend theatre performances?
5. Do you feel that you face any challenges specific to your situation as a rural arts venue?
6. What impact (if any) do you feel the Review of Public Administration changes will have on Craic?
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REPORT ON SHOWSTOPPERS CONSULTATION DRAMA WORKSHOP
Report on consultation workshop with ‘Showstoppers’ youth musical theatre group, 11 July 2013, the Bardic theatre, Donaghmore
Context
The area
Donaghmore ward (County Tyrone) population profile135
Usually resident population: 2,588 living in 866 households
Percentage of population aged under 16 years: 24.23%
70.36% belong to or were brought up in the Catholic religion and 27.20% belong to or
were brought up in a 'Protestant and Other Christian (including Christian related)'
religion; and
27.16% indicated that they had a British national identity, 43.62% had an Irish
national identity and 31.38% had a Northern Irish national identity*.
On Census Day 27th March 2011, considering the population aged 16 years old and over,
24.73% had a degree or higher qualification; while 38.09% had no or low (Level 1*)
qualifications.
On Census Day 27th March 2011, considering the population aged 16 to 74 years old,
67.88% were economically active and 32.12% were economically inactive. 60.53%
were in paid employment and 4.30 % were unemployed.
Nearest town is Dungannon (pop. 47,758) which is 2 miles away.
Donaghmore village has a pharmacy, several grocery stores, several takeaways and
several bars including The Brewer’s House gastro pub.
135 All data derived from The Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency’s ‘NINIS’ search and analysis tool, based on data from the 2011 census. See < http://www.ninis2.nisra.gov.uk/>.
16
The venue: the Bardic theatre
Established in 1982, the Bardic theatre grew out of the thriving local Am-Dram movement
which in turn grew out of the local GAA club social scene. The theatre comprises an auditorium
which seats 196 people, a rehearsal studio, changing rooms and a bar area with seating and a
T.V. The Bardic now forms part of a large building complex which houses the BEAM (Bardic
Educational Arts & Media) Creative Network and the recently-established Torrent Complex, a
state-of the-arts sports facility. The building is situated beside the local GAA pitch.
The group: Showstoppers
Showstoppers youth musical theatre group have been meeting in the Bardic theatre since 2009,
when the group was established by its current leader Stephanie Faloon, who is from
Donaghmore. The group has grown steadily since then: there are currently 90 members and a
waiting list of 30. The group is divided into Junior and Senior sections, with a new Intermediate
section to be established in September 2013 due to high demand. Showstoppers spend autumn
term developing acting, singing and dance skills through workshops. In spring, their annual
productions are cast based on Stephanie’s assessment of their talents throughout the previous
term. Showstoppers perform annual Junior and Senior shows, which run for 2-3 nights in the
Bardic, playing to full houses. This year’s Senior show was ‘Grease’.
In the summer months, there are several Showstoppers week-long schemes where they
work on skills development. The scheme which Molly visited one was open to all ages, but
Stephanie is running another scheme just for teenagers in August.
Arrival & Introductions
Molly arrived just as the group were receiving feedback on their previous work. She was
immediately struck by the large size of the group – 27 young people – and their age ranges: from
5 to 17. They were in a fairly small studio room with mirrors and a barre, on the ground floor
17
below the auditorium. Stephanie asked if Molly would prefer to use the larger space in the
auditorium for her workshop, and she agreed to this. Several senior members were dispatched
to prepare the space.
After a short break, the group moved to the auditorium. The tiered seating was already
stacked up leaving a large wide wooden floor space in front of the stage.
Once participants were seated in a circle, Molly introduced herself. She led a short ‘name
& action’ game which participants threw themselves into; few were reluctant or shy. She then
explained the nature of her research. Molly added that as she knew very little about
Showstoppers, could some people volunteer to tell her anything that she might not know about
their group. After a brief pause, one of the two boys stated: ‘Well, there aren’t many boys’, which
was greeted with laughter and a high-five from the other boy present, who also happened to be
the longest-serving Showstoppers member. The first boy explained that there were ten boys in
the year-round Showstoppers, and that they ‘stuck together’. Stephanie added that though there
were few boys, they ‘weren’t shy’.
Anyone Who…
Participants sit in a circle. Facilitator calls out a statement and asks anyone to whom this
statement applies, to get up and move to a new seat. Participants cannot swap seats with the
person beside them – they must move across the circle.
Statement: Anyone who… Number of participants
who moved
Comments
Has ever been in a play? 23 / 27 Some participants were new
to Showstoppers. One girl
commented that she had just
moved to the area.
18
Has ever been to watch a
play?
27 / 27
Has ever been to see a play in
the Bardic?
26 / 27 These plays were mainly
other Showstoppers groups’
performances or touring
musicals.
Has ever been to see a play in
Belfast?
12 / 27 Those who moved were
mainly the Seniors ( ages 12
+), and the plays cited were
mainly musicals including
‘Blood Brothers’
Has ever been to see a play
somewhere that’s neither in
the Bardic nor in Belfast?
20 / 27 One girl cited ‘The
Waterfront’, perhaps
indicating a lack of
comprehension of the
statement.
Several cited musicals in
London’s West End.
Does drama at school? 9/27 The older members.
Has been to the theatre with
their family?
12 / 27 Quite low?
Gets a lift to Showstoppers? 27 / 27 Lifts are from family
members or child-minders.
Walks to Showstoppers 0
Gets a bus/ taxi to
Showstoppers
2 (occasionally) 2 members occasionally
would get a taxi
19
Observations
Levels of theatre attendance are high, and productions attended are predominantly
musicals, which perhaps is linked to Showstoppers’ focus on musical theatre practice.
Fewer than half of members had been to theatre with their families.
Families support members by giving lifts.
Whilst there are no organised Showstoppers theatre outings, a large group of senior
members explained that they have attended performances together as friends.
Dominoes
The group were asked to line up in order of the distance they travel to get to the Bardic.
The range went from 0.5 miles (1 minute by car) to 17 miles (20 mins by car).
Walking debate / This or That
Facilitator names one side of the room as ‘chocolate’, the other as ‘chips’, and asks participants
to move to whichever side they prefer. This method continues using the statements below e.g.:
one wall is ‘small town’, the other ‘big city’ etc. If time, the facilitator can assume a Jerry
Springer-type role, and ask for a volunteer from each side to try and persuade members of the
other side to switch sides. I usually do this by asking each volunteer to give a 60-second ‘pitch’
for their side.
Statement Numbers on each
side
Comments
1) Small village or big city? Village: 14
City: 9
The ‘village’ side cited the sense of
community in a place where
20
Undecided: 5 everyone knows everyone else, and
the peacefulness of the countryside.
The ‘city’ side made the argument
that there was much more to do in
cities, more theatres, and that if you
wanted peaceful green spaces you
could still find them. This latter
argument won over several of the
‘undecided’.
2) Love meeting in the Bardic
/ would prefer to meet
somewhere else
Love meeting in the
Bardic: 27
Somewhere else: 0
It became apparent that some
participants misunderstood this
statement and thought that Molly
was asking them whether they
loved being in Showstoppers or not.
Apparent conflation of
Showstoppers with the Bardic.
Members cited fun, the chance to
play drama games, to rehearse and
learn about the stage as advantaged
of meeting in the Bardic. There was
a strong sense of Showstoppers
being “like a family unit”.
Molly then asked whether this
would be the same if the group were
to meet in another venue. The
consensus seemed to be that they
had to meet in the Bardic, that the
21
Bardic space was an integral part of
Showstoppers.
3) The Bardic is too far from
where I live / the Bardic is
close enough to where I live
Too far: 1
Close enough: 24
Undecided: 2
The girl on the ‘too far’ side travels
20 mins to get to the Bardic (her
twin sister, who travels the same
distance, was on the ‘close enough’
side). She explained that if they get
caught in traffic on their way to the
Bardic, it can be frustrating.
4) I only visit the Bardic to go
to Showstoppers / I visit the
Bardic for other reasons too
Only for
Showstoppers: 3
For other reasons
too: 24
The three people who only came to
the Bardic for Showstoppers were
new to the group. The others all
attend shows at the Bardic. Molly
asked if they ever come to just ‘hang
out’ there, and a group of Seniors
replied that they had done this once,
staying on for an afternoon between
shows.
5) I’d like to have a job in the
theatre or drama world / I
don’t want to work in drama
or theatre
Like to work in
theatre: 14
Wouldn’t like to: 4
Undecided: 9
Out of 14 members who said they’d
like to work in the theatre, 13 of
them want to be performers and 1
hopes to work as a techie/stage
manager. Out of the 4 people who
don’t want to work in the theatre, 3
weren’t sure what they want to do,
and 1 wants to be a vet.
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Final discussion
Molly did not do the art exercise which she had planned; this would have involved asking
participants, in groups of 5-6, to draw and label their idea of the ‘Best possible space for
Showstoppers’. She did not do it because she had already gleaned that the participants identify
Showstoppers strongly with the Bardic theatre space. Instead, Molly brought participants back
into a circle. She asked them to imagine that they had just won £1million. What changes, if any,
would they make to the Bardic to make it a better space for Showstoppers?
Stephanie cited the unsuitableness of the dressing rooms, and participants agreed. They
are too small, ill equipped and were designed with sports ‘changing rooms’ in mind. However,
there are already renovations planned for these rooms.
A boy commented that the doors backstage are very loud, and said this could be
improved. Molly suggested padding, and he agreed with this. The same boy also cited the
problems with the venue’s mic system, which had caused problems in previous productions due
to technical faults. One particular instance of a mic fault seems to have become a recurring
anecdote. A Senior girl suggested that having a ‘quiet room’ would be good: a space where you
could go to learn your lines, or focus before going onstage. Molly commented that the newly-
established venue The Hub in Cookstown had a quiet room. She asked whether anyone had
heard of The Hub, and two participants said they had. One had dropped in ‘to see what it was all
about’, and the other had been told about their Friday night youth music gigs.
Molly thanked participants for their time, insights and enthusiasm. She promised to
consult Stephanie before using any direct quotes or photos in her research.
23
COMPLETED QUESTIONNAIRE: THE HUB YOUTH THEATRENote: when I did these activities with Showstoppers in the Bardic, I gave their leader this sheet and asked her to fill in the numbers of children and any comments/things which stood out to her. This research method requires 2 people: 1 to facilitate, the other to document.
Anyone Who…Participants sit in a circle. Facilitator calls out a statement and asks anyone to whom this statement applies, to get up and move to a new seat.
Statement: Anyone who… Number of participants who moved
Comments
Has ever been in a play? 28 School productions only
Has ever been to watch a play?
28
Has ever been to see a play in Cookstown? (You could ask which venue if time)
24 Some in Burnavon with school
Has ever been to see a play in Belfast?
22
Has ever been to see a play somewhere that’s neither in Cookstown nor in Belfast?
23 Coalisland Craic Theatre
Omagh the Strule…
Does drama at school? 19
Has ever been to the theatre with their family?
28 Christmas mostly
Has ever been to the theatre with their friends?
18
Gets a lift to the Hub? 14 Parents drop them off
Walks to the Hub? 13
Gets a bus/ taxi to the Hub? 0
24
Walking debateFacilitator names one side of the room as ‘chocolate’, the other as ‘chips’, and asks participants to move to whichever side they prefer. This method continues using the statements below e.g.: one wall is ‘small town’, the other ‘big city’ etc. If time, the facilitator can assume a Jerry Springer-type role, and ask for a volunteer from each side to try and persuade members of the other side to switch sides. I usually do this by asking each volunteer to give a 60-second ‘pitch’ for their side.
Statement Numbers on each side
Comments
1) Small town or big city? 28 small town
2) Love meeting in the Hub / would prefer to meet somewhere else (if so, where?)
Hub 14
14 cinema, Disco, Town.
3) The Hub is too far from where I live / the Hub is close enough to where I live
20 close
8 too far
4) I only visit the Hub to go to youth theatre classes / I visit the Hub for other reasons too
18 to do drama
10 for other classes
5) I’d like to have a job in the theatre or drama world / I don’t want to work in drama or theatre
22 would work in theatre world.
6 wouldn’t consider
25
26
