Wiktor Koper is a Young Critic for 2023 and chose to respond in a visual way to Trojans by Company Philip Connaughton in association with Once Off Productions seen at Cork Midsummer Festival June 2023.
Since joining Young Critics I learned to consider that a response to a performance has way more possibilities then a written statement or even simple words in general. While I adore writing here I tried to challenge myself and put my artistic hand to use!
The image is a digital poster-like graphic. The inspiration behind it derived from my experience watching the dance performance ‘Trojans’ at Cork Midsummer Festival. I can only describe ‘Trojans’ as an epic and profound piece, coincidentally loosely inspired by Virgil’s epic ‘ The Aeneid ‘. It contained amazingly talented performers that twisted and turned just like one’s interpretation of the work during the viewing. It was sure to leave anyone in a deeply contemplative and perhaps even personal mood.
Wiktor Koper is a Young Critic in 2023 and a member of W.A.C.T Youth Theatre in Co. Wexford.
Continuing with our look at the Outside the March and University of Windsor collaboration, The Stream You Step in, Evie reviews Thank You For Your Labour by Marcus Youssef for Young Critics.
The University of Windsor and Outside the March is an anthology of original plays commissioned specifically for the School of Dramatic Arts’ graduating BFA students occurring entirely over Zoom.
Through the project, OtM is supporting some of Canadian theatre’s pivotal playwriting voices: Elena Eli Belyea, Karen Hines, David Yee and Marcus Youssef.
Thank You for Your Labour by Marcus Youssef A group of white students is organizing an online music show to show solidarity with their racialized peers. For tonight’s meeting, they’ve invited the faculty’s only brown student to join them. Good intentions meet unspoken desires in this Zoom comedy about whiteness, isolation, and how hard it can be to do the right thing.
Directed by Mitchell Cushman Featuring: Caitlin Jasulaitis, Alannah Pedde, Elena Reyes, Brennan Roberts.
In the latest review from our Young Critics, we venture again online and review our peers at Giant Wolf Youth Theatre. Working in tandem, our pair of critics log onto Discord for a seasonal online offering.
The horrific murder of a normal family, a decaying body at the bottom of a lake, the disappearance of a brother that cannot be solved, this radio play has it all.
Although Discord is a website primarily used for online gaming, Giant Wolf Youth Theatre in Tallaght, Dublin have given the platform their own unique stamp by using it to perform ‘Hallowe’en Horror Show’ on the eve of the spookiest day of the year at 7pm. This live entertainment was a free, non-ticketed event and contains six pieces created a few weeks before airing by its members. However, we will just be giving a slight taster into this great act to give our readers a sense of the show. The audience are able to post their live reactions in a separate text channel as the performance occurs and actors are also able to communicate with the listeners, answering questions while not disturbing the show.
Written and performed by Young Critics’ own Heather Jones, the introductory piece The Waiting Game is set in a bedroom. Usually it’s a place that suggests comfort and security. Any feeling of that is instantly taken from participants who tune in with how surreal this performance is.
It centralises on the death of the character’s family from a creature described as having “natural sickly white skin” and “tainted crimson all over its arms, legs and neck”. The murder is witnessed by the only character in the show and we’re given great insight into the emotions she feels, “My whole body was numb sitting in the silence”. She hides in her bedroom while recounting the story and it ends on a cliff-hanger, leaving the audience to their imaginations. Jones’ acting skills came across the medium phenomenally and caused everyone witnessing this masterpiece heart’s to race, visualising the gruesome scene.
The second piece is named Picturesque and is made by James Chatham, Trudy Nolan, and Kai Foley, performed by the writers as well as Ella Kinsella.
We are transported back fifteen years where we meet Quinn Smith. The show is based around the interviewing of Quinn on the 7th of September, 2010 at 3pm, and gradually we learn about the events which unfolded and lead to his rehabilitation. We are presented with two different versions of the event and are left conflicted on who to believe.
At the beginning of the story, Quinn conveys himself as a loving husband and father to young Jack and Alice, describing the details of that night with loving narration. But with the twist ending, we’re left bewildered, wondering if this is all an act and if he really is the person he acts out to be. After multiple forms of evidence line up with Quinn’s recounting are presented from the interviewers attempting to convict him, what comes next is something nobody could predict. A bone chilling sinister laugh, challenging Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ is heard echoing through the device’s speakers and leaves you holding your breath in anticipation. This piece is confusing at the beginning and listeners are unsure where the story is heading, but ends up being very well thought out and keeps the audience engaged with its constant plot twists.
The final act is titled Thicker than Water and is created from the mind of Charley Ashe, also performed by Ashe as well as Trudy Nolan and James Chatham.
Our last journey tells the comedic but equally frightening tale of three characters Kevin, Katie and Ciara. These seventeen year olds are subjected to an interview by Kevin for his school project that results in both girls retelling the perplexing events that happened to them both in a Wicklow forest. This show is reminiscent to the Irish film The Hole In The Ground directed by Lee Cronin, but takes that plot to a new level with the sheer adrenaline experienced when hearing the scary situations these girls end up in. It has a great sense of place with strong Irish accents and its careful placements of sound effects help the overall feeling of an outdoor setting.
Hallowe’en Horror Show by Giant Wolf Youth Theatre is an extremely immersive experience and a surreal insight into the world of horror and all things terrifying. The wonderful narrator Cal has such a relaxing and pleasant voice. It’s extremely soothing between each piece, which just makes it all the more disturbing when we’re thrown back into these six worlds of mayhem. For only having a short and limited time to prepare, everyone involved in this production worked very well to produce a wonderful event, getting their audience in the mood to fully celebrate Halloween the next day.
Show reviewed on Oct 30th, and review submitted Nov 8th
As the dust settles on this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival, two of our Young Critics give us their respective takes of Dead Centre’s To Be A Machine (Version 1.0)
This online play created by DeadCentre and Mark O’Connell for the Dublin Theatre Festival, explores the mechanics of humanity and if we are really as different as the machines we use.
Here Aoife Murphy gives us her take on To Be A Machine (Version 1.0)
Laughing in the face of level 3 restrictions, Dublin Theatre Festival held their head up high as they re-imagined what we know as theatre and delivered a superb socially distanced performance.
Developed and supported by the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, ‘To Be a Machine (Version 1.0)’ by Dead Centre and Mark O’Connell, is adapted from the Wellcome Prize-winning book by Mark and explores the idea of theatre without the barrier of a body. Staring critically acclaimed actor Jack Gleeson, playing himself, he actively attempts to not be a machine while the audience watches the live performance from Project Arts Centre in the comfort of their beds.
What is a forty five minute performance on the exploration of technological possibility and the limits of live performance, feels like a mere second. I found myself craving for more bewilderment when it ended. With its plot line hard to follow, I’m still confused as to what I witnessed exactly. But I think that’s what makes this piece that bit even more interesting. It doesn’t have one solid interpretation, so audiences can take what they want from it.
The slightly eerie atmosphere and wonderful cinematography makes gaining a sense of a personal connection to Jack seamlessly easy as he looks straight into the camera, into us, and rarely breaks eye contact. His soft voice is calming and Jack deals with some minor technical issues very professionally.
The only thing that took me out of the immersive experience is seeing my fellow Young Critic’s faces uploaded on a tablet screen, placed where we would have been sitting if we were physically at the theatre. It’s strange to witness; however it gave me some joy recognising people I know in the sea of digital profiles.
This trippy theatre performance will mess with your mind, challenging what you think you know with the exploration of the philosophical concept of what is existence. In a world constantly looking for answers to big questions, I feel that if this play were to give a solid response, it would suggest that there’s always an absolute to the trivial parts of life.
A 5/5 star performance rating.
Reviewed by Aoife Murphy Oct 3rd 2020.
You can listen to an audio version of this review here:
Aoife is a member of Explore Youth Theatre in Leixlip Co, Kildare and Áindréas is a member of Mr. Sands Youth Theatre,Bray, Co.Wicklow. Both are Youth Theatre Ireland Young Critics for 2020.
Youth Theatre Ireland returned to Dublin Theatre Festival for the 17th iteration of Young Critics.
This year has been like no other, with a Young Critics programme to match. Between June and October, eighteen young people from across Ireland honed their critical skills from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
They have been guided on their journey of critical discovery by our expert facilitators: Alan King in Dublin and theatre critic Dr. Karen Fricker in Toronto.
Over the course of the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Young Critics engaged with several programmed events and presented their critical responses at this special online panel.
Young Criticshave been working with digital tools for criticism for the last number of years and the 2020 panel was an opportunity to showcase this like never before.
This is an edited version of the Young Critics Panel discussion that took place on Sunday, Oct 11th at 4pm.
This year has been like no other, with a Young Critics programme to match.
Since June, eighteen young people from across Ireland have been honing their critical skills from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
Over the course of the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Young Critics will engage with several programmed events and will present their critical responses at this special online panel.
Join us online on Sunday Oct 11th at 4pm for a very special online event.
The Young Critics have been guided on their journey of critical discovery by our expert facilitators: Alan King in Dublin and theatre critic Dr. Karen Fricker in Toronto.
They have been working with digital tools for criticism for the last number of years and we hope that 2020 will showcase this like never before.
To book your place in our special limited capacity Zoom Room panel, please contact Alan King
We will be live streaming the event to a wider audience though our social media channels.
Killian is a member he is member of Backstage Youth Theatre and a Youth Theatre Ireland Young Critic for 2020.
Killian has been a member of Backstage Youth Theatre (BYT) for four years.Since joining BYT he has participated in many productions, including an annual panto and summer productions. In these productions Killian has worked alongside professional directors as an actor, musician, and stage manager. He enjoys all aspects of theatre and loves the fun of the yearly panto. He has taken part in movement and improvisation workshops and has most recently been selected as a member of the Backstage Theatre Young Critics project. Killian is excited to learn more about how theatre works, how it is created and how is analysed by working as a part of the Young Critics Programme. He is excited to meet more theatre loving people throughout his journey and cannot wait to discover how different people are impacted by theatre.
Our Young Critics Online kicks off this Friday June 19th for our first ever online session. We’ll be meeting our 19 Young Critics for the very first time and starting our critical journey together.
I attended the production ‘Cosy’ by Kaite O’Reilly in Firkin Crane in Cork last year. The production was about three generations of women as they tackle the topics of youth, ageing and death. Rose, the grandmother, wishes to die with dignity, and her idea of this is to take her own life in a way that she sees fit. Her three daughters and granddaughter arrive at the family home, where the story picks up. There are discussions of what makes a good death, with some slightly unorthodox methods of coming to a conclusion.
The Cast of Gaitkrash’s ‘Cosy’. Cork Midsummer Festival 2019.
I really liked the grandmother’s character, Rose. At her core, she’s a sad and depressed woman who wants to be free from her ageing, failing body. She has an intense, emotional monologue in the final scene, where she reveals why she badly wants to take her own life.
I didn’t particularly enjoy a scene in which Rose and her Welsh friend attempt to ‘practice’ a method of suicide on Rose’s eldest daughter. I felt that the scene was unrealistic and came out of nowhere. Up until then, Rose didn’t seem like the type of person to so much as pretend to harm one of her own.
One aspect of the production I really enjoyed was the prominence of Rose’s antique chair. It was present in almost all scenes, and during Rose’s final monologue, she sat in the tall, imposing chair which emphasised just how small Rose was in that period of her life. Overall, I think it was a brilliant, if not macabre, production.
Sinéad has been a member of Lightbulb Youth theatre for six years and has been a part of five shows. Since joining, she has participated in several Midsummer Meet Ups, as part of the Cork Midsummer Festival, and has done various workshops related to this, such as Young Critics workshops. She participated in a script reading as part of an environmental awareness project in the UCC theatre building. Sinéad wants to gain a deeper understanding of the work that goes into making a production, learn to give constructive criticism, and meet new people.
Youth Theatre Ireland Young Critics 