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ABOUT US |
Theatr Yr Ifanc Rhos
1990 Youth Theatre |
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The Youth Theatre was formed as a direct result of the success of the Community Show "HALF YEAR END" that was performed at the "Stiwt Theatre" in Rhos during March 1990. The Steering Committee felt that the skills acquired by the younger members of the cast should not be lost and set about establishing a bilingual youth theatre group that was open to six to fourteen year olds. In the first year, the group was part of a scheme sponsored by Royal Insurance and organised by Theatr Clwyd. The financial support from Royal Insurance was withdrawn in the summer of 1991 and the Committee of the Youth Theatre decided that the group should become self-supporting. Under the guidance and instruction of Paul Drake and others, workshops restarted in September and the cast started rehearsing a bilingual pantomime "Selwyn Sud in Bubble Trouble". This was performed during February 1992 in the drama studio at Ysgol Grango in Rhos and this was to be the venue for all subsequent productions until October 1999 when the Stiwt Theatre reopened. Further productions followed with "Alice/Alys" in April 1993, "The Dracula Spectacular" in April 1994 and "Dros Ein Plant/For the Sake of our Children" in March 1995. This last production was revised and performed again during the Urdd Eisteddfod in Wrexham in May 1996. Due to family commitments, Paul Drake stepped down as Director in April 1997 and the Committee set about trying to find someone to take over. The Committee was very fortunate to secure the services of Christine Dukes who became Artistic Director of the group in September 1997. All the members of the cast and Committee reacted well to the change and Chris soon set about preparing the cast for the next production, "The Ragged Child" which was performed for four nights during April 1998. The last show to be performed at Ysgol Grango was "Beyond the Rock", the story of the Pied Piper of Hamlyn that had been written by Leonie Williams from Llangollen and was performed in February 1999. The group were very proud to take part in the Gala Concert to mark the reopening of the Stiwt Theatre on 25 September 1999 and a week later performed a new musical entitled "Gwynt I'r Drws/A Change in the Air" on the stage at the Stiwt. The show was written by Chris Dukes, Leonie Williams and David Pritchard and told the story of some of the young people of the village and was centred in and around the Stiwt in the 1960's. The show was very popular with the cast and the audience and was a very appropriate piece to mark the return of the Youth Theatre back to where it had started nine years previously. Since then, Chris has continued to work with the members of the group on a number of shows; "Out of this World" in February 2000, "Follow the Star" in November 2000 and a special show called "On the Bright Side of the Road" in September 2001 which was a compilation of excerpts from all the shows the cast had performed since the group had been established and was done to celebrate the tenth birthday of the Youth Theatre. "The Roman Invasion of Ramsbottom" was performed during June 2002 and "Teulu @ Trefeca" in February 2003 was performed by the Junior group only. A local author, Aled Lewis Evans, wrote this work. The Senior group performed "Return to the Forbidden Planet" in the rock interpretation of Shakespeare's Tempest, in September 2003. They were also invited to take the production to Germany to perform in front of an invited audience including the Chief Executive of Markischer Kreis (Wrexham's Twin Town) in October 2003. In June 2004 the Junior group once again ventured to perform on their own with another play written by Aled Lewis Evans entitled "Good Offa Hall". The Senior group took on the Dylan Thomas play "Under Milk Wood" in July 2004.
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From September 2004 to July 2005 was a very busy one for the group. The Junior section took on two productions. The first was a Fundraising event in December 2004 called "I Want to be a Star". This proved to be a very successful one night performance raising money for Operation Christmas Child. The Junior group also performed "Daniel and the Lions" during May 2005. Feedback from the audience for this production was very positive with some people saying that it was the best performance yet. The Senior group were not idle either. They performed "A Midsummer Night's Travesty" in July 2005 which was a comedy take on the Shakespearean play. Shakespeare it wasn't but again it was very successful. Theatr yr Ifanc is not about performing, stagecraft or exclusivity. It is about team work, creativity, self esteem, responsibility, citizenship and welcoming all regardless of ability, strengths, language or faith. As part of developing citizenship, the group regularly help children and young people's charities e.g. NSPCC through carol singing and have visited homes for the elderly delivering songs and companionship. In 2006, the group began planning for their 15 year celebration show ‘The Wiz’, a rock version of the classic ‘Wizard of Oz’. It was decided that this show would be done by the Junior and Senior Sections combined, in all nearly 65 children and young people on the stage of the Stiwt Theatre. This proved an exciting challenge for both groups and culminated in a performance that included a witch disappearing down a giant toilet and a balloon basket that lifted the Wiz into the air. How to beat that?! The end of the 2006/07 season saw the Junior Section perform an adaption of ‘Peter Pan’ thrilling audiences tremendously with wonderful acting debuts and realistic pirate fights! In July the season closed with the Senior Section performing ‘Street Child’ a wonderfully moving play depicting the life and inspiration of Dr. Thomas Barnado. Both shows raised over £300 for the Great Ormond Street Hospital and Barnardos. The summer of 2007 saw the first ever Summer Weekend Workshop voted an overwhelming success by the participants and helped them to prepare for the 2007/08 Season. In the Autumn of 2008, the Senior Section made a return visit to Germany, performing ‘Beyond the Rock’ to an audience of over 300 including Deputy Chief Executive of Markischer Kreis and representatives from the Local Authorities in Germany and Wrexham. Also in the audience were a party of school children from Flintshire who were on an exchange visit to Menden. Earlier that day, Chris, with David Pritchard, had undertaken a workshop in a Junior School in Menden and the children from the school with members of Theatr yr Ifanc’s twin partner, the Junior Spielmannszug Band from Drupplingsen joined the cast of ‘Beyond the Rock’ on stage at the end of the show to perform the finale. This was an emotional and creatively fulfilling moment for all involved, particularly Chris and David Pritchard.
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©2011 Theatr Yr Ifanc
Rhos 1990 Youth Theatre
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