Youth Theatre Ireland

Join the staff of youth Theatre Ireland for their yearly wrap up! Thanks to you for listening and sharing the podcast! x

After an extended break, Intermission Podcast is back with this extended episode. The Young Critics Panel at⁠ Dublin Theatre Festival.⁠This is an edited version of the Young Critics Panel discussion held at Project Arts Centre, Dublin on Sunday October 12th 2025.Dr. Karen Fricker chairs the panel discussion around three productions: Nowhere by Khalid Abdalla at Project Arts Centre, Caligula by Albert Camus at Samuel Beckett Theatre Three Sisters By Anton Chekhov, Adapted By Ciara Elizabeth Smyth at Gaiety TheatreIncludes a selection questions and answers from the attending audience.This podcast is supported by the Arts Council andThe Department of Education and Youth.

In this very special podcast, we revisit an edited interview Alan King, Deputy Director of Youth Theatre Ireland, conducted with Paddy O’Dwyer in 2021.   Paddy passed away in August 2024 and is very sadly missed by family, friends and those closest to him. He is also sadly missed by his massive extended families in the worlds of youth theatre, professional and amateur theatre. This extends not only across the island of Ireland by the whole world. Paddy was an educational psychologist, actor, director, father, husband, grandfather. He founded Dublin Youth Theatre in 1977, was President of the International Amateur Drama Association and he co-founded the National Association for Youth Drama, (now Youth Theatre Ireland) in 1980. In this chat Alan had the opportunity to ask Paddy about the founding of Dublin Youth Theatre, the formation of NAYD,  and where he saw youth theatre at the tail end of 2021. Huge thanks to filmmaker David Christopher Lynch  for facilitating this conversation which formed the basis of his short Documentary celebrating 40 years of Youth Theatre Ireland.  Thanks to David for sharing his recordings, which form the basis of this edited interview. Fittingly this interview took place in the then temporary premises of Dublin Youth Theatre in Montague Lane.  Please enjoy this conversation. You can watch David Christoper Lynch’s documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC6PZXyC1yk 

In this edition of the Podcast, Deputy Director Alan King leads a conversation over zoom on the Youth Theatre Members Survey 2025.  As part of our Membership Renewals every year we ask our embers to complete a comprehensive survey around how their youth theatre operates. This survey is vital for us to respond to the needs of our members and plan accordingly.  In this podcast we are joined by Eoghan Doyle (Director), Cathal Thornton (Child Protection and Wellbeing Officer) Barry Morgan (Special Projects Officer) and Rebecca Feely (National Programme Co-ordinator).  Very special thanks to our contributors Christana Matthews (Droichead &Cabinteely YT’S), Carmel Ryan (Clare County Council, Clare YT), Maria O’Sullivan (Glengarriff YT), Sarah Bragg Bolger (Dublin Youth Theatre), Özer Gokman (Sligo YT), Catherine Sheridan (Roscommon Co. YT), Anthony Kinahan (Act Out YT)  We referenced our conversation with Léargas. You can listen to this in full at the youth Theatre Ireland Podcast Episode 10  https://open.spotify.com/episode/2j9IaDTxQfswmuTBde08WA 

Catch all the news you need to know about Youth Theatre Ireland and then settle in for our Young Critics Panel as they discuss the shows they saw.