Griese Youth Theatre celebrate 25 years of youth arts in Ballitore!

The fantastic Griese Youth Theatre is celebrating 25 years of youth arts in Ballitore this week.

What was initially seen as a strange phenomenon in the village has now become an established youth arts organisation embedded in the community. To mark this remarkable milestone, they are planning a weekend of celebration on the anniversary dates (25-28 July) with a programme designed to bring the arts out onto the streets of Ballitore.

The weekend will commence with the launch of the Digital Archive. Artist Cathal McGuire along with members of Griese Youth Theatre are currently compiling an archive of the group’s work from 1999 to 2024 (Creative Places Athy funding). This evening will also include a programme of spoken word, drama monologues and music from original and past members. They plan to project the archive onto an outdoor screen in the village on Friday night.

Over the weekend there will be dance workshops facilitated by dance teachers they have worked with in the past with workshops covering all ages. The aim is to get people moving and mixing and trying something new, like Irish dancing, zumba, jazz, jive.

Saturday will feature a Panto-themed parade and the celebrations finish on Sunday with a drop-in singing session with tea and cake in The Meeting House, followed by a concert with Aoife Kelly, Ronan O Snodaigh and Brian Hogan.

Griese Youth Theatre & Children’s Drama was founded in 1999 in the Meeting House in Ballitore. It was an initiative of drama teacher Leish Burke and visual artist Jacques Candelay who put a proposal to Action South Kildare and Kildare Co Council Library Services. The group began as a social inclusion one-week workshop with the aim of introducing the process of drama to young people in the area. Today, they have over 100 members.

An online fundraising page has been set up to help keep them going for another 25 years. Search for ‘Griese Youth Theatre is 25!’ on idonate.ie.