Limerick Youth Theatre’s Transition Year Theatre company proudly presents The Gold Mine written and directed by John Hogan. The play follows an aristocratic family who spend their fortune hosting extravagant galas. Now they are broke, they flee from the country after stealing from their friends who in turn vow to track them down and bring them to justice no matter how long it takes. Working with 20 transition year students from schools in Limerick city and county, the play will be staged by the Transition Year Theatre (TYT) Company at Belltable on 11 & 12 March 2025. The TYT Company is being supported by three undergraduates, Alex Broghan, Carole Malone and Lauren White from MIC’s BA in Contemporary & Applied Theatre Studies. They will lend their expertise to the production.
John Hogan, writer and director of The Gold Mine says: ‘one of the challenges of the Transition Year Theatre programme is finding a play with anywhere from 15-30 characters so that each member of the cast gets the chance to show off what they are able to do. Ensemble plays are the best approach to solve this and so The Gold Mine was created. Creating the different factions within the play made it possible to add characters while also keeping an overall narrative to the play.’
Angie Smalis, Artistic Director of LYT further commented: ‘We are thrilled that we can offer TY students, from 7 different schools, the opportunity to gain valuable hands-on work experience at Limerick Youth Theatre. This really does give students an insight into how a theatre company is run and the work involved in staging a show at a professional venue. It is wonderful for an organisation like ours to be able to continue to maintain a high level of engagement with schools. We are very thankful to the team who are mentoring the young artists on this journey. The play is funny and it’s going to be a great night out for family and friends and school communities.’
Limerick Youth Theatre is delighted to be able to run its Transition Year Theatre Company thanks to the generous support from Limerick City and County Council through its Economic Social Intervention Fund and Limerick & Clare Education Training Board.
Shows: Tuesday 11 March @ 19.30, Wednesday 12 March @ 11.00 (2 shows in total)
Where: Belltable
Ticket: €10
School bookings and under 18s: €5
Tickets: 061 953 400 or www.limetreebelltable.ie
Transition Youth Theatre (TYT) is a special outreach programme offered to transition year students by Limerick Youth Theatre. The programme gives students interested in all aspects of theatre, a chance to stage their own production with a professional crew in an established venue in Limerick city.
Limerick Youth Theatre (LYT) is a company of young performers, dancers, writers to provide opportunities for young people from all backgrounds to cross social/cultural divides through youth drama experiences. It runs a two-year training course in theatre and performing arts.