Johnny Moorhead, 19, (centre) joins fellow drama practitioners Ciara, Tim, Paul, Jessica and Suzii getting ready for their forthcoming trip to Glasgow to take part in the Commonwealth Culture 2014 Programme
Johnny Moorhead from Enniskillen has been selected to take part in the Commonwealth Culture 2014 programme.
Johnny, 19, who attends Nitty Gritty Theatre Company joined eighteen other young people aged 16-25 to prepare for their upcoming trip to Glasgow, where they will be representing Northern Ireland in this year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Culture 2014 programme.
The young people will form the International Performing Company, part of the National Theatre of Scotland’s The Tin Forest festival, together with ninety other young people from all over the Commonwealth, including Jamaica, India, Malta and New Zealand.
The International Performing Company will bring the streets of Glasgow to life with a series of pop-art and travelling performance pieces from Monday 21 to Wednesday 23 July.
Amy McKelvey, Chairperson of Ulster Association of Youth Drama, the lead body working in Northern Ireland to support and promote youth theatre for young people, said: “We are delighted that nineteen young people from Northern Ireland have been given this amazing opportunity to take part in such a fantastic project.
“Not only will they learn a great deal from working with two prestigious organisations.
“The National Theatre of Scotland and Scottish Youth Theatre, they will also meet and collaborate with young people from across the Commonwealth.
“We’re passionate about supporting youth drama and this project will give these young people an important platform to perform to an international audience.”
Gilly Campbell, Dance and Drama Officer at the Arts Council, commented: “It’s a fantastic honour to be chosen to represent Northern Ireland at an international event, but perhaps more importantly for these 19 young people it will be a chance to learn from and perform with other drama groups from across the globe. They are a great example of the fresh young talent coming out of Northern Ireland.”
Working with some of the profession’s most exciting and creative theatre-makers, designers and musicians, Johnny and the other participants from Northern Ireland will have the opportunity to push their performance and theatre-making skills to the limit, while working with other young performers from across the Commonwealth.
The young people selected to take part are all actively involved in various drama groups throughout Northern Ireland. Johnny commented, “I can’t wait to meet new people from different countries that I wouldn’t normally have the chance to perform with.
“To be a part of the Commonwealth Games in this way is beyond anything I could have imagined.
This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us to work with industry professionals and perform in new spaces.”
This is a unique opportunity for these young men and women.
Not only will they gain invaluable experience with industry professionals, skills which they can then bring back to their home youth theatre groups, but they will also have the opportunity to make friends and forge links with other young dramatists from across the world.