A Space for our Voices | Cruinniú na nÓg 2023

Galway Arts Centre will present A Space for Our Voices at Nuns Island Theatre showcasing the centre’s youth arts programmes from 11am to 5pm on Saturday 10th June as part of Cruinniú na nÓg 2023.

Galway Arts Centre’s youth arts programmes; Red Bird Youth Collective, Galway Youth Theatre, and Cúirt Labs  covering theatre, film, visual arts, and literature – are  for young people and by young people.

Cruinniú na nÓg, Ireland’s national day of free creativity for children and young people under-18, takes place on Saturday June 10.

11am: GYT readings from ‘The Adventures of Shay Mouse’
12.30pm: Cúirt Labs with Aoife Casby  (open to all but recommended age 7-13)
1pm-3pm: Red Bird Live Broadcast
1.45pm: Red Bird Exhibition Opening
2.30pm: Teaser Workshop with Dancer in Residence (recommended age 12-18)
4pm: GYT Film Screening ‘Wings’

11am: GYT readings from 'The Adventures of Shay Mouse'

Galway Arts Centre and Galway Youth Theatre will present a selection of readings from Pat McCabe’s The Adventures of Shay Mouse – The Mouse from Longford  suitable for those aged 4+.

Shay Mouse lives peacefully in Bornacoola Wood in Longford, smoking his pipe and inventing boastful stories for young Tom Pat Badger and Mickey Slug.

When an evil band of rats are burnt out of a barn in Mullingar, they take over the wood, making the small animals their slaves. Shay is forced to flee his home, and so begins a series of wonderful adventures across the Irish midlands.

Galway Actors Eilish McCarthy and Peter Shine will read stories from this fun and witty novella for children. followed by the Galway Youth Theatre choir’s first live performance at 12pm.

12.30pm: Cúirt Labs with Aoife Casby

Writer and artist Aoife Casby will facilitate a workshop to engage with language in a very practical way by having fun with the dynamics of word and image. We will explore the possibilities of the book and work together towards producing work in a variety of creative forms.

1pm-3pm: Red Bird Live Broadcast

Galway Arts Centre’s Red Bird Youth Collective will broadcast live on the day from the theatre presenting a mix of live sounds and pre-recorded pieces live on Flirt FM.

1.45pm: Red Bird Exhibition Opening

Galway Arts Centre’s Red Bird Youth Collective, will launch an exhibition of radio and print work made with sound artist Anne Marie Deacy and print artist Aoife Barrett, which looks at mapping Galway City through the eyes of young people. The exhibition opens with a short introduction from the members and their collaborators.

2.30pm: Teaser Workshop with Dancer in Residence

Galway Arts Centre Dancer in Residence, Magdalena Hylak, will give a dance ‘teaser workshop’, as well as a presentation about the artistic ideas she and composer Lionel Kasparian will be exploring, and what they plan to do as part of the residency scheme.

4pm: GYT Film Screening 'Wings'

There will be a screening of the short film, Wings, written and produced by Galway Youth Theatre. The film centres on two sisters, one a teenager, the other a child. They share wholesome laughs in front of a bedroom mirror, just before the teenage sister leaves for a “party”.

This 20 minute film deals with innocence, and how it can be breached far too early in life. The screening will be followed by a Q&A by some of the GYT members who wrote and created Wings.

For more information on how to get involved in Galway Arts Centre’s youth arts programme, visit our Young People Section or contact youtharts@galwayartscentre.ie.