National appointment for Tipperary Town student
On February 16, Sarah Grogan, a 5th Year student in St. Anne’s Secondary School Tippperary Town, was chosen to be a member of Youth Theatre Ireland’s second ever Youth Board.
The Youth Board consists of 12 young people from all across Ireland who are passionate about theatre and are interested in working in theatre in the future. Jobs on the Board include things like making decisions around improving youth theatre, helping to organise the National Youth Theatre Festival, and choosing a youth theatre that will receive the Youth Board Grant.
Sarah’s specific role is Production Representative, meaning that she will be supporting those who are involved in youth theatre but are not acting, e.g., stage crew and costume designers.
The Youth Board met for the first time in person on February 26 in The Fringe Lab, Dublin, and they spent the day getting to know each other and making plans for the year ahead.
Sarah said ‘being the only member from Tipperary (and one of the few from Munster) was quite daunting, but talking to the other Youth Board members was such a lovely experience and learning about other youth theatres was very interesting’.
Sarah’s experience with theatre started when she was young. She has always enjoyed performing and her childhood was spent attending drama and dance classes. When she reached her teen years, she started doing summer musicals with Excel Youth Theatre in Tipp Town and joined Fracture Youth Theatre (a youth theatre associated with Youth Theatre Ireland) in Thurles.
‘Getting the opportunity to be in the Youth Board is such an honor and I am really looking forward to the future’, Sarah said of this great achievement. John Cullinane, Principal St. Anne’s Secondary School wished Sarah the very best and said ‘he is delighted to see St. Anne’s students developing their creative and dramatic skills’ and congratulated Sarah on her appointment to Youth Theatre Ireland’s Youth Board.