‘Teenagers have their own voice and they want to be heard’

A RATOATH drama teacher is opening a youth theatre group in Ashbourne to give teenagers a safe place to ‘voice the concerns of their generation.’ Carol Rooney has been involved in the arts for 22 years, teaching in schools, theatres, community centres and even prisons.

She says that in recent years she has felt compelled to give young people an outlet not just to talk about issues that affect them, but to analyse them, perform them and, maybe, devise solutions for both personal and political concerns.

“I had been teaching classes for younger children in Ratoath and realised there was nothing in the area for teenagers and I always feel like they get a bad rap. Everyone gives out about teenagers and complains about them hanging around but they have nowhere to go. I was previously the artistic director of a youth theatre in Dublin and involved with Youth Theatre Ireland and I saw how beneficial theatre can be for young people’s mental health.

“Teenagers have their own voice and they want to be heard. They are not a nuisance, they are the next generation.”

“I will be teaching them theatre skills in the first part of the one and half hour class and the second half will be devoted to their ideas and what they want to bring to the table and eventually we will work towards a performance. It’s totally run by them, they push it forward, it’s their ideas, their scripts, I just direct it. It’s their production and most importantly their voice.

Carol Rooney... ‘Each young person is unique, they bring their own life experience, needs and expectations.’

But the theatre isn’t about Broadway musicals or stage school, it’s a chance for teenagers to explore what’s going on their own lives in a safe and supported way according to the drama teacher.

“I feel that they are a lost generation for a couple of years, we totally dote on them when they are children and we want them to be responsible, the in-between years can be quite confusing. You allow the youth theatre to push themselves and it’s just about giving them the confidence and constantly encouraging them to grow and putting that idea to them that they do have a voice, they are interesting, they do have a story to tell and we want to hear it. Writing their own work means that the teens can reflect the type of world they live in.

“In these classes what they’re really doing is looking at life and sorting out life, and they’re trying things out and taking risks in a really safe space. Parents might not want to hear about certain uncomfortable topics like drug-taking or teenage worries but they are real and the sooner that we wake up and start listening to them, the sooner that we can help them with problems.”

“They are not all bleak ideas, we have done some really funny performances. One of the plays that we did was based around all of the celebrities that died that year, it was a really good satire, about being Jesus’s birthday so he wanted all of the best artists in heaven to play for him.

Being involved in youth theatre can be a defining moment in a teenager’s life as Carol explains,

“You see them developing inner confidence, the confidence to be themselves and they recognise that they are important. It’s not an outward showy type of confidence, it’s a quiet self-assuredness that teenagers really lack.

Carol already runs a drama school for younger children in Ratoath 

 “Each young person is unique, they bring their own life experience, needs and expectations. You know that these young people would not have gained what they have gained in any other setting and what they have brought to the drama space could not have been brought by anyone else. No matter what the young person goes on to do in their lives, they will take something with them that will benefit them in ways we cannot even imagine.

Theatre is a process that needs an array of creative people to work in a multitude of areas not just performing says Carol.

“Young people don’t need to have a background in drama. A lot of teenagers feel at the start they say I’m not making a fool of myself, I don’t want to embarrass myself. I’d even say to those teenagers, come along and try it out, you might be interested in working backstage, you might be interested in makeup, costume, set design or designing posters. There are all different areas that they can work in.

Carol originally from Artane in Dublin trained in theatre studies before moving on to the Gaiety School of Acting and also trained as a drama teacher with Betty Anne Norton. Developing a love for Shakespeare at a young age, Carol is passionate about adapting the themes into modern life for new audiences,

“It’s one of those things children and teenagers baulk at but when you change it up and modernise it they love it. The language might be different but all of the themes are as relevant today and they were when they were written like love, jealousy, anger, betrayal and family. That’s the human condition, some things are timeless.

 “When you see a child lost in the moment and they are in their own imagination and they are taking the lead themselves. It doesn’t matter what age a person is, even for an adult and they make-believe what is happening on stage is real, that is magic.”

Carol will be kicking off with a taster class on the 14th September at 2 pm in Ashbourne Rooms, Ashbourne Industrial Estate for teenagers 15+. For more information visit  http://www.schoolofspeechanddrama.com/