170 stage-struck local youngsters will be treading the Perth Theatre boards in June during the month-long Perth Youth Theatre (PYT) Festival.
The Perth Youth Theatre Collective has already whetted appetites with their outdoor extravaganza - The Tree - a family eco comedy performed out and about in the parks of Perthshire and Angus in May, and now the rest of the talented PYT team is waiting in the wings for their turn in the spotlight.
Popping up first on Friday 11 and Saturday 12 June are PYT Beginners with their own concoction Toast and All Things Good directed by Caroline Hardie. The group of 12 to 14 year-olds have sliced the production into two halves, with the first act featuring a series of sketches based on different TV genres and the second exploring the altogether darker theme of life in a post-explosion world.
PYT Intermediates (aged 14 -16) present Together We Stand: Together We Fall on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 June. Created by members of the company, Gemma Petrie directs with dramaturgy by Susan McClymont.
New Writing Showcase on Monday 21 June features highlights of the very best writing from the 12 - 25 year-olds of PYT Young Playwrights Company performed by professional actors. Susan McClymont and Rachael Esdale facilitate and Ian Grieve directs as a host of characters and scenarios, ranging from the bizarre to the terrifying, the disturbing to the downright hilarious, emerge in Perth Studio Theatre.
Guest youth theatres ACT 2 (Aberdeen) and Chaos Youth Theatre also get in on the act. ACT2 present C U Soon X on Friday 25 June with PYT Seniors 1 Company (aged 16-19), a short performance created over a 10 week exchange between the two companies. Chaos Youth Theatre (aged 8-11) lead us on a journey where all is not what it first seems in We Will Lead Them on a False Trail, a production of their own creation directed by Rachael Esdale and Gemma Petrie on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 June.
The Festival concludes with the cast of Perth Youth Theatre Senior 2 Company (aged 17-25) in How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found, directed by Jennifer McGregor. This extraordinary play by Fin Kennedy follows the attempts of a stressed executive to disappear from his life and throws up questions worthy of Kafka and Camus about what makes us who we are in the 21st century.
Jennifer McGregor, associate director of youth theatre for Horsecross Arts, the creative organisation behind Perth Concert Hall and Perth Theatre said:
"The Perth Youth Theatre Festival is a great opportunity for our young PYT members to get a true feeling of what it is like working in a professional theatre. All the services of the teams from production and technical to wardrobe and front of house are put at the disposal of the young people for the duration of the month."
PYT is a dynamic and thriving theatre company for young people aged from 12 - 25 years old. For more info click here. Recruiting in the summer for the next session starting October 2010. Pick up an application form from Horsecross Arts Box Office or contact Jennie at jmcgregor@horsecross.co.uk for more information.