Contributor: Matthew Campbell
When I first joined Downpatrick Choral Society (St Patrick’s), I was 8 years old and one of the youngest members on stage. I was very fortunate to receive the opportunity to perform at such a young age, granted that the productions did not always warrant young performers on stage, I was always included at some point.
I was however aware that I was only one of very few young people within the membership of the society and for some time it remained this way.
In 2004, the society decided to attempt to attract young people from the community who were interested in performing on stage by announcing open auditions for an all youth (anyone aged 18 and under) production of ‘Grease’.
If successful, this would be a two-fold situation for the society as it would have allowed them to increase the number of productions they stage from one a year, to two. It also would have helped them to increase their membership and add a new spark to the theatre group, whilst taking the pressure off some of the senior members (Diarmuid Taggart, 2018). The society was by no means in difficulty or struggling, but it wouldn’t be unfair to imply that they were in an artistically stagnant period.
The auditions were held in June 2004 with the production being planned for that coming October. Over 40 young people aged between 8 and 18 came to the launch evening which was notably successful for the society and showed promise for the production to go ahead. ‘Grease’ ran for 6 sold out performances in The Great Hall, Downshire Estate from 5th – 9th October 2004. (The Great Hall auditorium holds a maximum capacity of 280 seats.) The production made record box office numbers for St Patrick’s, but we aren’t sure why. Presumably it was a combination of the popularity of that particular show, coupled with the large number of young children on stage, who for many were performing for the first time and therefore would have attracted a large number of family and friends to come and watch.
(Note: no official box-office records still exist to indicate the final number of tickets sold, however a financial report from that year shows evidence of a significant return in profit, largely contributed to by this production).
With such a successful ‘inaugural’ production for the Downpatrick Youth Theatre, it was agreed that the society would continue to encourage and promote a youth theatre that would stage one production in the autumn of each year, allowing the senior company to stage a production in the spring of each year. Both sections of the society would then join once a year to produce a variety concert. (The dates of this concert vary from year to year, sometimes falling in December and other times in June).
The youth theatre became very popular, largely through word of mouth and by 2010, not only did it boast almost 50 members, but it was also run entirely by a youth production team, all of whom were under 25 years of age.
It was also in 2010 that the society introduced their ever popular Summer Workshops which continue to run for 2 weeks in August allowing the youth members to audition, rehearse and stage a musical production in a short space of time. These workshops are aimed at educating youth members in key skills used in the professional musical theatre industry, but also admittedly act as a much needed financial aid to the society as the workshops are inexpensive to run, however enrolment fees provide a sizable return for the society. Notable summer productions have included ‘Aladdin’, ‘Peter Pan’ and ‘Hairspray’.
What possibly remains the greatest testament to the strength and talent within the youth theatre was their production of the ever popular ‘Les Miserables’ by Boubil and Schöenberg in October 2010. This notoriously difficult score was performed by a cast of 47 and once again played to sell out audiences, including an additional Sunday performance which is rather unusual for amateur theatre companies. The production was noted as one of the Downpatrick Youth Theatre’s most successful and memorable performances since its inauguration and the production received an A.I.MS award nomination:
– Best Male Singer (Matthew Campbell as Marius) – making Matthew the youngest person to be nominated in that particular category.
In more recent years, the demographic of the youth membership has depleted with numbers currently in the 30s and the oldest youth member being 16 years old, however the society still continues to promote the work that the youth do and proudly remains one of only four musical societies in Northern Ireland to still have an active youth section. (The others being Fortwilliam Musical Society, Lisnagarvey Operatic Society and Ballywillan Drama Group). *
*Note: there are several specific youth theatre companies in Northern Ireland dedicated entirely to youth theatre, however there are only four amateur musical theatre groups who have both an active youth and adult company.
Resources:
Members of Downpatrick Choral Society
https://www.fortwilliammusicalsociety.co.uk
https://www.ballywillan.com/wp/