TENDERFOOT is The Civic’s apprentice theatre programme for transition year students. Each year, this unique programme offers fifty young people the opportunity to learn about theatre by making theatre. Operating on a model of apprenticeship, our Tenderfeet are mentored by working theatre professionals – playwrights, theatre directors, composers, set & costume designers, visual video designers, and stage managers. They write, act, design and produce original plays for an audience of their peers: plays that reflect the world as it is for them; plays by and for young people.
There are thirty two second level schools in South Dublin County. We currently work with eight through the current Tenderfoot programme. Over the next three years we will develop the programme so that we can work with all of South Dublin County’s second level schools. We aim to do this through the implementation of a strategic development plan, IMPACT, which amongst other things will see the establishment of six creative writing hubs across the region.
On Saturday, September 28th, we will host an open forum for artists and teachers to inform our thinking. We will invite a number of key speakers to present on our national context and international practice, and will present initial findings from research on theatre provision for second level students, conducted with the support of the Creative Ireland Programme’s National Creativity Fund.
We will also ask those attending to consider a number of questions. We want to know what you think. We want to know what you want. What are the conditions required to enable collaboration between arts institutions and schools? What are the obstacles and challenges to such relationships? The pillars of comprehensive theatre provision for any demographic is to provide opportunities to engage, participate and make. The Tenderfoot vision is to develop a programme of work for, with and by the young people of South Dublin County. Help us to do that.
