You, Yes You!

This piece of community theatre, 'You, Yes You!’, looks at how the very ordinary aspects of life can take on a beauty of their own.

Draíocht's Theatre Artist in Residence, Theatre Director Liam Halligan, worked on and developed this piece throughout the last year with numerous members of the local community from Dublin 15, ranging in age from 18-85.

Director’s Note – Liam Halligan
“The piece of theatre you will see tonight is the result of an Artist-in-Residency project which began in November 2011.

This residency provided me with a wonderful opportunity to make something new and different - a piece based on what the community have to say. It allowed me time to work with a large group of non actors in a large theatre with constant administrative support.
The objective was to bring a diverse group of individuals together, to build confidence, to have fun, to collaborate, to inspire each other and to create something that mattered.

I was hoping to spend the year working with a group of about 15 individuals from the local area but then Draíocht received over 100 enquiries! So this quickly changed the shape and the possibilities of what we could create. The last thing I wanted to do was to turn people away. So, we began in February 2011 and created 4 groups of approx. 12 participants. We continued with 4 week sessions in April, July and October/November.

The themes and content of the piece slowly emerged. The sequences you will see are based on the improvisations and exercises that the group really enjoyed doing. The final group of 28 ‘die hards’ selected themselves naturally. A strong group dynamic developed and the themes took on more depth. All the text and the songs you will hear were suggested by the group.

As a theatre maker I wanted to hear the voices of people who are often airbrushed out of theatre, voices that are too quiet to be heard. I hope we have achieved that.

I am hugely grateful to everyone who came along and I am delighted that such a smashing group of people stuck with it to the bitter end. Thank you for all your commitment, energy and bravery. It will be very difficult to ‘say goodbye’ at the end.”


Image: Tom Lawlor Photography