DIVERSIONS 4 - THE DEBS

‘The Debs’ – let the fun begin...

For the fourth year running Waterford Youth Arts presented nine short plays in a site-specific location. In 2011 they explored “The Debs” in local hotels. Readers may recall that over the previous three years WYA performed their Diversions site-specific works on a Kenneally’s Bus journey around the city, in the Waterford Courthouse and in 2010in a city Secondary School (Mount Sion). In 2011they continued with this idea with three nights in different hotel ballrooms (Tower Hotel, Granville Hotel and Woodlands Hotel) and we saw the stories of young debutantes as they dance, cry and laugh with their friends and teachers. The nine writers were: Alan Cliff, Mia Gallagher, Jill Hilliard, Joanne Whelan, Clare Smith, Richard Collins, Brian Coady, Anita O’Keeffe and John Doyle.

Irish Times preview    Slideshow

Waterford Youth Arts
presented
"Diversions 4 - The Debs"
at the following venues
on the following dates

Date: Monday 24/10/11
Location: The Tower Hotel,
The Mall, Waterford

Date: Tuesday 25/10/11
Location: The Woodlands Hotel,
Dunmore Road, Waterford

Date: Wednesday 26/10/11
Location: The Granville Hotel,
The Quay, Waterford.

PRESS RELEASE: What really happens at the Debs? Waterford Youth Arts are busy in rehearsals at the moment for 'Diversions - The Debs' the show they will present at three local hotels as part of the Imagine Festival. Eight writers have written short plays for the production and they explore all the weird and wonderful stories of teenagers ranging from the parents who just don't understand them, to the sad tale of a young girl who is subjected to bullying because of her weight. All of the writers are local apart from one, Mia Gallagher, and all have donated the writing to WYA for the Imagine festival.

'Diversions - The Debs' will be performed three times over Imagine in three different hotels, on Monday 24th in the Tower Hotel, Tuesday 25th in the Woodlands Hotel and Wednesday 26th in Granville Hotel. The show starts at 8pm and in each venue the meeting place is the Ballroom. All tickets are €10 and available from Theatre Royal 051-874402 or www.imagineartsfestival.com.

The one guest writer, Mia Gallagher, is a well-known emerging writer. Her debut novel "HellFire" (described as a "grand achievement" by The Guardian) received international critical acclaim and the Literature Award in Irish Tatler's Women of the Year 2007. Her short stories have been published in Ireland, the UK and the US and have won the START short fiction award as well as being nominated for a Hennessy Award. She wrote the playlet for The Debs while working with a girls school in Dublin, and much of the storyline is based on ideas from the students.

Mia Gallagher