Lille Northern France and Belgium Kildare Youth Theatre once again travelled to Lille to take part in TeeNEXTers 2016, an annual gathering of European young people hosted by Théâtre Le Grand Bleu as part of the NEXT Arts Festival ​ Peter Hussey was one of 7 EU theatre-makers and artists giving workshops while the KYT members selected to take part were Charlie Hughes-Farrell, Becky Donovan, Ben McGoohan, Peter Mc Hale, Isobel Noone, Elliot Nolan and Filip Karda. ​ TeeNEXTers ran from 16th - 22nd November. ​ Click on the pdf document below to read about the festival, the workshops, and the shows they went to see in NEXT. This exchange was sponsored by the Erasmus+ programme of the EU.

This Tuesday I went to see A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen. It’s the latest play from Kildare Youth Theatre, where I am an intern on an Erasmus scheme from my university in the Czech Republic. The play was in the Riverbank Theatre, just across the street from Kildare Youth Theatre. It was directed by Evan Lynch. I know the director personally as well as the actors but I’ve decided to try to stay objective. The play takes two and a half hours to perform. Yes, two and a half, that long. But it’s worth it! Is it? The first obstacle that might prevent enjoyment is the age of the performers. All of them play older people than they actually are in real life. You see young 16 years old play people a

Kildare Youth Theatre were invited to Bad Lippspringe in Germany from 7th - 10th October 2016 as guests of the Town Twinning Committee (Newbridge is twinned with Bad Lippspringe since 1997). The young people performed red-nose clown sketches on the streets, at the launch of OktoberFest, and during the traditional beer barrelling race on the town's Main Street. The 'Clown Team' came third and won a certificate and crates of beer, which they donated to their adult hosts! ​ Along with Peter Hussey the KYT team were Elliot Nolan, Graham Butler-Breen and Anna Ó Módhráin, seen here on the 'winners' podium' accepting their prize. ​ We would like to thank the committees of Newbridge and Bad Lippspri