The hopes, dreams and concerns of Waterford's young people will be aired in a devised play opening at the city's Garter Lane Theatre next month.
For the past four weeks the 45 cast members of Waterford Youth Drama's latest production have been gathering for rehearsals as well as discussions about the issues that matter most to them.
A local writer, Mr Jim Daly, has been taking home their ideas and putting together a script that has taken shape in the form of a play titled The Land of Stuff.
The name, explains the director, Mr Scott Johnston, arose from initial discussions with the cast. "On the first day we met they kept using this word `stuff'. If you asked someone what they had just been saying they would reply `Oh, it's just stuff'. So we thought there might be something worth investigating here."
Ideas then began to evolve as the cast members discussed relationships, their desire to be famous, concerns about how they are perceived by their peers and where they want to be by the age of 35. Whatever the outcome, it will not be a play full of teenage angst, Mr Johnston promises.
"That was one thing we wanted to avoid. Humour is an important element. Irish people can be very funny, and the sense of humour of these young people is something we want to reflect in the play," he said.
Currently artistic director of Britain's third-largest youth drama company, West Lothian Youth Theatre in Scotland, Mr Johnston has also worked recently in Romania, the United States and South Africa. While there are references to Waterford locations in The Land of Stuff, the play is not set anywhere in particular and the concerns raised are not unique to the area, he said.
"People I work with in Scotland would have a lot of the same experiences. Young people everywhere want to be recognised, heard and listened to, and I suppose that's what this play is about. That's one of the great things about young people's drama: it enables their voices to be heard."
The Land of Stuff is choreographed by Ms Libby Seward. It opens at Garter Lane Theatre on Tuesday, September 11th.