Senior members from Richmondshire Youth Theatre at Leyburn have been working with past pupil Ben Lacey, since September 2016 on a script writing project.
Ben, who has gained his Masters Degree in Writing for Stage and Broadcasting Media from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, ran a series of drama workshops with the young people to gain ideas and inspiration before writing a new stage play called ‘Fanatic’.
Fanatic tells the story of two local science fiction stores that are in competition with each other and it considers the political polarisation that takes aim at extremism and fanaticism.
Ben then directed the young people, and under the name ‘Mutton Chops Youth Theatre’ they took to the stage of the Georgian Theatre Royal for its annual One Act Play Festival on February 2 with the premier performance of ‘Fanatic’ which was awarded the Adjudicators Cup for “It’s Original Script.
Two of their actors were also nominated for awards: Best Supporting Actress for Grace Morris, playing the part of Zoe, and Best Actor for Joe Burke, playing the part of Luke.
Ben said: “This project was a fantastic opportunity to create a new play and I am very proud of each member of the cast. They really inspired my writing.”
Richmondshire Youth Theatre were supported technically by past pupil Cordelia Stevenson and Mickey Portlock who wrote all the original music and sounds for the production.
