Tenderfoot is an apprentice programme @ The Civic Theatre, Tallaght for young theatre makers.

apprentice – (noun) ‘On leaving school Herbert joined his father as an engineering apprentice’: trainee, learner, probationer, tyro, novice, neophyte, raw recruit, fledgling, new boy/girl, novitiate, pupil, student; beginner, starter, greenhorn, TENDERFOOT. OPPOSITE veteran.

TENDERFOOT is an exciting theatre programme at The Civic Theatre in Tallaght for transition year students in the South County Dublin region. It’s aim is to provide interested students with an opportunity to learn about theatre in a hands on way. .

The first part of the TENDERFOOT programme focuses on writing for theatre. A small number of interested students from each of eight participating schools attend six workshops at The Civic Theatre during the Autumn/Winter school term. The workshops were designed to do three things: Provide the students with basic drama skills. Introduce the students to the work of existing playwrites. Get the students writing plays.

The second part of the TENDERFOOT programme sees a larger group of students, usually thirty five, take part in a fourteen day work experience module in The Civic Theatre during which some of the plays written during the writing programme are rehearsed, designed and performed. In 2007, the inaugural year for TENDERFOOT, five plays and one monologue were produced in The Loose End, the studio space in The Civic Theatre. The culmination of TENDERFOOT 2008/2009 saw six plays and two monologues produced in The Main Theatre in The Civic. Unfortunatley, due to time and resources it is not possible to produce all of the plays written during the programme.

TENDERFOOT PLAYS 2009 .

A Family Affair by Lisa Sherrin/Sancta Maria College Ballyroan
Rachel and Lisa are cousins and used to be best friends. That is until Rachel returned from Tokyo and enrolled at Lisa’s school. Set between the computer room, Lisa’s bedroom and Mrs. Collins’ art room this story of friendship and betrayal comes to a head at Rachel’s 15th birthday party. Script Excerpt

A School Play by Sophie Millar/St. Columba’s College Whitechurch
Two boys, one girl and a boyfriend. What happens when friendship teeters over into romance and what should you do when you know something that you should tell?

be careful what u do u never know what might happen by Karl Greene/Moyle Park College
A darkly comic tale set on an urban wasteland. Murder, violence, deceit. Reservoir Dogs Clondalkin style.

Brothers by Jamie Power/Collinstown Community College
World War II is over but the surviving soldiers are not yet disengaged. In a small town in France a group of brothers from Ireland are delighted to discover that they have all survived. .

Brothers & Sisters by Harry Brooke/St. Columba’s College Whitechurch
Lara is seventeen and in love. Brothers & Sisters looks at her struggle for independence.

Departures by Simon O’Mara/Holy Family School Rathcoole
A comic look at being 30, being in a relationship and being in an airport all at the same time.

Escape by Ciara Donohue/Sancta Maria College Ballyroan
Escape is a surprisingly mature piece for such a young writer. Darkly comic but deadly serious, Escape looks at the subject of domestic abuse and the lack of choices available to young people in difficult situations.

Family? by Chloe Healy/St. Paul’s Secondary School Greenhills
Gay marriage. Homophobia. Family tensions. Chloe Healy’s play asks questions about family and loyalty..

If I Could Turn Back Time by Anna Marie Gleeson/Sancta Maria College Ballyroan
Anna Marie Gleeson’s play takes a serious look at what it is to be an outsider. And what it is to be an outsider’s friend. Set in a secondary school, If I Could Turn Back Time sees an ordinary boy commit an extraordinary act because he’s had enough of being alone.

Love – A monologue by Chloe Healy/Sancta Maria College Ballyroan
A teenage boy finds himself in love and in transit. He reflects on the situation he finds himself in, a time of change and turbulence. .

Park Bench by Ellen O’Sullivan/Assumption Secondary School
He likes her but she doesn’t like him and that doesn’t even begin toconsider how the best friend feels. Three pals. Feelings unleashed by the school production of Romeo & Juliet makes life very complicated. .

Shadow – A monologue by Erica Jordan/St. Paul’s Secondary School
A teenage boy sits in a hospital corridor. Poignant and touching Shadow tells the story of two brothers separated by illness. Strike! by Alison Bryan/St. Paul’s Secondary School Greenhills
Three friends meet every Saturday afternoon to STRIKE lucky. Theychat. They banter. They make plans for the most important night of the week - Saturday night.

The Big D by Amy O’Sullivan/St. Paul’s Secondary School
Clever and sophisticated The Big D is set between Paris and Dublin and follows the intricate story of a family on the brink of separation. .

The Joys Of Poverty – A Monologue by Amy O’Sullivan/St. Paul’s Secondary School Greenhills
A homeless man address the audience. He asks them to stand in his shoes. The view, however, is surprising.

When Bowling Goes Bad by Erica Jordan/St. Paul’s Secondary School Greenhills.
A surreal story about dating, stalking and mouth to mouth resuscitation. What happens when the guy in the next lane looks normal but isn’t? That’s where this play begins.

Witches by Roland Omisore/Old Bawn Community School Clondalkin
Witches is a wonderfully ambitious suspense story set in a world where the supernatural sits beside you on the train. Spells. Stories from the past. Secret relationships. Witches holds our attention all the way to the surprise denouement.

Participating schools 2009:
Assumption Secondary School Walkinstown
Collinstown Park Community Clondalkin
Holy Family Secondary School Rathcoole
Moyle Park College Clondalkin
Old Bawn Community College Tallaght
Sancta Maria College Ballyroan
St. Columba’s College Whitechurch
St. Paul’s Secondary School Greenhills.
All TENDERFOOT tutors are working theatre professionals. .
TENDERFOOT is a joint initiative of The Civic Theatre, South Dublin County Council Arts Office and Storytellers Theatre Company.