About the Griese Youth Theatre Archive Project

Griese Youth Theatre is a youth arts organisation which has been running continuously in the small village of Ballitore in County Kildare, Ireland, since July of 1999 under the artistic direction of Leish Burke. In that time, its members have performed many dozens of plays, short films and other events – and in the process amassed a huge array of images, audio recordings, video footage, posters, scripts, props, applications, assessments, correspondence and other ephemera.

This archive documents not just the ongoing work of one of the longest-running youth arts initiatives in the country, it is also a remarkable piece of social history capturig the cultural life of young people in this small rural community.

The Archive Project is a curated selection from the trove of material generated over the past two and a half decades. Created to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Griese Youth Theatre, it is intended to act as a resource for collaborating artists, an easily-accessed digital scrapbook for past and members GYT and their supporters in the Ballitore area, and a first step in the preservation of the archive for future generations.

The Griese Youth Theatre Archive Project website was created by project editor Cathal McGuire in collaboration with GYT Aristic Director Leish Burke and Junior Drama Director Aoife Barrett and launched at the Meeting House, Ballitore on the 25th July 2024.