On the Town:Memory and the ongoing contribution of Dublin Youth Theatre (DYT) to life in the capital was explored in the experimental show, This is Still Life, at the 30th birthday celebration of the organisation at the Project Arts Centre this week.
"The show is about memory, it's about every DYTmember, not just the current ones," said Feidlim Cannon, co-director of the show.
"As well as being the 30th birthday of DYT, it's also punk rock's 30th birthday, so we tried to infuse that, the punk ethos of DIY attitude, going against conventional work."
DYT actor Graham O'Neillsaid that the months of preparation were worth it in the end.
"The show just flowed from the start," he said. "I think everything went perfectly, there wasn't a flaw in the place. It was special, something else."
Many past DYT members and others involved with the group turned up for the party. Gerard Stembridge, artistic director in the early 1990s, said much of DYT's appeal stems from the fact that "it's not a commercially driven organisation, it doesn't in any way try to get money from its members. The key part is always 'what do the members want to do?'."
"It's been a great contribution to artistic life in Dublin," said Fair Cityactor Pat Nolan. "I just kept in touch with DYT throughout the years, the people connected with it - it's a great link. There's a great bond there, even still."
Writer/actor Neil Watkins, who won Alternative Miss Ireland in 2005 in the guise of Heidi Konnt, said that DYT helped him "to explore different parts of theatre - I did a bit of everything, which gave me a brilliant bedrock for my later career".
Also at the show were actor and director Deirdre Molloy, Gúna Nua Theatre Company artistic director David Parnell, and DYT founder Paddy O'Dwyer.