St. Ives Youth Theatre - News Release
	Date:	24th June 2008
	Subject	SIYT wow Audience of 3,000 at Lourdes
	Contacts	For press enquiries about St. Ives Youth Theatre, please contact Ian Lloyd on 07803 088185. More information about the St Ives Youth Theatre is available on www.siyt.co.uk

In preparing for the imminent production of the musical Vision, 10 SIYT members travelled with a group making a pilgrimage to discover what it was like to go to Lourdes as a young person working with the sick and disabled. “It’s amazing – it’s the kind of place where the elderly respect the young and the young respect the elderly,” said Jack Henderson, aged 17.
Whilst there, the cast members met the Archbishop of Birmingham, the Head of the Medical Bureau, toured the baths and visited the grotto where Bernadette had her 18 visions. “Over 6 million people visit Lourdes each year, it’s a place where hope conquers desperation,” said Laura Mitcham, aged 17.

SIYT were invited to perform in a concert in front of an audience of over 3,000. 2 songs from Vision, "Just an Image" and "Blue", recieved rapturous applause. The group were also invited to perform a piece on the parable of The Prodigal Son during a mass in front of 2,000. ‘Vision’ – the musical story of Bernadette of Lourdes written by Dominic Hartley and Jonathan Smith – which is being staged by St. Ives Youth Theatre in mid-July.

For SIYT, there is more to staging a piece than just learning a script and belting out a few songs. As in the professional theatre, a clear understanding of the issues that motivated the writers to create their piece is seen as vital in preparation. For earlier productions, this quest for understanding has taken SIYT members to places as diverse as Auschwitz and Harrods, Dartmoor Prison and the Bank of England. In preparing for Vision, all roads inevitably lead to Lourdes.

You can hear SIYT perform songs from Vision at a Concert Performance in Cambridge on 28th June 2008, at the Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and English Martyrs, Hills Road, Cambridge at 7.30 pm. Admission is free, with a retiring collection to be split between SIYT and Aid to Kenya.

The musical, Vision can be seen between 16th - 19th July 2008 at the Burgess Hall in St. Ives – tickets are available online at www.siyt.co.uk/boxoffice.html and at Hephers Electrical in St. Ives.

The company is also preparing Vision for performances in the North West and Midlands later this year – the first time SIYT has been on the road since their acclaimed production of Korczak at the 2005 Edinburgh Fringe.

Photographs can be made available.

For press enquiries for St. Ives Youth Theatre, please contact Ian Lloyd on 077 10 80 84 88

More information about the St Ives Youth Theatre is available on www.siyt.co.uk 

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