Youth theatre focus on Famine

A FILM and play telling the true story of the 4,000 Famine orphans who were transported from Irish workhouses to Australia between 1848 and 1850 will feature in Limerick this week.

Voyage of the Orphans, a film and three-act play by the County Limerick Youth Theatre, will be screened and staged at The Belltable on Wednesday and Thursday following a successful three-night run at the Honey Fitz Theatre in Lough Gur (Co Limerick) in December.

Work on the project commenced in March 2009 and involved over 50 members of the local community in east Limerick, including 28 full-time members of the Youth Theatre. The idea to explore migration developed out of a series of workshops, facilitated by drama and arts specialist Fiona Quinn.