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Bantry's Josh to find his calling on the Peacock stage

August 4th, 2017 7:00 PM

By Jackie Keogh

Josh Campbell will appear in the Peacock shortly

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A classic science fiction play from the 1920s will introduce 16 talented young Irish people to the stage of the National Theatre, including West Cork's Josh Campbell.

A CLASSIC science fiction play from the 1920s will introduce 16 talented young Irish people to the stage of the National Theatre, including West Cork's Josh Campbell.

Josh, who is 16 and from Bantry, has been selected to appear in the National Youth Theatre's production of Rossum's Universal Robots, which will be shown at the Peacock Theatre at The Abbey from August 21st to August 26th next.

Josh Campbell discovered his love of acting through membership of Glengarriff Youth Theatre when he was just 14 years old.  

Although never one to shy away from the limelight, his very first public appearance was on The Late Late Toy Show, when he was just five, melted hearts as he demonstrated his love of Transformers and Power Rangers to Pat Kenny.

Josh was persuaded to join Glengarriff Youth Theatre group by friends and his parents, Liz and Toby Campbell, who felt certain that it would be a good fit for him.

Although reluctant at first, he came back from his first session with the group enthused, and has never looked back.   

A regular member of the group since 2014, Josh has appeared in several performances locally, the most recent being Angels by Pauline McGlynn in June of this year.

When the opportunity to audition for Youth Theatre Ireland came up, Josh jumped at the chance, and was delighted to get a call-back after the Cork round of auditions.   

A total of 44 applicants from around the country were called back to final auditions in Dublin in May, and from this group the final 16 were selected.   

Rehearsals for the production will begin at the end of July, with a week of performances in the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.  

‘I can't wait,' Josh told The Southern Star. ‘It is so exciting to be a part of NYT.  From the acting I've done, I've discovered that every time a performance ends, I just can't wait to get out there and do it again.' 

Last year, Glengarriff Youth Theatre took part in the National Festival of Youth Theatre in Kilkenny, organised by Youth Theatre Ireland.  

‘What I love about YTI,' said Josh, ‘is that you get to meet so many like-minded people. I just know this is going to be a fantastic experience. 

‘But I do hope I'm not the only ginger there!'


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