Singing stars of the future shine at Striking summer camp
The all-singing, all-dancing Striking Productions summer camp
THE sounds of singing and laughter filled Tinryland GFC clubhouse last week as 80 young performers took to the stage for Striking Productions’ annual summer camp. From 15-18 July, children aged from four to 17 years transformed the local venue into a vibrant hub of creativity and performance.
The camp offered three distinct programmes tailored to different age groups. The youngest participants, aged four to seven, explored musical theatre and pop, while two separate groups for ages eight to 11 and 12-plus focused on pantomime workshops – perfect preparation for the upcoming Christmas production.
At the helm was Robert O’Neill, a familiar face in Carlow’s theatre scene, who has been writing and directing the town’s Christmas pantomimes for the past 14 years. For Robert, the summer camp serves a dual purpose: providing young people with a creative outlet while allowing him to workshop fresh ideas for future productions.
“Every kid got a chance to sing on their own if they wanted,” Robert explained, highlighting the inclusive nature of the programme.
The youngest group tackled the viral TikTok hit alongside beloved classics from , including and . This year’s youngest participants included some special additions – Robert’s nephew Ruben and fellow three-year-old Mason Rea, son of the camp’s choreographer.
The middle group also worked on medley, expanding their repertoire with songs from and dance numbers from the movie. Meanwhile, the teenagers delved deeper into theatrical performance, working with original scripts penned by Robert himself.
“I’m in the middle of writing the panto, so for the teenagers I wrote five pages of random script with three characters per script for five different pantos,” Robert said. The exercise, featuring excerpts from , and other classics, revealed hidden talents among participants who might not typically step forward.
The camp benefited from exceptional instruction. Alongside Robert, who works as a secondary school teacher and with the Department of Education on the new senior cycle drama, film and theatre studies subject, participants learned from industry professionals. Shauna Lannigan, the new programme director for musical theatre at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts, flew home to Carlow specifically to help run the camp.
Katie Conlan from KNC Performing Arts Company in Newbridge brought her commercial industry experience to the programme.
For Robert, witnessing the transformation in young performers remains the most rewarding aspect.
“It’s lovely seeing a four-year-old super-proud of themselves after maybe even singing one sentence of a song,” he reflected. “Seeing their confidence grow and just seeing them be comfortable in their own skin and just being authentic in enjoying themselves.”
The camp also serves as valuable preparation for this year’s Christmas pantomime , which cleverly merges the classic fairytale with elements from .
All the summer camp participants are encouraged to audition for the production and tickets for it are already on sale.
