Opening a centre, opening minds

A BUNCH of FAS specialists got together last Friday evening to make it happen. Or that should be, to make it not happen, to wreck the festivities of "the high profile guests and cultural elite" of the "Arts Centre Installation", and to put hair spray in their sandwiches.

That's the sort of specialists they were. Strutting their special issue overalls to the strains of Once upon a time in the West, their long shadows fell down into the dust before a setting sun that lit the scene perfectly for (unsuccessful) teenage outlaws in South County Dublin.

The man responsible for this outdoor outrage is Terry O'Hagan, committee member of the Tallaght Youth Theatre and director of The Specialists, a group of five teenagers who sought, by way of tribute, to lay waste to this brand new installation.

Scouring his skittish ideas from the likes of Mission Impossible, Terry has also thrown very unsubtle references to other such macho movies as Executive Decision into the mix, washed down with a backdrop of loud music culled from the aforementioned Mission, Sergio Leone's epics, and Hawaii-5-O.

Simon Leader is appropriately the head of this shambolic band, bringing them from BAS to FAS with the necessary vision to lead them from this failed enterprise to where only they can go - Eurovision 97. Yes that's right. Lot's of luck boys, you'll need it.

It's such a shame the show is to play only this once. But how many Tallaght Arts Centre openings, official or otherwise can you have?

Terry is back in action the following morning, auditioning 15 raw acting recruits for further adventures with the Youth Theatre, along with chairman John Conroy. Terry says that he seeks teenagers "of a minimum of 14 years, as 12 year olds would have different maturities from 18 year olds". He certainly has a fine mix of raw eggs here, with feisty young ones and shrinking violets alike to mould into Sharons and Sylvesters.

John Conroy draws the youngsters out by using the simplest of techniques - sitting them down opposite each other to recite streams of words, back and forth, on any topic he chooses - from "things you hate" to "Famous People" - until they mess up and are "out". All the talent, and the self consciousness, are stripped bare during the process. Terry tries a more hands on approach - getting the kids to come into physical contact with each other while acting out a death, or a baptism. Another challenge to get used to.

Outside in the sunshine, toddlers are getting to (early) grips with all this art business by way of pavement art, composing coloured chalk pictures on the underfoot canvas of flagstones.

Overhead, a newspaper mural by local youths protests against the unfairness of the media's treatment of Tallaght on the drugs issue, reported by Killinarden Breakaway".

Meanwhile, on the pavement, Michelle Smith forges ahead in a brand new (50 metre) swimming pool, while an unfulfilled grafitti artist has written "Boyzone Are The". "The business", perhaps?

Judging by these most creative of beginnings, and the wealth of tappable local talent, Tallaght's new arts centre is certainly going to foster plenty of "business".