Posted on: 28 March 2007
The first meeting of the Forum to review actor training in Ireland was convened this week in Trinity College. The Forum will look at the needs of actor training and how best it can be delivered at a national level. It is chaired by Professor Nicholas Grene of the TCD School of English and its first meeting took place on Monday 26th March last.
Its membership comprises key stakeholders in the theatre profession. They are:Tania Banotti, CEO, Theatre Forum Ireland Anne Clarke, Producer, Landmark ProductionsMichael Colgan, Director, Gate TheatreProfessor Nesta Jones, Director of Research and MA in Theatre Practices Programme at Rose Bruford School, London Mark Lambert, actor and directorFiach Mac Conghail, Artistic Director, Abbey Theatre Martin Murphy, Director, Pavillion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire Lynne Parker, Artistic Director, Rough MagicEnid Reid Whyte, Theatre Consultant, Arts CouncilFiona Shaw, ActorBrian Singleton, Head of Drama, TCD Garry Hynes, Artistic Director, Druid Theatre*Fintan O’Toole, Assistant Editor, Irish Times*
It was agreed at its first meeting that the aim of the Forum would be to investigate how to achieve the best forms of acting training in Ireland. Four key issues were identified:
– Market and career path – how many actors should Ireland be training a year and for what sort of work?– Location – where should acting training courses be placed, inside or outside the universities, and what should their relationship be with professional theatre?– Models of acting training – what are the available courses and the underlying principles informing them?– Funding – how might courses be best funded by state, private or public/private partnership agencies?
The Forum will be issuing a general call for submissions from other interested individuals and institutions on the issues which will be debated.
*These two members were unable to attend the first meeting
