Are you a theatre-maker or company programmed in this year’s Fringe? Want to hear how programmers select work? Are you looking for real networking opportunities and a chance to pitch your show to venues and festivals? Want to take it one step further and start planning a tour?
Irish Theatre Institute invites theatre and dance companies who are presenting work at Dublin Fringe Festival to its annual networking event. Running for the 12th consecutive year, Information Toolbox attracts presenters from across Ireland and brings hand-picked guests from international organisations right to you so that you can grow your network of connections.
International showcasing and networking remains at the heart of ITI’s artistic activities. Utilising the organisation’s established networks, built over almost three decades, ITI continues to work closely with Culture Ireland to identify key international programmers from target markets and locations, to invite to attend.
Information Toolbox is the key networking opportunity for all theatre and dance makers programmed during Dublin Fringe . It creates an environment in which to pitch work to venues and festivals, funding agencies and resource organisations from across Ireland and internationally, allowing artists to kick-start a touring, presenting or co-producing dialogue.
ITI will continue to offer Show in a Bag artists in-kind rehearsal space, contract advice, director advice, bespoke networking, ongoing strategic and touring support well beyond the parameters of the Fringe festival season. In addition those artists selected to present in the Show in a Bag programme will also participate in Information Toolbox, and an exclusive Show in a Bag Showcase for national and international venue managers and programmers (14th September).
ITI also presents a pitching session in partnership with the Fringe and Culture Ireland entitled Things We Haven’t Made Yet which gives national and international presenters a insight to artists’ future projects (15th September)
Check out the detail of Dublin Fringe Festival’s programme.
After the events and revelations of the last few months in relation to the abuse of power, and in line with calls to action taking place in theatre sectors across the UK, Australia and elsewhere, Irish theatre will come together to discuss and identify initiatives to begin a much needed cultural change in behaviour.
With two parts to the day, Speak Up followed by Call It Out, the event is designed for everyone working in the Irish theatre sector including actors, writers, directors, designers, technicians, production and stage managers, independent producers and administrators as well as theatre collectives and the major theatre organisations, venues and performing arts festivals. Theatre is a collaborative art form. This event will call for collective responsibility and action and will introduce a robust and workable Code of Behaviour to protect Irish theatre practitioners, makers and presenters. As a sector, we will work to eliminate the abuse of power to build a safe and dignified environment for all, irrespective of what stage you are at in your theatre career. It is important to note that Speak Up and Call it Out will not comprise a series of personal testimonies nor will it focus on past events. It will be future-focused. It will call for transparency, protection and accountability in Irish theatre.
The event will be hosted by ITI Co-Directors Siobhán Bourke and Jane Daly with opening address by Josepha Madigan TD, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Contributors will include writer/director Grace Dyas, actor Andrea Irvine, Sarah Durcan Amplify Women, Karan O’Loughlin Head of Campaigning & Equality SIPTU and a presentation by UK based Ita O’Brien, Movement & Intimacy Director, on new industry guidelines being adopted in theatre and film internationally.
Dignity in the Workplace: Towards a Code of Behaviour for Irish Theatre Discussion Document is avaialble to download (to the right). Comments and observations welcome: Please email projects@irishtheatreinstitute.ie before 7th April 2018.
For more information on Ita O’Brien (Movement & Intimacy Director) and her guidelines on “best practice when working with intimacy” please click here.
All artists invited to participate in the programme for Speak Up & Call It Out was paid for their time and contributions courtesy of funding provided by Dept. Culture Heritage & the Gaeltacht in line with ITI’s policy on fair and equitable payment for artists.
Speaking Up: Grace Dyas, Artists and Activist. Andrea Irvine, Actor
Contributions by Grace Dyas and Andrea Irvine to Speak Up & Call It Out | Wednesday 21st March 2018 | Liberty Hall, Eden Quay, Dublin 1
Calling It Out: contributiosn from Loughlin Deegan, Karan O’Loughlin and Sarah Durcan
Calling It Out: Loughlin Deegan, Director, The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College. Karan O’Loughlin, Head of Campaigning & Equality, SIPTU. Sarah Durcan, Amplify Women. Towards a Code of Conduct: Presentation of Draft Code: Siobhán Bourke & Jane Daly, Co-Directors Irish Theatre Institute.
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Panel Discussion: What is Accountable♣
Chaired by: Catriona Crowe, Chairperson, Irish Theatre Institute Peter Crowley, Chairperson, The Gate Theatre Phillip McMahon, Artist / Maker Eleanor Methven, Actor Sheila Practschke Chairperson, The Arts Council; / An Comhairle Ealaion Speak Up & Call It Out | Wednesday 21st March 2018 | Liberty Hall, Eden Quay, Dublin 1
Ms Josepha Madigan TD, Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht gives Opening Address
Opening Address at Speak Up & Call It Out, Safeguarding the Future of Irish Theatre. A Theatre sector initiative led by Irish Theatre Institute and supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht. Wednesday 21st March 2018 | Liberty Hall, Eden Quay, Dublin 1
This award is named in honour of Phelim Donlon, former Drama Officer at the Arts Council and a dedicated member of the first Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) PLAYOGRAPHYIreland Advisory Panel, in acknowledgement of his valued contribution to Irish theatre.
The award comprises the ITI writer’s bursary of &euro1,000 and a two weeks’ fully resourced residency in Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig. The previous recipients of the award are Fiona Doyle (2015/16) and Dylan Coburn Gray (2016/17).
On confirming Amy as the ecipient Siobhán Bourke, Co-Director Irish Theatre Insitute said that “on behalf of ITI and Tyrone Guthrie Centre I would like to congratulate Amy on being awarded the third Phelim Donlon Bursary. Amy is an immensely creative writer with a number of high profile plays and productions behind her and the Award will afford Amy some time to reflect and grow as a playwright. We believe the combination of a two week residency in Annaghmakerrig and a small bursary should enable Amy to stretch her writing practice and develop new work”.
Amy will complete the residency at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig in 2018.
The participating actors in the workshop were Clare Barrett, Mary Conroy, Morgan Cooke, Breffni Holohan, Aidan Jordan, Maud Lee, Cate MacGabhann, Colm Mac Giolla Easbuic, Daithí Mac Suibhne, Caitriona Ni Threasaigh and Jeanne O’Connor.
Some feedback from the actors:
Working with Maureen Hughes and availing of her expertise, knowledge and being able to take on board her wisdom and know-how. The course had a great one-to-one hands on feel about it. To be able to record one’s scene, get feed back, and then re-record was invaluable.
It was fantastic to be in a room with other Irish speakers and be able to chat to them in Irish! The feedback we got from Maureen Hughes was invaluable and I left the course feeling armed with a better process of character study for self taping going forward.
Irish Theatre Insitute designs and delivers professional development training for theatre practitioners year round. For more information on upcoming opportunities check out the news page or social meda (Facebook and Twitter) for details.
Ryan Williams LLB MSSC is MD of Ally Consulting providing a range of talent consultancy, sales and business development training, leadership development, corporate fundraising, tender and bid writing and career mentoring services for clients across the UK and Ireland. In this role Ryan worked alongside the Galway 2020 team across 2015/2016 with a focus on developing a robust and effective relationship with the local business community and helping enshrine this within the bid. Ryan delivered a similar function to the UK’s successful UK Capital of Culture bid in 2013 and was the Corporate Engagement lead for Northern Ireland’s participation in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival securing just over $1m of support from Irish businesses to help deliver this three month long programme in Washington DC.
Ryan Williams is also Founder and CEO of Connected Talent Ltd with offices in Derry, Belfast, Dublin and Galway. Ryan has over 10 years experience working within the international recruitment space having held Director level positions with Resource Group, Grafton Employment Group and Cpl. Within Cpl and Grafton (Irelands largest recruitment businesses) Ryan held the positions of Group Client Director and International Client Director respectively with a geographic remit spanning EMEA and the wider Global marketplace in terms of Exclusive, Volume and Executive Talent Solutions. Ryan developed and led accounts and solutions for clients ranging from HP, Microsoft Google and IBM to diverse organisation such as Derry City of Culture, Titanic Belfast and the Dublin Airport Authority. Ryan is also regarded as one of Europe’s leading RPO experts, regularly speaking at events across Ireland and the UK. He is a guest lecturer on the University of Ulster’s MBA programme on talent attraction and retention.
Ryan graduated from Law (LLB Honours) in 1996 and completed a Masters in Criminology and Criminal Justice Management in 1997 both from Queens University Belfast. He is a former non-Exeuctive Director of the Western Health Board, a former Community Health Representative on the Civic Forum and former Chair of Fermanagh Rural Community Network. In 2015 he was nominated as one of the Top 50 Business People in Northern Ireland. In 2002 he was ranked as one of the UK’s Top 10 Social Entrepreneurs by the Community Action Network. He is also a former graduate of Boston College, Atlantic Corridor, and is an Ashridge School of Management CSR Graduate.
*The workshop is subsidised by ITI as part of ITI’s Artists’ Supports Programme.
Andrea Martin is the founder and principal of MediaLawyer, Solicitors, a boutique legal firm providing legal services to the media and entertainment industries. Andrea is recognised internationally for her expertise in the area. She advises a large number of the leading Irish independent production companies, writers, musicians, publishers and is the “go to” person on all their legal requirements. Considered by many as their “in-house” counsel, she provides them with practical, solutions-focused advice in the fast paced environment that is the media industry. She has advised large corporations on reputation management issues including the provision of social media and data protection auditing services. Andrea is author of “Quick Win Media Law Ireland: Answers to your top 100 Media Law Questions“. This publication is aimed at those who work in the media industry seeking quick and practical answers to legal questions they encounter day-to-day. Written for non-lawyers, it is useful to public relations, advertising, publishing and digital media professionals faced with legal queries arising in their work. It has been well received and is the only ‘quick reference’ handbook in this area of law in Ireland.
Training is an integral part of the services provided by MediaLawyer’s team. Andrea herself has a wealth of media law training experience. She lectures at third level institutions across Ireland. For over ten years she has been the Legal Trainer with Learning Waves Skillsnet, the leading provider of training for the independent commercial Radio Sector in Ireland. Andrea also provides bespoke training in media law for her clients and event organisers.
Andrea is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin (BA Legal Science (Hons), Law 1981). She is a Member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Theatre Institute and also a Board Member of Fís na Maolaoíse Teo t/a Cinemobile, Ireland’s only mobile cinema. She is a Member of the Law Society of Ireland, the Dublin Solicitors Bar Association.
*The workshop is subsidised by ITI as part of ITI’s Artists’ Supports Programme.
Tom Hickey is one of the leading Irish actors of his generation.
He trained with Deirdre O’Connell at the Stanislavski Studio, Dublin, Ireland. With Deirdre he was a founder member of Dublin Focus Theatre, playing leading roles in Miss Julie, Antigone, Uncle Vanya and The Night of the Iguana. In 1970 he directed and played in The Goodbye Machine by Lee Gallagher, which was the first ever theatre show in the now flourishing Project Arts Centre in Dublin.
He has worked extensively at Ireland’s national theatre, The Abbey Theatre, from the seventies onwards, notably in Brecht’s Galileo, Of Mice and Men, Saint Joan, Ionesco’s What A Bloody Circus. He created leading roles at the Abbey in the world premieres of significant new Irish drama, including Tom Murphy’s The Gigli Concert (J.P.W.), Brian Friel’s Give Me Your Answer Do (Tom), Frank McGuinness’s Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Roulston) and Michael Harding’s Misogynist (title role). For writer Marina Carr he appeared at the Abbey in Portia Coughlan (Sky), By the Bog of Cats (Xavier) and On Raftery’s Hill (Raftery) directed by Garry Hynes for her Druid Theatre Company, performing at Dublin’s Gate Theatre and on tour to the US.
He has had a close working relationship with writer and poet Tom MacIntyre for the last twenty years. In 2005 he had a leading role in MacIntyre’s award-winning What Happened Bridgie Cleary which premiered at the Abbey Theatre’s Peacock Theatre prior to a national tour. He appeared in MacIntyre’s one-man play The Gallant John-Joe at the Edinburgh Festival in 2002 and in New York in 2003. It received rave reviews, a number of award nominations and continues to tour Ireland from time to time.
At the Abbey Theatre, all through the eighties, he played in and collaborated with MacIntyre and director Patrick Mason on several Theatre-of-the-Image plays, including the sensational and highly acclaimed The Great Hunger, as well as The Bearded Lady, Dance For Your Daddy, Rise Up Lovely Sweeney and Snow White. These plays introduced a whole new populace to a radical and unique form of theatre. Subsequently Hickey directed MacIntyre’s Sheep’s Milk on the Boil (Abbey Theatre) and Chickadee (Red Kettle Theatre Company). His most recent production at the Abbey theatre was Tom Murphy’s The Last Days of a Reluctant Tyrant directed by Conall Morrisson.
A frequent player at the renowned Gate Theatre Dublin, Hickey has appeared in Heartbreak House, Waiting for Godot, Aristocrats, Three Sisters, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Lady Windermere’s Fan and Endgame. He played in That Time and Piece of a Monologue in the Gate’s Samuel Beckett Festival at the Lincoln Centre New York.
His most important roles on the British stage include Jack in Conor McPhersons The Weir in London’s West End and UK tour, Joxer in O’Casey’s Juno and the Paycock at the National Theatre, Ephriam Cabot in O’Neill’s Desire Under the Elms at the Greenwich Theatre and The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other by Peter Handke in the Spring of 2008 at the National Theatre. Tom most recently appeared in the West End production of Samuel Beckett’s Endgame directed by Simon McBurney for Theatre de Complicite and featuring Mark Rylance as Hamm at the Duchess Theatre, London.
Films include: Garage (Mark O’Halloran), Breakfast on Pluto (Neil Jordan), Inside I’m Dancing (Damian O’Donnell), Headrush (Shimmy Marcus), Coney Island Baby (Amy Hobby), Possession (Neil LaBute), The Last September (Deborah Warner), The Butcher Boy (Neil Jordan), All Souls Day (Alan Gilsenan), Gold in The Streets (Elizabeth Gill), An Awfully Big Adventure (Mike Newell), Circle of Friends (Pat O’Connor), Moondance (Dagmar Hirtz), Raining Stones (Ken Loach), The Miracle (Neil Jordan), Fools of Fortune (Pat O’Connor), Nuns on the Run (Jonathan Lynn), My Left Foot (Jim Sheridan), High Spirits (Neil Jordan), Gothic (Ken Russell), Cal (Pat O’Connor), Flight of the Doves (Ralph Nelson).
Television Includes: Black Day at Black Rock (RTE), The Bill (ITV), Seascape (RTE), The Treaty (RTE), Valentine Fall (Channel 4), Saracen (Central/ITV), The Manions of America (ABC), Play for Today (BBC), The Riordans (RTE).
Beginning. ‘There was a bit of performance in everything’
Gaby Smyth is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and is principal of Gaby Smyth & Company, Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors.
The firm has been in practice for almost twenty years, specialising in the literary, music, film and theatre arts – representing and advising many of the major Irish practitioners in these areas.
Gaby has also been involved with many arts organisations in Ireland; he has been the chairman of the boards of Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Corn Exchange Theatre Company, TEAM Educational Theatre Company and Screen Producers Ireland. He has been on the board of Dublin Theatre Festival, Dublin International Film Festival and Dance Ireland.
