First Meeting of Forum on Acting Training

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 Productions
Michael Colgan, Director, Gate Theatre
Professor Nesta Jones, Director of Research and  MA in Theatre Practices Programme at Rose Bruford School, London
Mark Lambert, actor and director
Fiach Mac Conghail, Artistic Director, Abbey Theatre
Martin Murphy, Director, Pavillion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire
Lynne Parker, Artistic Director, Rough Magic
Enid Reid Whyte, Theatre Consultant, Arts Council
Fiona Shaw, Actor
Brian 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