Fishamble Theatre Company

Fishamble Theatre Company

 

Rehearsing and developing my first play, The Gist of It, with professional actors, holding the published version in my hands and most of all, the nerve-wracking, exhilarating thrill of seeing it performed on stage, first in Dublin and then as a reading in New York, has given me the confidence to finally call myself a writer.’

Rodney Lee






 

 

Fishamble Playwrighting

Writing and Training

WRITING

Fishamble writing coursesFishamble is dedicated to the discovery, development and production of new writing for the Irish and international stage.

SUBMITTING PLAYS TO FISHAMBLE
PLAYWRITING COURSES
PLAYWRITING EVENTS & NEWS

 

 

TRAINING

Fishamble Trainee Director Mentoring Scheme

 

WRITING

SUBMITTING PLAYS TO FISHAMBLE

Fishamble welcomes manuscript submissions of new, original dramatic work. Fishamble appreciates the time, effort and the act of creation that goes into writing a play.

• Scripts will be acknowledged, read and responded to within a 3 – 6 month period.
• Fishamble does not offer a full play response service but if requested, will provide a brief set of comments on the work.
• Fishamble encourages the submission of work which is of interest to Irish audiences.
• Please send script submissions in hard copy form, and not by email.
• Scripts will not be returned unless a SAE is enclosed.

Please send scripts to:
Gavin Kostick
Literary Officer
Fishamble: The New Play Company
Shamrock Chambers
1-2 Eustace Street
Dublin 2

For further queries please e-mail Gavin at gavin@fishamble.com or phone 01 670 4018.

 

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PLAYWRITING COURSES

Fishamble's playwriting courses provide new writers with the confidence, skills and stimulus required to write successfully for theatre. So far over 220 new plays have been written through these courses, with over 50 going on to full production.


Fishamble’s production of Whereabouts, a series of site-specific short plays, was awarded the Special Judges’ Award for creativity and innovation at the The Irish Times Theatre Awards 2006. Six of the eleven plays produced in the series were by writers who have participated in Fishamble’s playwriting courses.

'I found this course was not a 'how to' course like many others. Instead, it opened up the area of possibility in playwriting - made me think, see different ways to the completed work. Most usefully, it reawakened an understanding of rhythm and metre which has had a direct effect on my writing. It also got me writing poems and short stories, which has helped improve my management of playwriting. Well worth it!'

John Connolly, winner of The Yale Playwriting Competition 2007, judged by Edward Albee.

Course Descriptions:
Each course member is immersed in a range of ideas and exercises designed to develop useful skills in writing for live performance. These include: Openings, The Playwright’s Imagination, Plotting, Alternative Structures, Characterisation, the Rhythms of Language and Dialogue. As the course develops creative theatre practitioners are brought in to provide expert discussion on staging new work. Each course member is encouraged to develop their own idea through the course into a finished draft. As well as developing playwriting skills the course aims to:
• broaden conceptions of what is achievable in live performance
• encourage practical considerations of successful staging

The weekend course is particularly suitable for those who wish to immerse themselves in writing for theatre, thoroughly over a short period.

Evening Playwriting Course  - Fully booked
A nine-week evening course, every Tuesday from April 8th-June 10th, 7-10pm
Course number is limited to 10. Course fee €300. PLEASE NOTE NO COURSE ON MAY 27th.
To secure a place, please send a non-refundable deposit of €100, or the full fee, to Fishamble, by cheque or cash (we do not accept credit cards), to arrive by 1st April. The balance will be due on the first night – April 8th, at the latest.

Weekend Playwriting Course - Fully booked
 A bank-holiday weekend, intensive course from May 3rd-5th, 10am – 5pm each day
Course number is limited to 10. Course fee €200.
To secure a place, please send a non-refundable deposit of €70, or the full fee, to Fishamble, by cheque or cash (we do not accept credit cards), to arrive by 25th April. The balance will be due before Friday, May 2nd, at the latest.

For further information, contact Gavin Kostick in Fishamble on 01 6704018 or email gavin@fishamble.com
Address: Fishamble, Shamrock Chambers, 1 – 2 Eustace Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2

 

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PLAYWRITING EVENTS & NEWS

Irish Council for Bioethics Playwriting Competition
Fishamble, in association with the Irish Council for Bioethics, is pleased to announce that Paul Meade is the winner of the recent playwriting competition. Paul has subsequently been commissioned to develop his play, and a staged reading of this will be presented by Fishamble, supported by the Irish Council for Bio-Ethics, in autumn 2007, the date of which will be announced shortly. For further details about the Irish Council of Bioethics please see www.bioethics.ie

Fishamble New Writing Award 2007
Fishamble is delighted to announce the recent recipient of its New Writing Award 2007 in association with the Dublin Fringe Festival. The Award is presented to Shona McCarthy for her play, MARRIED TO THE SEA, and includes a scholarship place on one of our playwriting courses, dramaturgical support and €1,000 towards Shona's next piece.  The company would also like to congratulate runners-up Lynda Radley (THE ART OF SWIMMING), Georgina McKevitt and Jacinta Sheerin (WAITING FOR IKEA), Phillip McMahon (ALL OVER TOWN), and Claudia Schwartz (WAYS OF MAKING YOU TALK), each of whom is offered a scholarship place on a Fishamble playwriting course.

 

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TRAINING

Fishamble Trainee Director Mentoring Scheme

Since 2006 Fishamble has developed a Trainee Director Mentoring Scheme in association with the National Association of Youth Drama (NAYD). The scheme enables youth theatre directors to participate in and engage with Fishamble’s approach to the development of new writing and the production process, in order to inform the directors’ own methods and styles.
In 2006 John Taite and Emma Haugh trained as directors in the scheme, and current directors are Ronan McRaois and Mark Smith.

 

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