My week of work experience with Fishamble: The New Play Company

By Ben Taylor
 
For my TY work experience I spent a week watching rehearsals of OUTRAGE written by Deirdre Kinahan and directed by Jim Culleton. The whole crew were so welcoming and the overall experience was fun and interesting for someone who is interested in theatre.

Jim made the rehearsals such a laidback, pleasant experience whilst still working hard. He would let the actors try any suggestions and would always say ‘That’s really good guys’ or ‘That’s great guys’ after a scene. The actors would experiment and put in so much attention to detail, like what way they should pick up the typewriter and how they move across the stage. I found this really fascinating and made me appreciate everything that goes on in making a play.
 
The rehearsals would start at 10 AM at the Lab on Foley street and I could leave when my usual school day would finish at 3.30 PM. The day would be broken up by little tea breaks and a long lunch where we would all eat baked goods while sitting in the kitchen. They would include me in all conversations, have a good laugh and ask me any thoughts or comments I had on the play.
 
Everyone would take antigen tests at the start of everyday which made it even more relaxed to be sharing a room with no worry of Covid-19.
 
Unfortunately, the play was a week away from showing and the actors knew all their lines so I didn’t do any line practice with them. However, I set up the stage and the observation of rehearsals was interesting enough.
I talked with costume designers and met the writer, sound technician, producers and the stage manager Sophie, who was very nice to me.
 
On the last day I went into the Fishamble office and worked with Dafni, the Marketing Officer. She taught me how they advertise the plays by using Graphic design, digital content etc. She also explained how they get organisations which appeal to the message behind the play to watch or promote it like schools, women’s rights organisations and student unions. We had interesting conversations about how the play deals with themes like the discrimination of women from that time period and how we should email these groups.
 
This week I learned how a play can be directed in a relaxing environment and how to advertise plays to a target demographic. I would highly recommend anyone to come in for the week to see how it works and give you an idea how everyone has a role in creating a play.