Playwriting Courses

Facilitated by Gavin Kostick, the evening and weekend courses provide new writers with the confidence, skills and stimulus required to write successfully for theatre.

Fishamble: The New Play Company is dedicated to supporting new and developing writers from the very beginning of their literary careers. Over the last 10 years, Fishamble has run 50 playwriting courses for over 700 developing playwrights from Ireland and overseas. So far over 300 new plays have been written through these courses, with over 80 plays by writers who attended the courses going on to full production.

Tiny Plays for Ireland, 2012 and 2013 and published by New Island Press, contained many works by writers who had taken part in the courses. 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.

About the Courses

All courses are held in Fishamble office. The maximum number of participants is 12 in each course

Evening Course Content
Each course participant 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. 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 and encourage practical considerations of successful staging.

Weekend Course Content
The weekend course is aimed at learning all about playwriting by doing. Over the weekend, through examples, discussion, writing and feedback each participant will take part in a varied set of creative playwriting exercises which are satisfying in themselves and provide a stimulating portfolio for future work. The weekend course has a positive and supportive atmosphere to encourage participants to discover new ideas and deliver work to the best of their ability. The course includes a free trip to the theatre on the Saturday night.

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, judged by Edward Albee.

Fishamble’s playwriting courses have made an amazing contribution to the development of the many companies and artists who have presented new work at the Dublin Fringe Festival.
Roise Goan, Former Director, Dublin Fringe Festival

Enrolling For A Course

To enrol, choose an available course below and book by paying either the amount in full or a deposit. There are no requirements for participating in the course.

Alternative payment methods

If you would like to make a payment by bank transfer, let us know in your email and we will send you our details. PLEASE USE YOUR FULL NAME AS THE REFERENCE WHEN MAKING A TRANSFER.
To pay by cheque, please make your cheque out to Fishamble Theatre Company, address 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1
You can also drop into our offices and pay with cash.

All courses are held in Fishamble office at 3 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1.
For further information on Fishamble’s playwriting courses contact Gavin on 01 670 4018 or email gavin@fishamble.com.

Please note that no places will be held without a deposit.
All fees and deposits paid are strictly non-refundable.