Fishamble held the New Play Conference on playwriting and dramaturgy in Dublin on Thursday 24th May, 2018 at Poetry Ireland, Dublin.  

The Fishamble New Play Conference focused on professional development, new writing, dramaturgy, and the production of new plays in Ireland. The purpose was to provide the sector with factual information and be a forum for future developments. This conference was intended for playwrights, and was open to anyone who is interested in discussing the future of playwriting in Ireland. The conference was free to attend and live-streamed.

Fishamble would like to thank all of our speakers who joined us, all of our attendees, and to Maureen Kennelly and Poetry Ireland for hosting the conference.

The Fishamble New Play Conference was presented as part of Fishamble's New Play Clinic programme of events, supported by the Arts Council.

Food sponsored by

Videos

Browse the individual presentations from the conference, and the afternoon panel discussion, below. 

Irish Theatre Institute
Siobhán Bourke, Co-Director & Claire Keogh, Playography Researcher/Editor
 "NEW PLAYS AND KEY PLAYERS: PLAYOGRAPHYIreland findings 2008 - 2017"

Gavin Kostick, Literary Manager
Fishamble: The New Play Company

Caroline Williams, Director
Stewart Parker Trust
"Stewart Parker Trust: Putting the playwright at the centre"

​Abbey Theatre
Jen Coppinger, Head of Producing (New Work) & Jesse Weaver, New Work Associate
​"The New Work Department"

Ruth Little Dance and theatre dramaturg, teacher and writer

​Rosaleen McDonagh
Playwright

​Recca Mairs, Literary Manager
Lyric Theatre, Belfast
"The Literary Department of The Lyric, Belfast"

​Rachel West, Head of Theatre
Arts Council of Ireland

​Eva O’Connor
Playwright

Bjarni Jónsson Playwright/dramaturg/producer
​LÓKAL Performing Arts, Reykjavík
"Out Of Athens"

​Panel Discussion with Jim Culleton, Bjarni Jónsson, Sonya Kelly, Ruth Little and Pamela McQueen, chaired by Gavin Kostick.

Podcast

Rise Productions recorded a Fishamble Special of the Fishamble New Play Conference which can be listened to at the link below.

Rise Productions Podcast

Speaker Bios

Siobhán Bourke, Co-Director & Claire Keogh, Playography Researcher/Editor
Irish Theatre Institute

Irish Theatre Institute (ITI), is a resource organisation which nurtures, promotes and drives the ambition of Irish theatre makers and Irish theatre, from its grassroots beginnings to its presentation on the world stage. PLAYOGRAPHYIreland is ITI’s comprehensive online searchable catalogue of new Irish plays comprising two databases: Irish Playography (all new professionally produced Irish plays written in English since the formation of the Abbey, Ireland's National Theatre, in 1904) and Playography na Gaeilge (all new plays written and produced in the Irish language since 1901). To date, five findings reports are available for download from PLAYOGRAPHYIreland that contain a wealth of statistical information on new Irish playwriting in both the Irish and English languages. ITI’s first findings report dedicated to new plays for young audiences is forthcoming in 2018 and will be available from www.irishplayography.com.
@IrishTheatreIns  #PLAYOGRAPHYIreland

Gavin Kostick, Literary Manager
Fishamble: The New Play Company

As Literary Manager at Fishamble, Gavin works with new writers for theatre through script development, readings and a variety of courses. Gavin is also an award-winning playwright. He has written over a dozen plays which have been produced in Dublin, on tour around Ireland, the UK, New York, Philadelphia and Romania. His most recent works are The End of the Road for Fishamble, This is What we Sang for Kabosh (Belfast and New York), The Sit and Fight Night on tour 2011 and An Image for the Rose outdoors for Whiplash Theatre Company. He is currently working on new plays for Fishamble and Whiplash, and an Opera with composer Raymond Deane for RTÉ Lyric. As a performer he performed Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness: Complete, a six hour show for Absolut Fringe, Dublin Theatre Festival and The London Festival of Literature at the Southbank.

Caroline Williams, Director
​Stewart Parker Trust

Established in 1989 in honour of the late Belfast playwright, Stewart Parker (1941-1988), the Stewart Parker Trust promotes, supports and develops new writers for theatre in Ireland, North and South.
The Trust’s key activities include presenting annual awards for emerging playwrights (The Stewart Parker Trust Award, the BBC Northern Ireland Radio Drama Award, and the BBC NI Irish Language Award) and hosting a week-long residential playwrights’ workshop at Tyrone Guthrie Centre. The Trust is funded by The Arts Council and works in partnership with BBC Northern Ireland and Irish Theatre Institute. Trustees include John Fairleigh (Chair), Lesley Bruce, Marina Carr, Jennifer Johnston, Lynne Parker, Stephen Rea and Enda Walsh. Caroline Williams is Director of Stewart Parker Trust.  She has worked in the arts for over three decades, as a producer, manager, editor, researcher and writer.
www.stewartparkertrust.com
@SParkerTrust   
@CaroCanTweet

Jen Coppinger, Head of Producing (New Work)
Abbey Theatre

Jen Coppinger joined as Head of Producing (New Work Development) at the Abbey Theatre in January 2018. Previously she worked as Producer for HotForTheatre, TheEmergencyRoom and United Fall as well as with independent artists such as Kevin Barry, Paul Curley, Kellie Hughes, Jody O’Neill, Shane O’Reilly, Raymond Scannell and Dylan Tighe. She has toured work extensively in Ireland and internationally. 
She was Project Manager for the Laureate for Irish Fiction (Anne Enright 2015-2018) for the Arts Council of Ireland and was Manager of Rough Magic SEEDS. She is Chairperson of Youth Theatre Ireland and is a member of the board of Theatre Forum. Jen is an Artist Research Fellow at Queen Mary University of London.
www.abbeytheatre.ie 

Jesse Weaver, New Work Associate
​Abbey Theatre

Jesse Weaver is the New Work Associate at the Abbey Theatre. He has worked in theatre in Ireland and the US as an actor, director, playwright and critic, and has taught performance, text analysis, and playwriting at University College Cork, Trinity College and the University of Minnesota’s Study Abroad programme. He received his PhD in Irish theatre from University College Cork in 2011, where his research focus was on the role of the playwright in contemporary Irish theatre production. For his most recent project he’s currently developing a Christmassy adaptation of Racine’s Phédre.
www.abbeytheatre.ie

Ruth Little, Dance and theatre dramaturg, teacher and writer

Ruth Little is a dance and theatre dramaturg, a teacher and writer. Her work has encompassed national arts organisations, remote rural communities, site-specific production and large and small-scale exhibitions and expeditions. She lectured in English Literature at the University of Sydney, and was Literary Manager at Out of Joint, Soho Theatre, the Young Vic and the Royal Court. Ruth was associate director at interdisciplinary climate change organisation Cape Farewell from 2010-2016 and is a director of the Archipelago Folkschool, Scotland. She has been dramaturg with Akram Khan Company since 2010, and has worked with Banff Centre, Sadlers Wells, Dance Umbrella, Barbican, Perth Festival, Sky Arts, and many others. Winner of 2012 Kenneth Tynan Award for dramaturgy, Ruth has a number of publications including The Royal Court Inside Out, Art, Place, Climate: Situated Ethics, The Art of Expedition, War in the Body, and The Meteorological Body.

Rosaleen McDonagh, Playwright

Playwright Rosaleen McDonagh is a frequent contributor to Sunday Miscellany, RTE Radio1 and also a columnist for the Irish Times. Rosaleen is a performer & member of Aosdána & is a board member of Pavee Point & Project Art Centre. Theatre work includes The Baby Doll Project, She’s Not Mine, Rings and Mainstream which was produced by Fishamble and Project Arts Centre in 2017. Rosaleen will adapt Colum McCann’s novel Zoli, which is a fictionalised narrative of Papusza, a Roma poet, for production with Fishamble Theatre Company.  She has worked with Graeae Theatre Company and holds a BA and two MPhils from Trinity College Dublin. Rosaleen is currently a PhD candidate in Northumbria University. 
​@paveebeoir

Rebecca Mairs, Literary Manager
Lyric Theatre, Belfast

Rebecca Mairs joined the Lyric Theatre as the Literary Manager in August 2016.  She manages and supports the Lyric’s slate of commissioned writers and oversees the New Playwrights Programme, an initiative which supports emerging writers to develop new work, and in assists them in making valuable connections across the performing arts sector in Northern Ireland and beyond. As part of the programme she also organises a Masterclass series with professional writers, directors and dramaturgs which is free and open to all, and runs from April to October 2018.

Rachel West, Head of Theatre
Arts Council of Ireland

Rachel West is a theatre director, born in Dublin has an honors degree in German and Drama studies from Trinity College Dublin. Over the last twenty years she has lived mainly in Berlin, working in the Schaubühne Berlin, Deutsches Theater Berlin, Münchener Kammerspiele. As a freelance director she has also directed and produced in Dublin, producing a body of contemporary European work, with her work receiving five Irish Times nominations to date. She has taught and directed for The Tisch School of The Arts NYU, The Lir Academy and the drama department of Trinity College Dublin. She is currently the Head of Theatre for the Arts Council of Ireland.

Eva O’Connor, Playwright

Eva O'Connor is a writer and performer from Ogonnelloe, Co. Clare.
She studied English and German at Edinburgh University before completing an MA in theatre ensemble from Rose Bruford drama school in London. Her plays include My Best Friend Drowned in a Swimming Pool, Kiss me and You Will See How Important I Am, My Name is Saoirse, Overshadowed, The Friday Night Effect (co written with Hildegard Ryan) and Maz and Bricks, produced by Fishamble.               
Eva runs her own company Sunday's Child, with Hildegard Ryan. Eva has won various awards for her work including Best Emerging Artist Award 2012 (Edinburgh Fringe), First Fortnight Award 2014 (Dublin Fringe), Argus Angel Award 2015 (Brighton Fringe), Fishamble Award for Best New Writing 2015, Best Theatre Award 2017 (Adelaide Fringe). Her play Overshadowed was recently adapted for television by BBC Three and Rollem productions, directed by Hildegard Ryan. Eva has also written for radio. Her play My Name is Saoirse was adapted for radio by RTÉ Radio 1 and Eva's short story The Midnight Sandwich was recently aired on BBC radio 4.
@EvaO_Connor

Bjarni Jónsson, Playwright/dramaturg/producer
​LÓKAL Performing Arts, Reykjavík

Bjarni Jónsson is a playwright and a dramaturg. A two-time nominee for the Nordic Drama Award and a recipient of the Nordic Radio Drama Award, Bjarni has worked in and around theatre and performance for more than two decades. His work has been produced by National Theatre of Iceland, Reykjavík City Theatre and Kriðpleir Theatre Group, plays have been translated into English, Swedish, German and Polish. The latest one, Sending, premiered at the Reykjavík City Theatre in September 2016.
Bjarni Jónsson is also a dramaturg for the Dublin-based collective Brokentalkers and the co-founder and co-artistic director of LÓKAL Performing Arts Reykjavík.

Jim Culleton, Artistic Director
Fishamble: The New Play Company

Jim Culleton is the artistic director of Fishamble: The New Play Company.  For Fishamble, he has directed productions which have toured throughout Ireland, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US.  His productions for Fishamble have won over a dozen Irish and international awards, including an Olivier Award for Silent by Pat Kinevane. Jim has also directed for companies including the Abbey Theatre, Woodpecker/the Gaiety, 7:84 (Scotland), Project Arts Centre, Amharclann de hIde, Tinderbox, The Passion Machine, The Ark, Second Age, RTÉ Radio 1, The Belgrade, TNL Canada, Dundee Rep Ensemble, TCD School of Drama, CoisCéim/Crash Ensemble/GIAF, RTÉ lyric fm, Origin (New York), Vessel (Australia), and Symphony Space Broadway/Irish Arts Center (New York).  Jim has taught for NYU, NUIM, GSA, Uversity, the Lir, Villanova, Notre Dame, TCD and UCD.

Sonya Kelly
​Writer and Actor

​Her debut solo play, The Wheelchair on My Face, a Show In A Bag, was produced by Fishamble: The New Play Company and won a Scotsman Fringe First Award for new writing at the Edinburgh Fringe 2012, and received a Critics’ Pick in the New York Times. Her second play, How To Keep An Alien, was produced by Rough Magic and won Best Production at the Dublin Fringe, 2014. It toured nationally and to the Brisbane Festival, Traverse in Edinburgh, Soho Theatre, The Irish Arts Center in New York, and the Auckland Arts Festival in New Zealand. Her short play, The Pet Sitter, was commissioned by the Abbey Theatre as part of their Future Tense series. She has also written two plays for The Collapsing Horse Science Fiction Radio Hour and is a regular contributor to RTE’s Arena. Her play, Furniture, was selected by Druid for a public reading as part of the Druid Debut series at the Galway International Arts Festival in 2017, and is now scheduled for a full production at GIAF 2018. She is also working on a TV project in the UK.
Residencies include, Six In The Attic at the Irish Theatre Institute, Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris, Advance with Rough Magic, and The National Theatre Studio in London. Sonya has also acted in Druid, Corn Exchange, Fishamble, Rough Magic, Pan Pan, and Gate Theatre productions. She was a cast member of RTÉ’s The Savage Eye.

Pamela McQueen, New Play Dramaturg
The New Theatre

Pamela is New Play Dramaturg with The New Theatre Temple Bar working on new plays with Jane McCarthy The Harvest, Nadine Flynn & Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, the writer in residence. Pamela is adaptation dramaturg for Jimmy’s Hall, Abbey Theatre, 2017 & 2018.  She is currently development dramaturg on several arts council supported independent sector projects for Speckintime Theatre Company, Belltable Arts Centre and The Pavilion Theatre. Internationally, Pamela is production dramaturg on the upcoming Scotties by Frances Poet & Muireann Kelly for National Theatre Scotland and Theatre GuLeor. She also writes for Howlround online journal and is Irish associate for the Howlround World Theatre Map  based at Arts Emerson in Boston. Previously Pamela was Associate Dramaturg of the Tron Theatre, Glasgow from 2008-2011. She was development dramaturg for new plays with Hi-Arts 2009-2011 supported by Eden Court Theatre and Playwrights Studio Scotland. Pamela holds an MLitt in Dramaturgy & Playwriting from the University of Glasgow and is co-chair with Hanna Slattne of the Dramaturgs Network Ireland