What are Tiny Plays and how did they start?
In 2011, Fishamble: The New Play Company invited the citizens of Ireland to submit tiny plays capturing the challenges and joys of contemporary life. Over 1,700 plays were submitted to the company, and Fishamble produced 50 of them in 2012 and 2013 to great audience and critical acclaim, with Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland, hailing it as ‘a brilliant project…really wonderful’. These plays were also published by New Island Press, and are regularly used for teaching playwriting courses at universities including TCD, NUIG, the Lir Academy, University of Minnesota, University of Maryland, NYU, and UCD.
In 2016 Fishamble brought a specially chosen selection of 20 of these plays to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Irish Arts Center in New York, as part of Ireland 100, celebrating the centenary of Ireland’s Easter Rising.
In 2016 Fishamble brought a specially chosen selection of 20 of these plays to the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. and the Irish Arts Center in New York, as part of Ireland 100, celebrating the centenary of Ireland’s Easter Rising.
brilliant project… really wonderful"
- Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland
As the Covid-19 crisis hit, Fishamble decided it was time to bring Tiny Plays back.
Fishamble knew that its community and audience needed to keep its creativity flowing, so it started the #TinyPlayChallenge, a weekly prompt announced online that led to hundreds of tiny plays being written, from Ireland and around the world. Between March and May 2020, over 470 plays were written and submitted, with 35 published on the Fishamble website. Fishamble then selected 10 of these plays and created a brand new production called TINY PLAYS 24/7, which was filmed on stage and in actors' homes, and broadcasted online for a week from 24 July 2020 to over 3,000 audience members. It has since received an overwhelmingly positive response from Ireland, and around the world. Fishamble also collaborated with Solas Nua Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. to film some of the Tiny Plays from 2016, with actors in isolation, as part of an online festival of Irish theatre.
In 2021, Fishamble has now partnered with ESB on Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future, to set a challenge for the Irish public, and anyone who feels they have a 600-word play in them, to capture what a Brighter Future means for people living in communities across Ireland.
This callout was part of Fishamble's Tiny Plays for Companies programme, where companies and organisations can work with Fishamble on creating a callout for Tiny Plays internally as a staff engagement initiative, or externally as a public engagement initiative. If you are interested in working with us on this, please contact our Fundraising and Development Executive Freya at freya@fishamble.com.
In 2021, Fishamble has now partnered with ESB on Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future, to set a challenge for the Irish public, and anyone who feels they have a 600-word play in them, to capture what a Brighter Future means for people living in communities across Ireland.
This callout was part of Fishamble's Tiny Plays for Companies programme, where companies and organisations can work with Fishamble on creating a callout for Tiny Plays internally as a staff engagement initiative, or externally as a public engagement initiative. If you are interested in working with us on this, please contact our Fundraising and Development Executive Freya at freya@fishamble.com.
Tiny Plays 24/7,
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#TinyPlayChallenge, 2020
Fishamble knew that its community and audience needed to keep its creativity flowing, so it started the #TinyPlayChallenge, a weekly prompt announced online that led to hundreds of tiny plays being written, from Ireland and around the world. Between March and May 2020, over 470 plays were written and submitted, with 35 published on the Fishamble website.
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Tiny Plays for Ireland 2, 2013
In March 2012, Fishamble’s Tiny Plays for Ireland 1 sold out Project Arts Centre’s Space Upstairs with the first 25 of 50 plays selected from over 1,700 submitted to Fishamble. In 2013 Fishamble returned with the culminating 25 plays.
‘excellent cast… director Jim Culleton imaginatively uses Sabine Dargent’s gangway set… sublime versatility… marvellous… impressive… such economy lets us see the world in a grain of sand’ Irish Times |
Tiny Plays for Ireland, 2012
Fishamble, in partnership with the Irish Times, asked the Irish public what can be achieved with three minutes of stage time, what are the issues that need to be addressed, and who are the people that should be brought to life in the theatre.
'Extraordinary achievement…very funny…it’s what theatre should be about…the cast are superb under Culleton’s direction’ Sunday Independent |
