After his last workshop being such a big success, and to conclude our block: Scene Creation, Jay Cosgrave is returning to Synge Street CBS to teach us the basics of stage combat!
Stage combat is a specialised technique in theatre designed to create the illusion of physical combat without causing harm to the performer. Teaching us the ropes, Jay will educate us in how to throw safe punches, kick one in the vital parts and stage a believable fight. All for our viewing pleasure.
For all of us to enjoy this workshop in a safe manner, it is of utmost importance you arrive at the school on time and don’t miss the health and safety briefing.
Wear comfortable clothing that won’t prevent you from moving around and attacking your enemies!
Door 6:45 | Workshop 7 pm (Sharp) | Synge Street CBS.
In support of our upcoming production “The Man who Shot Liberty Valance”
Come and compete for the chance to test your noggins and win fabulous prizes and great glory! There’ll also be a raffle on the night, a special sneak peak treat of the promo artwork and bants galore.
While we had promised you a workshop in Stage Combat, due to unforeseen circumstances the wonderful Jay Cosgrave, unfortunately, had to postpone this festival of (fake) punches to the 4th of December.
But not to worry, we will have a fantastic facilitator taking the wheel this Tuesday, with his expertise in improv this is promising to be an extremely helpful workshop. This Tuesday Dan McCormack will provide you with an intro to improv
and we will be working on a devised narrative.
We are thrilled to announce that No Drama Theatre will be appearing in Scene + Heard Festival of New Writing 2019. This is a fantastic festival organised by Smock Alley Theatre and your chance to partake in a piece on their mainspace!
For this piece we are looking for:
A male actor in his late 20’s.
A woman, with an interest in voice acting.
Physical actors who would like to take part in the physical choir, that will have no lines but are key to the piece.
Auditions will take place on Saturday 8th December and Sunday 9th December in Synge Street CBS.
For more information about this piece and for signing up for the auditions, please contact us on contact@nodramatheatre.com, with your name, availability for the auditions and which role(s) you’re interested in
Good evening! We hope your Monday was short and sweet, and even more so we hope you’re looking forward to tomorrow!
In this week’s workshop, we will be elaborating on this month’s theme, scene creation, focusing on the basic conditions a scene requires. Starting by defining the “who”, “where” and “what”, then we will focus the most important and interesting part of a scene: the conflict. Exploring what kinds of conflict we can find and use these to create our own scenes.
Will this be your first workshop? Then it’s on us!
November Theatre outing Time Whoop Whoop!! This month we will be going to see ‘ Woman Undone’ by The Broken talkers in The Project Arts Centre next Wednesday 21st Nov @ 7.30pm.
If you have seen the Brokentalkers work before you will understand our excitement for this theatre outing, as they are incredible, mind blowing stuff. If you haven’t yet, please put your name in the hat to be selected.
Our fantastic events manager MS Kate Cosgrave has secured 10 tickets for the show at the hugely discounted price of 16 euro each.
If you’re interested, please email loudunne@gmail.com. Who will pull names out of a hat on Friday and get in touch with everyone.
November is all about Scene Creation and we have found some of the finest workshop facilitators to engage you with this theme!
In tomorrow’s workshop, we’ll be workshopping 3 scenes – just like we would in a rehearsal. The main scenes will be from: The Stephen Briggs adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s Night Watch and Noises off by Michael Frayn.
We’ll be looking at a little bit of everything, touching as many different sides of creating a scene and we expect everyone will find something of value in this workshop.
If it’s your first one, it’s on us.
Tuesday 13th November | Doors 6.45pm | Workshop 7pm | Synge Street CBS
No Drama Theatre will present ‘Whose Life Is It Anyway’, a play that explores the controversial issue of euthanasia, from May 9th – 12th at the Sean O’Casey Theatre, East Wall, Dublin 3.
Set in a hospital room, the action revolves around Ken Harrison, a sculptor by profession, who was paralysed from the neck down (quadriplegia) in a car accident and is determined to be allowed to die. Clark presents arguments both in favour of and opposing euthanasia and to what extent government should be allowed to interfere in the life of a private citizen. In portraying Ken as an intelligent man with a useless body, he leaves the audience with conflicting feelings about his desire to end his life.
ABOUT EUTHANASIA
In Ireland, it is illegal for a doctor (or anyone) to actively contribute to someone’s death. It is not, however, illegal to remove life support and other treatment (the “right to die”) should a person (or their next of kin) request it – in other words, passive euthanasia is legal.
Voluntary euthanasia is legal in a small number of countries in Europe, including Belgium and the Netherlands, where the process is physician-assisted. In Switzerland, assisted suicide is permitted and is the only country that will allow non-residents access to these services.
CAST
Ken Harrison – Kevin O’Flynn
Sister Anderson – Saskia Carroll
Nurse Sadler – Ellen Hallinan
Dr. Emerson – Brian Quinn
Dr. Claire Scott – Sophie Van Het Erve
John – Shane Robinson
Claire Boyle – Pearl O’Rourke
Philip Hill – Alan Rogers
Ms. P Kershaw – Sinead Dunphy
Dr. Travers – Cathal O’Donovan
Dr. Barr – Albin Lahore
Andrew Eden – Harry Walsh
Justice Millhouse – Ken Ryan
It’s that time of year again where after the overindulgence on mince pies, Quality Street and turkey sandwiches have resulted in us craving to kick-start the New Year with something new and exciting to do as a resolution! Or maybe, you just always wanted to try a bit of acting!
Amateur drama is rife in Ireland. There are groups all over the countries from the urban sprawls to rural “post office and pub” villages. We have a passion for the dramatics in Ireland with some of the world’s finest playwrights coming from our humble land. The word “amateur” however is often a bit of a misnomer. Amateur suggests lacking in talent or professional in approach when quite often with many groups, it is quite often the opposite. Running a drama group and staging a production, no matter how small, is a very demanding task for everyone involved and successful drama groups learn very quickly the importance of teamwork, trust and commitment to the goal at hand. While having strong, well cast actors is the key ingredient to putting on a great show, the crew and team play a crucial role in bringing the director’s vision to the stage from being a stage hand or ticket checker on the night to sourcing props or costumes in the run up to a production. Each role no matter how small is a cog in the wheel.
With amateur theatre where many people juggle day jobs, budget and time are your 2 main obstacles.
But hard work aside, it’s great fun and very rewarding.
So why do people join drama groups and what do they get out of it? With No Drama Theatre, we have found members have joined for many reasons such as;
• A desire to act
• To improve performing skills
• To work behind the scenes
• A combination of the above
• A social outlet
However whether immediately realised or not, members have given us feedback that being part of the
group has also given:
• Boosted confidence and self esteem in other aspects of life
• Great understanding of staging a production and being involved in one
• Improved their communication skills including active listening
• Developed both teamwork skills and the ability to work on initiative
• Introduced them to new and cool friends!
What many people have said is that all of this is achieved through a fun and welcoming environment and because we run workshops twice weekly, personal development is in constant focus.
So this brings us back to the why you might be thinking of joining a drama group, be it No Drama Theatre or another group. I often hear from people or read on messages boards, people asking how they can get involved in drama groups and get to act on stage. The most common reply is, “Do as many auditions with as many groups as you can”. I personally believe that this is not always the best of advice.
Why is this? Well remember what I said earlier about the key factors that contribute to a drama group’s success? The importance of teamwork, trust and commitment. Your first step should be to join a drama group! Many groups are weary of people who only seem to appear around audition periods as it raises a question mark over commitment to the group. The director of a play will always want the best performer for a role, but he/she also needs to consider how the individual will mix with other performers and crew. Will an actor be on time, flexible and committed to the role? No different to a job interview, you can’t convey this in a short audition. However by getting involved in a group, attending workshops, helping out backstage when you are not cast in show, it all adds to the teamwork and spirit of the group.
One of No Drama’s longest members, Tom, once said to me over a pint, that when he was cast in his first play with the group, he was blown away by the commitment and effort put in by the production crew in bring the play to the stage. When it came to the auditions for our next play, Tom wasn’t available to audition and was due to be on holiday before the play would be staged. However Tom felt that it was important to fly home in time for the production to help out backstage when the play was running, to give back to other people what he had received when he was on stage. This kind of action captures the spirit of what No Drama Theatre and many other drama groups around the country are all about. It also helped boost Tom’s director’s and producer’s knowledge of Tom’s abilities and capabilities.
What Can I Expect When I Walk In The Door?
Joining a drama group can be scary. Many people have experienced joining a group only to find its very clicky or difficult to get accepted into the core group. With No Drama Theatre we strive to eliminate the “eliteness” often associated with drama groups and offer a level playing field for everyone. However all the positively affirming written words in the world doesn’t smash those nerves of walking in the door for the first time! But that’s all it takes, a first step. Remember everyone in the group had a first class/workshop at some stage. Have a chat to members, new and old. You’ll find that many people will have had similar reasons to you for joining. And finally and most importantly enjoy it!
Workshops are very important to developing your performing skills. If you aren’t doing formal training with a professional school, acting in plays alone won’t develop your skills to the extent you may think. I have had feedback from members who have said that the confidence and skills learned in our workshops have helped them get cast in plays/TV shows/films outside of No Drama. One of our member commented on an audition outside of No Drama, for a web series, The Covies, where the majority of the audition was to be improvised. He told me that had it not being for the improvisation exercises and workshops he had attended with No Drama, he would not have been prepared for the audition. He got the part too. That’s just one simple example of how beneficial workshops are if you want to develop your skills further.
So to close out, if you want to join a drama group? Go for it!
