Theatre Forum and TheatreNI present Conference 2018
Inter — Sections
Lyric Theatre, Belfast 20–21 June
About the Partners Intersections, our seventh conference co-production, is brought to you by Theatre Forum and TheatreNI.
Theatre Forum
TheatreNI
Theatre Forum works to build a stronger performing arts community in Ireland. We’re the representative association for the performing arts with hundreds of organisation and independent artist members including venues and arts centres, professional theatre, dance and opera companies, performing arts festivals as well as individual directors, actors, producers and makers. Our activities include information provision, networking events, training and professional development, research, practical services and advocacy on behalf of the performing arts sector.
TheatreNI is the representative body to support and develop theatre and the performing arts in Northern Ireland with over a hundred members including venues and arts centres, theatre and dance companies, festivals, associates, and youth drama groups as well as individual artists and practitioners.
Director Anna Walsh director@theatreforum.ie
Conference Administrator Paul Donnelly info@theatreforum.ie
General Manager Irma McLoughlin manager@theatreforum.ie
Theatre Forum Festival House 12 Essex Street East Dublin 2 , D02 EH42 www.theatreforum.ie +353 1 677 8779
Principal Funders Theatre Forum receives financial assistance from the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
TheatreNI provides a voice for theatre and the performing arts that is heard and valued. Our programme includes training and development opportunities through workshops and professional development bursaries, networking, research, sector-specific information sharing, and importantly, lobbying and advocacy on behalf of the sector. Executive Director Niamh Flanagan director@theatreni.org Development and Administration Officer Sarah Mulgrew projects@theatreni.org
TheatreNI Cathedral Quarter Managed Workspace Third Floor 109–113 Royal Avenue Belfast, BT1 1FF Northern Ireland www.theatreni.org +44 28 90311 806
Conference Funders & Sponsors TheatreNI is supported by The National Lottery through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland
Welcome
We’re delighted to welcome our members and friends to our 2018 Conference. And we’re looking forward to hearing from artists and practitioners, companies and producers, members and delegates about how to navigate the many intersections that we and our organisations encounter. As well as looking ahead to the future that we want, we also think it’s important to listen and understand one another, to work together to have a stronger voice in policy and funding matters that affect all professional performing arts organisations and our communities. For this year’s conference programme, both organisations readily agreed on a programme that examined the most urgent topics for the sector. The directors and conference team across both organisations wanted to tackle the critical topics for you, our members. So at this juncture, we believe it’s important to take a hard look at borders, real and imagined, and how do we move beyond them? Looking for sustainability, how do we all face up to climate change? With public policy shifts, how can we effectively influence policy-makers and funders to invest in the arts? With the rise of superstar festivals and international companies, what does the future of production and programming look like? With inequality in our midst, how can we shape an equitable culture right across our sector? These are just some of the big challenges that we face along with our colleagues and organisations, funders and policy makers, and audiences. No question stands alone. They intersect one with the other and in different ways for everyone and every organisation. We hope that the support and interest of your colleagues and friends at the 2018 Conference will help you better navigate in the months and years ahead. To our members and directors, funders and sponsors who have made this Conference a reality, thank you. It’s your support that makes it all happen. Peter Daly, Theatre Forum Chair Louise Rossington, TheatreNI Chair
Wednesday 20 June
11.00–12.30
TheatreNI Members’ Meeting
Representatives from the Local Authorities Arts Managers’ group and NI delegates will discuss the challenges and opportunities of touring theatre and performing arts to regional venues across Northern Ireland.
11.30–12.45
Theatre Forum Members’ Meeting
Update on the Review of Venues by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Local Government. A discussion on all-island Touring will follow.
From 12.30
Registration and lunch
13.30–13.45
Welcome
The Lyric Theatre, Theatre Forum and TheatreNI welcome delegates.
13.45–15.15
Brexit, Beyond Borders Taking a hard look at borders, real and imagined, how to move beyond them?
In a keynote address, Fintan O’Toole takes a look at moving beyond borders in a post-Brexit world. A playwright and venue director reflect on borders with the session concluding with a discussion about supports for artists who want to work beyond borders. Chair Eugene Downes. Speakers and panel Fintan O’Toole, Abbie Spallen, Patricia McBride, Sophie Hayles, Emma Jordan
Brexit Shorts, Dramas from a Divided Nation Screening of The Guardian and Headlong Theatre nine short films
The Guardian’s pioneering dramatic collaboration inspired by last year’s EU referendum offers characters who lay bare complex responses.
15.15–15.30
Coffee
15.30–17.00
Climate Change – To Sustainability and Beyond Looking for sustainability, how to face up to climate change?
If Climate Change is the topic we love to avoid, what motivates us to tackle climate change head on? Change agents arm us with the mindset and actions essential for an environmentally sustainable society. Speakers Catríona Fallon, Ben Twist, Catherine Bottrill, Rachel Helena Walsh
16.30, 17.30, 18.30, 19.30
Quartered: Belfast, A Love Story by Kabosh
Promenade performances for small groups with transfer to performance location at Hill Street.
17.00–18.00
Open forum discussion on policy and funding With public policy shifts, how to influence policy-makers and funders to invest in the arts?
In an open forum discussion, activists examine how our sector might exert influence on policy makers and funders to invest more in the arts. Panel Conor Shields, Cian O’Brien, Jennifer Hunter
18.00
Close
Bus transfer from the Lyric Theatre to the Titanic Quarter.
18.30
Evening Programme Reception
Titanic Belfast’s Andrews Gallery.
20.00–late
Dinner
Dinner in the Titanic Hotel Drawing Office. Jazz Trio at the Titanic Hotel.
Thursday 21 June
9.00–10.00
Breakfast Talks or Yoga
Join conference speakers round the breakfast table for informal talks or an early morning yoga session.
10.15–12.00
The Future of Production What does the future of programming and production look like?
With the rise of superstar festivals and a matrix of international artists and companies, speakers explore the future of production and programming. Chair Jen Coppinger. Speakers and panel John McGrath, Louise Lowe, Judith Knight, Fearghus Ó Conchúir
12.00–12.30
Coffee
12.30–13.00
Gender Equality Working Group What’s the experience of putting gender equality policies in place in performing arts workplaces?
On behalf of the Gender Equality Working Group established after #WakingTheFeminists, Olwen Dawe shares the experience and expertise acquired in taking the practical steps to put gender equality policies in place in our theatres and workplaces. Chair Tanya Dean. Presentation Olwen Dawe
13.00–14.00
Equality and Reshaping the Culture How to shape an equitable culture in the performing arts?
Hear about the roots of bullying and harassment in the arts workplace as well as advice for best practice. The conference closes with a keynote address on the value of equality in the arts. Chair Tanya Dean. Speakers Anne-Marie Quigg, Caitríona McLaughlin
14.00–15.00
Lunch
15.00
Conference closes
15.00–16.30
Get Certified Green project group meeting
Venues and festivals interested in a Get Certified Green initiative are invited to meet with Julie’s Bicycle, Theatre Forum and TheatreNI to plan this project. Hosts Theatre Forum & TheatreNI
15.00–17.00
Fun Palaces Workshop for community groups
Workshop for community groups with Stella Duffy of Fun Palaces Host Zoe Seaton
Conference Extras Meetings, performances and evening programme Wednesday 20 June TheatreNI Members’ Meeting Review Northern Ireland’s arts policy, strategy and funding issues as well as a discussion on touring to Local Authority venues. Theatre Forum Members’ Meeting Update on the Review of Venues by the Arts Council/An Chomhairle Ealaíon and Local Government, through the County and City Management Association (CCMA). After wide consultation with various relevant individuals and groups the review is now coming to its conclusion. Val Ballance from the Arts Council will give an update on the review, the consultation that has taken place, the next steps in considering the review and the likely process for implementation of findings. Quartered: Belfast, A Love Story by Kabosh Promenade performance’s by Kabosh combining audio and theatre that explore the idea of queer space and queer experiences of spaces in Belfast city. Brave, honest and funny; Quartered: Belfast, A Love Story is an immersive audio theatre journey that illuminates a whole new side to the city. Making familiar streets seem brand new and uncovering many of the secrets the city has to offer, Quartered is an invitation to audiences to experience Belfast from a different perspective. Exploring what it means to live and love in the city as an LGBTQ+ citizen, the show opens a conversation around how gender
and sexuality form and shape how we move through our city, and how the city moves through us. Written by Dominic Montague, directed by Paula McFetridge and voiced by Neil Keery; Kabosh is delighted to present Quartered as part of the 2018 Conference. Delegates get a special discounted rate of £5 per ticket to performances on Wednesday 20th June. Audience capacity is limited to six people per show - book your ticket for the 16.30, 17.30, 18.30, 19.30 at the conference registration desk in the Lyric. Shows begin at The Dark Horse, Hill Street, and end at The Sunflower, Union Street, each show lasts about one hour. It’s a promenade performance so dress for the weather! You are encouraged to bring your own headphones but additional will be available on site. Contains some strong language. Evening Programme us transfer from the Lyric Theatre to the B Titanic Quarter at 18.00. Reception in Titanic Belfast’s Andrews Gallery at 18.30. inner in the Titanic Hotel Drawing Office D at 20.00. Jazz Trio at the Titanic Hotel from 22.00.
Thursday 21 June Breakfast talks or yoga Join conference speakers at the Lyric Theatre round the breakfast table for informal talks or, if you prefer, an early morning yoga session. Get Certified Green project group meeting Venues and festivals meet with Julie’s Bicycle, Theatre Forum and TheatreNI to plan a new Ireland and Northern Ireland Get Certified Green initiative. Fun Palaces Workshop for community groups Workshop for community groups with Stella Duffy of Fun Palaces. Hosted by Zoe Seaton of Big Telly Theatre Company.
Brexit, Beyond Borders
In this session’s keynote address Fintan O’Toole, awarded the European Press Prize and Orwell Prize for Journalism, asks how to move beyond borders in a post-Brexit world. Award-winning playwright Abbie Spallen responds from her own border viewpoint. Venue director Patricia McBride reflects on her many border crossings. Chaired by Eugene Downes, this session concludes with Sophie Hayles, Northern Ireland Creative Europe Desk, in conversation with acclaimed director Emma Jordan about supports for artists who want to work beyond borders. Brexit Shorts, Dramas from a Divided Nation screening The Guardian’s pioneering dramatic collaboration inspired by last year’s EU Referendum offers characters who lay bare our complex responses.
Eugene Downes is Director of Kilkenny Arts Festival, Ireland’s oldest multidisciplinary festival which this year presents its 45th edition. From 2007-12, Eugene served as founding CEO of Culture Ireland, the state body for the advancement of Irish arts worldwide, and from 2000-07 as cultural adviser to the President’s Office and the Department of Foreign Affairs, curating and producing performances across Europe, Asia and South America, and authoring a report setting out a new international cultural strategy for Ireland. Previous experience included the Irish Foreign Service, a spell as Cultural Attaché in Russia and as a music and opera broadcaster on RTÉ. Eugene is Chair of the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris, a 16th century collegiate foundation in the Latin Quarter refounded as a 21st century contemporary arts centre, and serves on the board of Theatre Forum and the steering group of the National Campaign for the Arts. Emma Jordan is Prime Cut’s Artistic Director and has directed a strong body of critically award-winning plays most recently Friel’s Lovers, Winners and Losers for the Lyric, East Belfast Boy by Fintan Brady as part of EdgeFest at the MAC, Red by John Logan a Prime Cut-Lyric co-production (Winner of Best Director, Best Production, Best Actor and Best Set Design at the 2017 Irish Times Theatre Awards and short-listed for Best Director: UK Theatre Awards 2017) and Stacey Gregg’s Scorch winner of 7 awards in Ireland, the UK and Australia, over twenty five
5* and 4* reviews, which has played to standing ovations in Belfast, across the island of Ireland, UK, the Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Sweden and Germany. Directing credits also include After Miss Julie (Patrick Marber), The God Of Carnage (Yasmina Reza), The Conquest of Happiness (Co-created & directed with Haris Pasovic), I Am My Own Wife (Doug Wright), Blackbird (David Harrower), Shoot The Crow (Owen McCafferty), Scarborough (Fiona Evans), Woman and Scarecrow (Marina Carr), After The End (Denis Kelly). Emma directed Educating Rita for the Lyric Theatre, Belfast in 2016 followed by a Irish tour in 2017. Her producing credits for Prime Cut include Three Tall Women (Assistant Director), The Coronation Voyage, Shopping and Fucking, American Buffalo, Macbeth, The Chance, After Darwin, The Mercy Seat, Ashes To Ashes, A Number, Cold Comfort, The Trestle At Pope Lick Creek, Scenes From The Big Picture, Owen McCafferty’s version of Antigone, Vincent River, The Chilean Trilogy and most recently Jack Thorne’s Mydidae. In 2014 Emma was the recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Cultural Entrepreneurship Breakthrough Award and the Spirit of Festival Award at the Belfast International Arts Festival 2015. Sophie Hayles is currently Manager, Creative Europe Desk-Northern Ireland, at the British Council, providing specialist support to screen, cultural and creative sector companies seeking to develop their European and International projects and networks. Before moving to Belfast in 2015 Sophie led on fundraising for a European Capital of Culture
in Aarhus, Denmark, and was previously Strategic Relations Manager at Whitechapel Gallery, London. Voluntary positions include Chair of the Board, Creative Exchange Artists’ Studios, Board Member, Arts & Business NI and National Advisory Board Member, Barnardo’s NI. Patricia McBride is Director of An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, Co Donegal. She is a theatre producer and venue manager with over 25 years’ experience. She holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Performing Arts from De Montford University, Leicester and a Masters in Cultural Management from University of Ulster. In the UK she worked in various roles in organisations such as The Royal Academy of Arts, the Haymarket Theatre, and Proteus Theatre Company. Returning to Ireland she was Manager of Charabanc Theatre Company and General Manager of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. Since moving to Donegal she has been an active member of the arts and cultural sector and is a Board member of Earagail Arts Festival. She also serves on the board of Theatre Forum, the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Highland Radio, Letterkenny. Fintan O’Toole is a columnist with The Irish Times and Leonard L. Milberg visiting lecturer in Irish Letters at Princeton University. He is the winner of both the Orwell Prize and the European Press Prize for 2017. Born in Dublin in 1958, he has been drama critic of In Dublin magazine, The Sunday Tribune, the New York Daily News, and The Irish Times
and Literary Adviser to the Abbey Theatre. He edited Magill magazine and since 1988, has been a columnist with the Irish Times. He contributes regularly to the New York Review of Books. His most recent book is Judging Shaw. Other books include A History of Ireland in 100 Objects (2013), Enough is Enough (2010). Ship of Fools (2009), The Irish Times Book of the 1916 Rising (2006), White Savage: William Johnson and the Invention of America (2005), After the Ball (2003), Shakespeare is Hard but so is Life (2002); The Irish Times Book of the Century (1999); A Traitor’s Kiss: The Life of Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1997); The Lie of the Land: Selected Essays (1997); The Ex-Isle of Erin (1996); Black Hole, Green Card (1994); Meanwhile Back at the Ranch (1995); A Mass for Jesse James (1990) and The Politics of Magic: The Work and Times of Tom Murphy (1987). Abbie Spallen Awards as writer include the Stewart Parker award, the Tony Doyle award, the Clare McIntyre Bursary from The Royal Court, the Peggy Ramsay award, the Dublin City Council Bursary for Literature, the HALMA award and the Major Individual Artist Award from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. Theatre plays include ABEYANCE (Druid Debut, Druid Theatre Co), PUMPGIRL (Bush/Traverse/Manhattan Theatre Club), STRANDLINE (Fishamble, Dublin) BOGWOG (NPC) O’Neill Centre Connecticut. LALLY THE SCUT (Tinderbox, Belfast) and POENA 5X1 (Underbelly, Edinburgh Festival). Short plays include THIRTEEN (Women in Power and Politics, Tricycle Theatre), SHAVING THE PICKLE (59E59 NYC) and
RUBBERFOOT (Pentabus). The work is published by Faber and has been translated into many languages and produced across Europe and the USA. Has completed one attachment to the Royal National Theatre and two to The Royal Court. In 2014, was writer in residence in the Lyric Theatre Belfast. Work for radio includes, RAPTURE FREQUENCY (The Wire BBC R3) LIVE FROM THE PALACE (BBC R4) and SNAKE OIL (BBC R4). Film and television work includes PUMPGIRL (PG Films/NI Screen) SEACHT (Stirling Productions) and COLLUSION (Sharp Focus for Calipo) and SEVEN DRUNKEN KNIGHTS – Tony Doyle Award BBC Northern Ireland. Currently under commission to the Royal National Theatre, the Lyric Belfast, The Traverse, Working Title and The Abbey Theatre Dublin. In 2016 was awarded the Windham Campbell Prize from Yale.
Climate Change – To Sustainability and Beyond
This is the topic we love to avoid – but can we afford to? If we see combating Climate Change as the world’s biggest adventure narrative, does that help to confront it? In this session led by Catríona Fallon, CEO of Siamsa Tíre, a group of change agents including Ben Twist, Director of Creative Carbon Scotland, Catherine Bottrill, Creative Green Lead at Julie’s Bicycle and artist, Rachel Helena Walsh, arm us with the mindset and actions essential for an environmentally sustainable society.
Catherine Bottrill, Director of Strategy, has been working with Julie’s Bicycle since its inception in 2007. She has authored strategic arts and environmental research projects from carbon footprinting the UK music industry to environmental performance benchmarking. Catherine leads the Creative Green programme which supports arts and cultural organisation embed environmental and climate change action. Organisations in this programme include the National Theatre, Royal Albert Hall, V&A Museum, Somerset House and Onassis Cultural Centre. She leads the Creative Green certification designed specifically for arts, entertainment and cultural organisations to demonstrate their commitment, understanding and improvement of environmental impacts across venues, events and offices. In 2017/18 64 certifications were awarded. Catherine holds a Masters from Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. Catríona Fallon began working with Siamsa Tíre in 2004 and was appointed CEO in 2016. Previously, she worked with the Riverbank Arts Centre, Graphic Studio Gallery and the Killarney Summerfest, as well as a brief period as a freelance Arts Consultant. Always committed to protecting the environment, her interest in combatting Climate Change has developed over the last decade, and she is passionate about finding ways that we can individually, and collectively, influence others to reduce our environmental impact.
Catríona is a native of West Wicklow but has been living in Dingle since 2003. She misses Wicklow at times but recognises that the football is better in Kerry. Ben Twist combines over 25 years’ experience of working in the arts as a theatre director and producer with in-depth knowledge of carbon management. He is the Director of Creative Carbon Scotland, a charity which connects culture with sustainability and climate change through training, research and artistic projects. As Artistic Director of Manchester’s Contact Theatre 1994-98, Chair of the Scottish Arts Council Lottery Committee and a member of the SAC Board 2003-2010, he has wide management, strategic and capital project experience. He is Vice-Chair of the Edinburgh Sustainable Development Partnership and was the Chair of Scotland’s leading contemporary classical music group Hebrides Ensemble and Vice-Chair of the Theatres Trust. He recently submitted his doctoral thesis in sociology with the University of Edinburgh, focusing on influencing complex social systems to bring about more sustainable travel patterns. Rachel Helena Walsh is an Irish Performer, Artist and Clown based in Wales. Her work focuses on the themes of Mortality, Politics, Religion and Environmentalism through the medium of live art, interactive installations, theatre and spoken word. Rachel is an Associated Artist with Tactile
Bosch and Happy In My Skin and sits on the Board of Trustees for nofitstate circus. Her work has been supported by Arts Council Wales, Cardiff Contemporary, Cardiff MADE, Chapter Arts Centre, Clonmel Junction Festival, Doppelgangster, EXPERIMENTICA, Greenman Festival, madeinroath, National Theatre Wales and SPLATCH.
Influencing policy makers and funders
Given recent shifts in arts policy and serious funding cuts, Cian O’Brien of the National Campaign For the Arts (NCFA), Conor Shields of Arts Matter NI, Jennifer Hunter of Culture Counts and delegates examine how our sector might exert influence on policy makers and funders to invest more in the arts.
Jennifer Hunter is the Executive Leader of the Culture Counts project in Scotland. Jennifer took up the role in July 2017 having recently completed an Organisational Review and Recommendations Report for the Scottish Artists Union. Jennifer specialises in organising networks; which use a collaborative approach to generate policy views, which are used to implement policy change. Jennifer uses methodology from the trade union and civil rights movements as well as from the technology sector (for example Design Thinking, Lean and Agile) and implements a responsive issue by issue programme of activity for the benefit of the cultural sector. Culture Counts recently secured an Outcome for Culture within the National Performance Framework, a high level government framework with measureable indictors. Jennifer is currently working to strengthen the connections between the heritage sector and the creative sector in Scotland and is organising consultation for the development of A Culture Strategy for Scotland. Cian O’Brien has been Artistic Director of Project Arts Centre, Dublin since October 2011. Prior to this Cian was Producer/Artist Development with Rough Magic Theatre Company, producing 13 productions with Rough Magic, including national and international tours along with three world premieres. Cian was also responsible for managing and cocurating Rough Magic’s Artist Development programmes: SEEDS, ADVANCE and
Production Support. Cian worked as a freelance producer working on a number of projects with Making Strange Theatre, Junk Ensemble, Brokentalkers, thisispopbaby, Project Arts Centre and Bedrock Productions. He is a former Alternative Miss Ireland (2011). Cian is a member of the Strategic Policy Committee of the National Campaign for the Arts, a board member of the Irish Theatre Institute and Baboró International Arts Festival for Children and is Chair of both CoisCéim Dance Theatre and Dead Centre Theatre. Conor Shields is chief executive of the Community Arts Partnership. He leads a dedicated team of artists, managers, trainers and co-ordinators, providing advocacy programmes, information and training services and 11 separate community and schools-based arts projects across Northern Ireland. Conor is a multi-instrumentalist, a sometime poet and film maker and has worked with theatre companies, broadcast media and film, development education and community development agencies, and has facilitated workshops through a range of disciplines in theatres, community settings, schools and prisons. He has helped devise and lead a range of festivals, research projects and development programmes both at home and abroad. He has been a board member of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland until 2017, as well as a member of Ministerial Arts Advisory Forum. Conor is a member of ACNI Intercultural Arts Steering and Community Arts Strategic Review Groups. He has co-chaired the Arts Policy Forum and the Northern Ireland Council for Voluntary Action
(NICVA) Departmental Monitoring Group (Culture and Arts); is a founding director of Culture Night Belfast and of the Cathedral Quarter Trust; a co-founder of the ‘Let’s Get It Right’ and SaveCQ campaigns, and is also a founding steering group member and convenor of the #ArtsMatterNI campaign group.
The Future of Production
With the rise of superstar festivals and a matrix of international artists and companies John McGrath, Manchester International Festival’s CEO & Artistic Director, explores what the future of programming and production looks like. In a follow-on discussion chaired by Jen Coppinger, John is joined by Louise Lowe, ANU Production’s Artistic Director, Judith Knight, Director of Artsadmin and Fearghus Ó Conchúir, incoming Director of National Dance Company Wales.
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 2015-18) 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. Judith Knight is the co-director and founder of Artsadmin. She worked in theatres in Hull, Glasgow and London before setting up Artsadmin in 1979. Over the last thirty-nine years, the organisation has supported and produced the work of contemporary artists and companies working across all disciplines. Artsadmin has developed its base at Toynbee Studios in East London into a centre for the creation and development of new work, with rehearsal spaces, free advisory service, bursary schemes, education programmes, residencies, showcases, workshops and performances. Judith has produced numerous projects nationally and internationally, many of which have been site-specific pieces in locations all over the world. She works with the Imagine 2020 European Network producing artists’ projects
about climate change, including Artsadmin’s Two Degrees festival. She was awarded an MBE in 2007, and in 2009 was made Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Government. Louise Lowe As a theatre maker Louise makes site-specific and immersive art works within communities of space, place and interest. Since co-founding ANU in 2009, Louise has directed all of the company’s productions to date, including THE LOST O’CASEY (Abbey Theatre), THE SIN EATERS, HENTOWN, THESE ROOMS (Art:2016 and LIFT London 2018) in collaboration with CoisCeim, SUNDER, ON CORPORATION STREET (Home Manchester / Culture Ireland), PALS (National Museum of Ireland), REFLECTING THE RISING (RTÉ), REBEL REBEL (National / International Tour), BEAUTIFUL DREAMERS (Limerick City of Culture), ANGEL MEADOW (Home Manchester), THIRTEEN, DUBLIN TENEMENT EXPERIENCE, VARDO, THE BOYS OF FOLEY STREET (Public Art Commission), LAUNDRY, WORLD’S END LANE, FINGAL RONAN (New York) MEMORY DELETED and BASIN. Other directing credits include: Test Dummy (Theatre Upstairs), Deep (Cork Opera House), The End of the Road (Fishamble), Across the Lough (Performance Corporation), Secret City, Right Here Right Now, The Baths, Demeter Project: Cultural Olympiad Production (Prime Cut Productions), The Bell Room, Come Forward to Meet You and Evensong (Upstate). Louise teaches devising at the LIR Academy (Trinity College Dublin). She was awarded the Captain Cathal Ryan
Scholarship Award and the International Artist Residency at the Robert Wilson Centre, New York. She has currently been awarded an Arts Council England Ambition for Excellence Award and has been recently appointed to the board of Theatre Forum. John E. McGrath is Artistic Director and CEO of Manchester International Festival. His first Festival in 2017 featured world premieres from leading international artists, a new digital direction for MIF, a series of participatory commissions in public spaces, and My Festival - a year-round programme forging closer connections with Manchester communities. John was previously Artistic Director of National Theatre Wales, where he achieved a reputation for large-scale site-specific work, digital innovation and extraordinary community involvement. As CEO of MIF John will also be responsible for The Factory, a flagship cultural space for the creation of ambitious new work, opening in 2020. Fearghus Ó Conchúir is a choreographer whose film and live performances create spaces for audiences and artists to build communities together. He has been Curator of the Artistic Programme at Firkin Crane, a Trustee of the BBC Performing Arts Fund and a board member of Dance Ireland, Dance Digital, Project Arts Centre and Create. Fearghus was the first Ireland Fellow on the Clore Leadership Programme and contributes to the programme as a facilitator, coach and
speaker. He is a Project Artist, a member of Project Arts Centre’s associate artist scheme and recently completed his PhD at Maynooth University with the support of an IRC Scholarship. He is Artistic Director of The Casement Project, a multi-platform, transnational project that was part of the Arts Council’s programme for Ireland 2016, and co-commissioned by 1418NOW. In October 2018, he takes up a new position as Artistic Director of National Dance Company Wales. www.fearghus.net
Equality and Reshaping the Culture
On behalf of the Gender Equality Working Group established after #WakingTheFeminists, Olwen Dawe shares the experience and expertise acquired in taking the practical steps to put gender equality policies in place in our theatres and workplaces. Equality and Reshaping the Culture How to shape an equitable culture in the performing arts? In this session chaired by Tanya Dean, hear about the roots of bullying and harassment in the arts workplace as well as advice for best practice from academic AnneMarie Quigg. The conference closes with a keynote address Caitríona McLaughlin on the value of equality in the arts.
Olwen Dawe With a professional background spanning public and private sector roles in strategic management, Olwen advises - mainly the public sector, publiclyfunded organisations and cultural institutions on the creation and implementation of gender equality and diversity policies and strategies - including most recently, the Abbey Theatre and the National Library of Ireland (NLI). Olwen is a graduate of the Whitaker School of Government and Management (IPA), and the National College of Industrial Relations (NCI), and holds a BBS (Hons) in Industrial Relations and an MEconScience in Public Policy Analysis. A passionate advocate for both gender equality and the role of arts in society, Olwen is a board member of the Lyric Theatre, National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI), Poetry Ireland and CoisCéim Dance Theatre. She is also the current Chair of the Policy Research Committee of the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA). Dr. Tanya Dean is a freelance dramaturg and a lecturer in Drama in Ulster University. She completed her Doctor of Fine Arts with Yale School of Drama in 2016, where she also received her Master of Fine Arts in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism in 2011. Her writing has appeared in Irish Theatre Magazine, Theatre History Studies, and numerous edited collections. Tanya is Associate Dramaturg of Then This Theatre Company in Dublin. Selected credits as dramaturg include The Yellow Wallpaper by
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, directed by Aoife Spillane-Hinks (Then This Theatre Company, Dublin); Pilgrim by Philip Doherty, directed by Aoife Spillane-Hinks (Gonzo Theatre Company, Dublin); Bones in the Basket: An Evening of Russian Fairy Tales devised by Good Belly ensemble, directed by Devin Brain (Araca Theatre Project, New York); and Madame Geneva by Jo Egan, directed by Cara Williams (Macha Productions, Belfast). Tanya has also worked with Stewart Parker Trust and is a board member for Rough Magic Theatre Company. From 2015-17, Tanya served as a committee member for #WakingTheFeminists, and was a Research Associate on the report, Gender Counts: An analysis of gender in Irish theatre 2006-15. Anne-Marie Quigg, author of Bullying in the Arts and editor of The Handbook of Dealing with Workplace Bullying, graduated with a BA (Hons) in English from Queens University, Belfast and a PhD in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London. At the beginning of her career, Anne-Marie worked as a member of collective theatre company TEAM in Dublin and then as an officer at the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. In 1982 she moved to England where she held posts as director in theatres and arts centres until 1995. Together with her husband, Piers Jackson, she then established Yorkshire-based arts consultancy JQA. The company has worked on projects in Ireland and the UK and now provides high quality, affordable writing and editing services across a number of creative and other sectors. Anne-Marie’s research into bullying in arts organisations features in journals and papers
for international conferences. She occasionally teaches MA students at City University, London, and at Birkbeck College, University of London. She has also served as a trustee or chair of arts organisations in Ireland and England. Caitríona McLaughlin Caitríona McLaughlin, Associate Director, Abbey Theatre Dublin, where she directed On Raftery’s Hill, Marina Carr, Josephine K and the Algorithms, Stacey Gregg, Two Pints, Roddy Doyle, Monsters Dinosaurs and Ghosts, J. Mc Aleavey. From Donegal she works in Ireland, UK and New York. A Clore Fellow, she facilitated the inauguration of the Royal Court Theatre Local Project. Directing includes: Kevin Barry’s Autumn Royal, Cork Everyman, Amy Conroy’s Luck Just Kissed You Hello, (ITTA nomination Best New Play 2016), Hot for Theatre, and Lucy Thurber’s Killers & Other Family (Hill Town Plays, OBIE 2014), Rattlestick Theatre, New York. Vaughan William’s Opera, Riders to the Sea, Wexford Festival, Mozart Selections @ Freemason’s Hall, Scipio’s Dream by Judith Weir and Il Ballo delle Ingrate, Monteverdi, Royal Irish Academy of Music. Caitríona was Creative Shops Director for Big Telly, 2017. Current work: Foyle Punt, The Local Group performing at Earagail Arts Festival, Donegal.
Northern Ireland Opera and Irish Chamber Orchestra touring production of ‘Radamisto’, May 2017 / Photo: Christopher Heaney
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The Event Insure Product is Designed to fit all aspects of the Theatre and Arts Sector.
A+ Financial Rated Insurer Bespoke policy For Irish Market Excellent service & Flexible Covers Irish Based Underwriting & Claims Single Event & Annual Combined Policies
Suite B Ashtown Business Park Navan Road Dublin 15, D15 K6WR
Insurance House Main Street Carrick on Shannon Co Leitrim , N41 R7T8
T 01 8385605
T 071 9620193
Joseph G Brady Insurances Ltd t/a Brady Insurance, is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland Registered No 10850 Directors Jane Brady & Colm McGrath
Romilly Walton Masters Experimental Performance Award Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris Open to Irish citizens normally resident in Ireland or France, the Romilly Walton Masters Performance Award supports emerging practitioners engaged in bold, challenging and innovative performance and creates opportunities for a new generation of creative artists.
The Award supports a one or two-night performance in the Centre Culturel Irlandais Paris, Ireland’s International Arts Centre, by an emerging performer or group (aged 35 years or under) working in the areas of experimental theatre, music, dance, film or visual art. Previous recipients include Zoe Ni Riordain’s Recovery, Malaprop’s Everything Not Saved. Funded through the generosity of the Walton Masters family, this award was established in 2016 in memory of the late director, producer and scriptwriter Romilly Walton Masters.
For further information go to www.centreculturelirlandais.com
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