Arts feature
The Lir is
FOREVER Since curtain-up, Ireland’s first national academy for dramatic arts has become a trusting environment where students can take risks in a hands-on environment. As Lir director Loughlin Deegan explains, the academy is looking forward to a long run Words: Catherine Healy Photography: Marc O’Sullivan
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’m standing in a windowless corridor, looking through the glass pane of a door. The young man inside seems not to notice us peering in. Arms crossed in the small, cave-like space, he sits alone behind a desk, reciting lines. One door down, in a larger rehearsal room, students have gathered in a huddle to play out a script. Three playwrights-in-training occupy another room around the corner, listening intently to their tutor, Graham Whybrow, the former literary manager at the Royal Court in London. At the other side of the building, budding theatre technicians are installing lights in a black box studio. I’m walked through workshops noisy with the sound of saws and hammers, as final touches are put to props, stage sets and costumes. The scene could be one from any of the world’s great conservatoires, but my tour on this rainy afternoon is at the Lir, Ireland’s first national academy for dramatic arts. Launched in 2011 as a partnership between Trinity College Dublin and the Cathal Ryan Trust, the centre is housed in a concrete, purpose-built building on the corner of Pearse Street and Grand Canal Quay – one you could easily walk past without noticing. What soon becomes clear on meeting Lir director Loughlin Deegan, a playwright who previously headed up the Dublin Theatre Festival, is that his ambition extends far beyond this city and country. The academy’s long-term goal is to become a leading international academy, he stresses. “The genesis of the Lir is one of the cultural good news stories of the crash,” says Deegan, whose bright, airy office overlooks the city’s once-derelict Docklands. He and others developed the current training programme with help from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, with which the Lir has a formal association. The centre’s origin story can be traced back to an unexpected source: a conversation between father and daughter, just over a decade ago. Danielle Ryan, then a homesick Rada student, was asked by her dad why she couldn’t return home to train in Dublin. Her response, as Deegan tells it, was that that Irish acting courses were simply not on a par. When Cathal Ryan, the son of late Ryanair founder Tony Ryan, passed away in 2007, leaving millions in his will to develop a new Irish academy, Danielle was charged with making that vision a reality. A year later, as it turned out, a forum involving key figures from the theatre industry – set up after public backlash over Trinity’s cancellation of its previous acting degree – recommended that an independent drama school be established in Ireland. Through contacts at Rada, Ryan was introduced to a member of that taskforce, Professor Brian Singleton, who is now the Lir’s academic director, and plans were quickly hatched. On the day I visit, final-year students are busy with last-minute ➽
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Loughlin Deegan, director at the Lir Academy on Pearse Street in Dublin
The genesis of the Lir is one of the cultural good news stories of the crash Stage management student Sarah-Jane Williams at the Lir Academy
Students Paul Mescal and Craig Connolly at the Lir Academy
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preparations for two public productions. Mojo, a Jez Butterworth play directed by Oonagh Murphy, will run until Wednesday, while Caryl Churchill’s The Skriker, directed by Tom Creed, closes the following evening. The shows are part of a practice-based programme designed to help students secure work after graduation, Deegan says. Lir undergrads, for example, take development classes to prepare themselves “mentally and logistically” for a professional career, with lessons aimed at boosting their confidence and entrepreneurial skills. Students are encouraged to create their own work rather than wait for the phone to ring, Deegan tells me. Working professionals are among the cast of visiting lecturers, and each student has a headshot and profile on the Lir’s website, like an online talent agency. Towards the end of their final academic year, trainee actors also prepare a showcase of scenes for public presentation before an audience of agents, casting directors and producers. That practical focus is what attracted Venetia Bowe, 25, to the three-year acting course. A graduate of Trinity’s Department of Drama, she says she wanted a more hands-on training programme than her previous degree. “I acted in Players while I was college, but my course was predominantly academic. I knew I wanted to be a professional and I felt an instant connection [to the Lir] when I visited for the first time.” The training provided by the academy, as Bowe describes it, “teaches you how to fully embody a character. You’re not just playing another version of yourself – you’re surrendering yourself to this new identity. I think some actors can get in the way of themselves – they think they can’t do this or that – but we get the tools here to really serve a play and its characters. You end up not having to think about it.” As for the future, Bowe says she hopes to join other Lir alumni in “straddling the pond” between Ireland and Britain. “Self-taping allows actors to be in the room for auditions in London,” she points out. “A lot of recent Lir graduates have been able to be seen in London while living here.” But Bowe hopes a recent changing of the guard at the Abbey and Gate will also open up new opportunities for young actors and writers. “I imagine the type of work that is going to be shown in these houses will change radically over the next few years – the focus won’t just be on Beckett and Pinter.” For pedagogical reasons, however, Lir students are prevented from taking on professional work until after graduation. As Deegan puts it: “What we try to create here, particularly in the first and second year before students perform publicly, is a trusting environment where people can take risks and fail. Particularly with students who, through speech and drama classes, have acquired bad habits, it’s important to start afresh and refocus their thinking. “If a student is extracting themselves from that process and falling back on old habits, it interrupts the training. It’s a deep, personal journey that each student goes through. It’s very demanding, physically and emotionally – it’s a system that needs to be protected.” Plus, he adds, with classes running up to 40 hours a week, few would have time to commit to other productions. The hard work seems to have paid off for many alumni, with 87 per cent of all Lir acting graduates represented by professional agents in Ireland, Britain and the US, according to figures provided by the academy. Some 95 per cent of stage management and technical theatre graduates, meanwhile, are employed in the theatre, TV, film and festival industries. Lir-trained actors have featured in TV series including The Fall and Game of Thrones, while many other graduates have worked in leading theatres in Ireland and Britain. Deegan tells me proudly that Cameron Cuffe, who is playing the lead role in Krypton, the upcoming Superman prequel, was the first Lir graduate to get Twitter’s blue tick of verification. “It was a moment, actually.” While industry demand is strongest for technical graduates, the Lir’s most competitive course is the bachelor’s degree in acting, which typically receives between 300 and 400 applications for 16 places. The
Students Fiona Stout, Curtis-Lee Ashqar and Lucy Johnson at the Lir Academy
Taking flight
Second year BA Acting students at the Lir Academy
Right: Charlie Maher in a theatrical mask at the Lir Academy
What we want is just a glimpse of the ability to communicate emotion truthfully
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admissions process involves three stages of auditions, with the first round held at various venues in Dublin, Belfast, London and New York. Ireland has become an increasingly attractive destination for European students following the Brexit vote, according to Deegan. “We had a group of ten Swedish friends fly over to audition for us last week,” he says. “They were from a foundation school where students would have traditionally gone on to London, but because of Brexit, they’re looking elsewhere.” Another advantage is that the bulk of fees for EU students on undergraduate Lir degrees are paid for by the exchequer, making it a more affordable option than competitors in Britain. So what do assessors look for in applicants? “What we want is just a glimpse of the ability to communicate emotion truthfully,” Deegan says. “To allow emotion to live truthfully in your body so that it moves the receiver – that’s how I define the talent. We can’t train people to empathise in that way.” Those with stage school training are not always ideal candidates, he adds. “We get many students who have been doing speech and drama exams since they were four, which is often not in their best interests going forward to professional training. Some teaching develops a presentational style that isn’t truthful – that’s the opposite of what we’re looking for.” Other courses, such as stage management and technical theatre, require demonstrated experience or ability. New York native Johann Fitzpatrick, 22, was two years into a drama degree in Trinity when he made the jump. “The main advantage is that it’s almost entirely hands-on work,” he says. “I had been doing technical theatre work around town and I figured this was the best way to take me up to the next level.” For the last month, Fitzpatrick and his classmates have been busy making props, sets and costumes for the two final-year productions. “I never had much appreciation before for the work that goes into liaising with other teams,” he says. “You have to learn how best to work with designers and bring their visions to life, for example. A big part of what the Lir does is build up respect between people in different fields,” says Fitzpatrick, who plans next to apply for Lir’s MFA in stage design. A recent appointee to the Arts Council, Deegan is positive about the future for graduates like Bowe and Fitzpatrick. “I think the industry as a whole is going to start growing again,” he says, citing increased funding for the sector. ➽
In its early years, graduate success stories were an exciting novelty at the Lir. “It was like a bell would go off in the building when someone was cast,” says director Loughlin Deegan. “People would run into my office to ask if I’d heard the latest news.” Now, watching television at home, he sees graduates turn up unexpectedly on BBC and Sky dramas. Such accomplishments have become commonplace. One emerging star is Cameron Cuffe, a Lir acting graduate who was recently cast to play the lead role of Seyg-El in upcoming Superman pilot prequel Krypton. The British actor was most recently seen on our screens in ITV period drama The Halcyon. His former classmate Lauren Coe, from Dublin, also has a significant role in the series. Lir-trained Karen McCartney, best known as Garda Alannah Walsh from Fair City, is another upcoming talent. The Carlow woman is currently starring in the Gate’s Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, and before that featured in the theatre’s production of The Heiress. Acting graduate Rory Dignam, meanwhile, recently joined the Game of Thrones cast for the show’s seventh season. Other Lir alumni have worked in Irish theatres including the Abbey, Everyman, Bord Gáis Energy Theatre and Lyric, as well as the National Opera House in Wexford and Cork Opera House. Graduates from stage management and technical theatre have also been employed by RTÉ and TV3. Internationally, graduates have worked in 20 theatres, festivals and creative spaces in Britain, New York, Los Angeles, Romania, Finland and Australia.
“A lot of the students, technical ones in particular, are already working abroad so they’re not limited to working here in any case. There’s a huge amount of export happening naturally.” That said, one of Deegan’s long-term projects is to identify, through consultation, whether current training opportunities match the needs of industry. He says: “I’m in constant conversation with people who talk about the shortage in theatre producers, for example, so we’re now looking at the possibility of bringing in a course in producing.” Another priority is developing the Lir’s commercial arm, including its business partnerships, patron scheme and bursary programme. A new corporate training service launched this year, Lir at Work, offers courses in presentation, storytelling and personal impact, with all profits going back to the academy. The centre is also in the process of recruiting members for a new development council which will help to secure its financial future. Is there a need, I ask, for increased state investment to supplement commercial income? Deegan shakes
Actor Damian Gildea at the Lir Academy
Student Niamh McAllister, second year, BA Acting
Students Amy McElhatton and Ciara Ivie
Students Amy McElhatton, Simone Collins and Lucy Johnson
Above: student Simone Collins
his head, explaining that the Lir has no qualms about fundraising. “The majority of our full-time courses are supported through the Higher Education Authority, through Trinity. I think there’s been a healthy realisation at board level that there is an onus on us as an organisation to be entrepreneurial and not be overly reliant on subsidies. I find that refreshing and quite exhilarating.” As part of this development agenda, the Lir hopes to also increase student diversity with an outreach
project targeting Deis secondary schools in the Dublin area. “It’s something we can’t be complacent about,” Deegan says. “We don’t want all applications to be coming from middle-class kids from middle-class schools. Particularly with acting, the industry needs diversity, because the stories we’re telling are about all of humanity.” This year, for instance, the academy’s application form was amended to ensure gender was no longer described as a binary option. Eight male and eight female students are accepted onto the acting course every year. The Lir’s long-term strategy will hinge, as Deegan sees it, on adapting to the market and responding to changing industry needs. So will someone else be sitting at the director’s desk, overseeing this academy, in a century’s time? Deegan mentions a photobook published in its first year, called The Lir is Forever – a title taken from his introduction. “It is holding ourselves to a high standard, but yes, what we want is to develop an institution which is going to be here in 200, 300 years. It feels like we’re building something that serious.” ■ A fundraising event for the Lir will be held in Dublin’s Trocadero restaurant on May 14. Another event will be held in London in April, with details to be confirmed in this magazine. For more information on the academy and to learn about the wide range of corporate and individual sponsorship and partnership opportunities, see thelir.ie
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