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Irish Theatre companies auditioning in London

  • 28-07-2010 3:38pm
    #1
    Greaney
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,247 ✭✭✭


    Do folks think it's right that Irish Theatre companies, receiving arts council funding, audition in London?

    A number of Irish companies (The Gate and Druid I believe), hold their auditions (or some of them) in London!! What about Irish Jobs? They get my Tax money:eek:. I'm gutted


Comments

  • #2
    lukegriffen
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 237 ✭✭lukegriffen


    Is this hearsay ? Most shows I've seen with Druid & The Gate have Irish actors.

    I wouldn't be that upset if occasionally they did casting in London.

    Last year at the theatre fest I think I remember one show got 50k funding, and it could only seat about 50 people for each of the 7 performances, and that was the end of it. This country was hemorrhaging money left right and centre, and the arts weren't excluded from that.

    I did a quick search on the Arts Council decisions db for 2009, just for Dublin City Council theatre (see below). Giving money to established theatre companies is fine by me, but 53k for Irish theatre magazine, which is no longer in print, & 50k for Bewleys seems a huge amount to me. And
    I never heard of Second Age, who got almost 300k.
    But I'd much rather the money went to artistic people, rather than gougers in Fas or F.Fail

    Annual Awards 2009
    B Spoke Theatre Company €90,000
    Barabbas €176,000
    Bedrock Productions €195,000
    Bewley's Cafe Theatre €50,000
    Focus Theatre €84,000
    Gúna Nua Theatre €120,000
    Irish Theatre Magazine €53,600
    Ouroboros (formerly Theatreworks) €104,000
    The New Theatre €40,000
    Theatre Forum Ireland €150,000

    Regularly Funded

    Corn Exchange €288,000
    Dublin Theatre Festival €870,000
    Fishamble Theatre Company €288,000
    Irish Theatre Institute €260,000
    Pan Pan Theatre Company €288,000
    Rough Magic Theatre Company €680,000
    Second Age Theatre Company €288,000
    The Gate Theatre €1,095,000


  • #3
    Greaney
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,247 ✭✭✭Greaney


    No, it's not hearsay, that's why I named the companies. It's not about the nationality of the actors, there are Irish actors based in London and English and American actors based in Ireland, it's just that it's so expensive to go to London for auditions!!

    I was talking about this with a film director. He got heaps of work in Ireland, so he moved here. He noticed that work dried up so he moved back to London, then the offers rolled in again.

    It's like we don't respect artists who stay or live in Ireland and only rank a person if they've left. A bit of an inferiority complex maybe??


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