Blog & News

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Emma Fisher

The Other Limb

Prosthetic science looks at man’s need for wholeness, artificial limbs were developed for cosmetic appearance, function, and a spiritual sense of being complete but have developed to be so much more. Through storytelling, puppetry and object theatre this play looks at loss, life and coming to terms with a different form of completeness while tackling ableist views of the body. Continue reading Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Emma Fisher

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog- Ann Blake

Ann Blake is one of the Belltable:Connect 10 local theatre makers who have been researching a new creative idea during the month of May.

In her vlog, Ann talks about her research into Gabriel Marcel’s play Ariadne. She is considering staging the play, or creating an adaptation of it. Find out more by watching her vlog below.

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Pius McGrath

‘The Black Handled Knife’

We find ourselves living in a time of great change. We know this, we see the seismic shifts happening all across society, nobody has been left untouched by the events of these last few months. The year 2020 will live long in our memory, its outcomes etched in our psyche indelibly. Yet despite this, we have endured, we have adapted, and we hope for a better tomorrow. Continue reading Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Pius McGrath

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Maeve McGrath

An Chéad Turas…..

In the late 80’s I went to Ballyferriter to Dún An Óir with my Irish class from school. It is my only experience of Irish college and a little different to the normal Gaeltacht experience as I knew my classmates. We had only one class in my school doing honours Irish, I was not in that class and was moved up so I could take honours Irish in the Leaving Cert. I was way behind and while the rest of the class was all A’s and B’s, I was a D at best. But I loved the language. I may not have been up to speed on the Módh Coinnoíollach and the Aimsir Fháistineach but I loved speaking ‘as Gaeilge’ and even though the class was a struggle for me, I did jump to a C in my Leaving Cert exam in honours Irish and I was delighted. Continue reading Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Maeve McGrath

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Georgina Miller

I’m extremely grateful to Belltable Connect for this bursary, which has allowed me the time to work on developing a one-woman show around life-threatening and life-affirming experiences I had whilst travelling eleven years ago.  I collaborated with Terry O’Donovan as dramaturg on this project, building on our professional relationship which began whilst working on Bread not Profits in 2019. Continue reading Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Georgina Miller

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Conor Madden

History is a cycle, humans do not change, we’re peasants with iPhones.

I researched a priest, Canon William Kennedy, a bible thumper by all accounts. I wanted to see if his time, 1920s Ireland, was similar to today. Between the war of independence, World War 1 and Irelands civil war, reality was frightening, though the lockdown that we’re experiencing now is luxury when compared to the fear and uncertainty of then.

Continue reading Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Conor Madden

Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Marie Boylan

‘Cuckooed’

I applied to this programme with an idea that I thought might be interesting- but on further deliberation, I discovered that the idea was little more than a concept. A concept is a great place to start, but if you are unable to develop your idea further then as a theatre-maker and storyteller it becomes redundant. One of the fundamental attributes of a good theatre maker is the ability to edit your own work and having realising when something isn’t going to work, so I changed my idea. Continue reading Belltable:Connect 10 Blog – Marie Boylan

Belltable:Connect Commission for PADDY MCGRATH’S DAUGHTER – Veronica Dyas

Receiving the Belltable:Connect Commission to begin to write my new play “Paddy McGrath’s Daughter” was extremely important to me as an independent artist and one of the highlights of my working year.

This commission created the space for me to be able to write, both physically and financially, enabling me to spend an extended amount of time in Limerick City for research and development towards completing the 1st and 2nd Drafts of this new playtext.

My relationship with Belltable as an Independent Artist working freelance was cultivated through the Gap Day Initiative created by Lian Bell & Mermaid Arts Centre. Having spent two days working in the Artist’s Hub Space at Belltable, Limerick early in 2019, I was able to develop a relationship with the Artistic Director, Marketa Dowling and spend time talking though my work, interests and plans and became more familiar with the team and the physical infrastructure of the theatre. It also served to refamiliarise myself with the city of my maternal Grandfather in the context of my arts practice.  This time spent on Gap Day contributed to my artistic impetus to write “Paddy McGrath’s Daughter”.

Spending an extended amount of time writing in Limerick was crucial to the development of this new play. The Belltable:Connect Commission enabled me to be here, tune into and walk the landscape in my Grandfather’s footsteps and talk to members of our family about him.

This time in the city facilitated the beginning of new relationships with key people and organisations in further developing this work, such as The Hunt Museum and Limerick City Council. Crucial to making work about and in Limerick, was the new connections I made with the amazingly amazing Artists from the city. I can’t imagine another mechanism that would have created those relationships with artists, actors, directors, technicians as cohesively as the presentation evening of these four new plays with and about the Limerick community in November. The evening served to test the work in front of a very warm and generous audience, and provided the lead in time and space to work with two amazing actors, Ann Blake & Pat McGrath who brought this new text to life. Their expertise, as well as that of the rest of the amazing team created a safety and rigour in staging this early draft of a new work.

As an independent artist, working freelance and without regular funding, being commissioned by Belltable:Connect has had a significant impact on my practice, broadening the scope of my relationships, work and enabling me to write a new play for theatre with the physical, financial and artistic resources required to do so. I feel both privileged and grateful to have been supported in this comprehensive way. I look forward to further cultivating all the new relationships generated through this process, and continuing to work to complete “Paddy McGrath’s Daughter”

LOVE & Gratitude

Veronica Dyas

Belltable:Connect Commission for SHAM – Paul Meade

Belltable:Connect has been a fantastic experience for me.  Firstly, the commission gave me permission to write the play that I wanted to write.  It was important to be trusted as a playwright in this way.  Secondly, the play was a departure from my previous work and I got the chance to experiment with a more poetic mode.  I feel my writing has really improved through this experiment and Belltable:Connect gave me the time and space to be able to do that.  Thirdly, Belltable:Connect gave me the resources to work with actors on the text for a couple of days.  This resource was invaluable and I learnt a lot about the play from that experience and from the audience that came to see the works in progress.  I would highly recommend this programme with its simple, trusting and well resourced schedule.

 

Belltable:Connect Commission for MAM & LOVE & WOO – Liam McCarthy

Belltable: Connect has been an invaluable resource to me as a playwright. The commission has allowed me the time and space (underestimated resources within Ireland’s predominantly unsustainable arts industry) to create a new piece of work. The financial remuneration has allowed me to develop the play while still making rent. As well as the privilege of being offered a commission, which is very reassuring in and of itself, Belltable: Connect has provided professional and personal support to me at all stages of the artistic process – guiding and advising through difficult moments of self-doubt and worry – through more reassuring and positive moments of discovery and learning.