Final call for Summer Creative Writing. Book today!

scribblertuesdaysWant to work on some of your ideas or generate fresh ones with a fun group? Spice up your summer with this great creative writing class for beginners. Generate some sparkle this summer by tapping into your creative side of a Tuesday! Our next 6-week Beginners’ Creative Writing Course is open for booking now. It will take place in Temple Bar on Tuesday, June 6th, 2017 and runs until Tuesday, July 11th, 2017. All classes will be from 7.30-9.30pm – €180 per course.

“I loved the course. Niall was amazing as were the other participants and I revived my thirst for writing. I went in with an idea I had started writing about. It was due to our “non-compulsory” homework for the course that a TV show proposal I wrote ended up getting commissioned for a pilot by a TV station. Everyone had different interests, which is what made it so much fun and it was really laid back. Couldn’t recommend it more to get your creative juices flowing. I did it for the craic and it delivered big time.”

If you have any queries or want to book your place, email us at actthemaggot@gmail.com

Creative Writing for Beginners, Returnees or Late Bloomers

quote3-wGenerate some sparkle this summer by tapping into your creative side of a Tuesday! Our next 6-week Beginners’ Creative Writing Course is open for booking now. It will take place in Temple Bar on Tuesday, June 6th, 2017 and runs until Tuesday, July 11th, 2017. All classes will be from 7.30-9.30pm – €180 per course.

“I loved the course. Niall was amazing as were the other participants and I revived my thirst for writing. I went in with an idea I had started writing about. It was due to our “non-compulsory” homework for the course that a TV show proposal I wrote ended up getting commissioned for a pilot by a TV station. Everyone had different interests, which is what made it so much fun and it was really laid back. Couldn’t recommend it more to get your creative juices flowing. I did it for the craic and it delivered big time.”

If you have any queries or want to book your place, email us at actthemaggot@gmail.com

Want to spice up your summer? Why not Act The Maggot!

BEGINNERSC’mon, folks! You know you want to. Inject some serious silly in to your summer. Everyone who does it says they want to do it all over again. Yes! Act The Maggot is the popular six-week acting class in Temple Bar especially designed for complete beginners, returnees or late bloomers! It’s so much fun. You better book fast. Places disappear quickly on the Summertime Act The Maggot class! Read our testimonials here and take a look at our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. Each six-week course cost €180. For more information on this fun acting class have a read. Call us on 087 374 4926 or actthemaggot@gmail.com to book your place.

Take a look at our Testimonials

img_4446.jpgBeginners Acting for Adults, Beginners’ Creative Writing and Beginners’ Drawing. Why do people Act The Maggot? What do they think about their experience? Take a look at some more testimonials.

“It was a brilliant experience for me. Somedays I felt very tired going to class and came skipping out. It felt a very safe platform to try out acting as a beginner while also encourging you to go outside your comfort zone. It was a great way to meet new people with plenty of opportunities to get to know people outside of the class also. People were from different walks of life which was lovely and added to the whole experience.”

I loved the course. I revived my thirst for writing. I went into the course with an idea I had started writing about. It was due to our “non-compulsory” homework for the course that a TV show proposal I wrote ended up getting commissioned by a TV station. Everyone had different interests which is what make it so much fun and it was really laid back. Couldn’t recommend it more to get you creative juices flowing. I did it for the crack and it delivered big time.”

“I really enjoyed the different backgrounds and different ages of participants and that it was focused on people with no acting experience. It took a lot of pressure off doing the course. Some of the exercises were very interesting like the mindfulness have encouraged me to research more into that area as well. It’s very good. A friend of mine has signed up to it recently as well.”

“It is fun, creative, easy going but with just the right amount of challenge to keep it interesting and really worth going going back to each week. I found it great for my self confidence and well being to speak in front of others and to be creative, play and use imagination in the company of like minded people while being facilitated by someone who ensured it was safe and fun.”

What do you get when you cross the Abbey Theatre with two Scotsmen?

unknownRelevance.
Perhaps? Let’s see.
Most heavy weight or complicated subjects cannot be discussed on air live in a radio studio, much less on television. And often, right now, is just too early to dissect an issue. It hasn’t even been digested. It’s too raw. It’s too cooked. Too silent. Too loud. Too in your face. On air, the segment, the sound bite, the phone in, all of it is not working. Things are begin left out. We are not getting the full story. The time does not permit it. There is no conclusive argument – “that’s all we have time for folks, I’m going to have to cut you short there”, how many times have you heard that? Or how frustrating is it when all you hear are lots of white men talking over one another in a studio and nothing is really said or heard. And, although social media is definitely more inclusive and it is good for picking up on stuff or catching the gist of a news story…..you can just forget about Facebook and Twitter for informed debate unless you have hours upon hours at your disposal for wading through the miles of rants, inaccuracies and the repetition! How about theatre then? Can it be a place of relevance? As opposed to this high brow, obtuse, irrelevant place where middle-aged people go to fall asleep before their steak dinners. Is a play the result of one writer tap tap tapping away beside a burning flame in a dusty garret? Yes and No. But mainly, No. The playwright is a very specific kind of writer. Albeit still poor. And when paid, still underpaid but that is food for another day. The playwright writes for the stage. Is thinking orally all the time. Thinking how people think and talk. The playwright covers many angles. Looks at a story, event, issue from the point of view of different characters and that is key. We are in a very exciting period for theatre. Now more than ever, we need discourse, debate, analysis and I’m sorry but the media machine is not doing its job of facilitating this. In real time, current issues are lost to the next, hottest story in the blink of an eye. And what was of vital significance yesterday is all but forgotten by today. There is also very real menacing legal fears. Can we print this? Can you say that? Ah the beauty of fiction. Theatre can revisit these real time issues and light them up again. Put them under the microscope. There is something about it being “up there” on the stage, the rational and the emotional fused. Stories made flesh. Maybe we can see things more clearly. Tf successful, a good play can truly cast some new light on a subject. And then, maybe then, we can have a proper, satisfying, conclusive argument afterwards in the pub. Imagine that?! Now that kind of theatre might even lead to change or God forbid, action. It might lead to better journalism and better theatre again. Osmosis. Dare I say it? A better world. The Abbey theatre is now being run by two new directors from Scotland and things are hotting up there. Neil Murray and Graham McLaren have just announced three brand new short plays as three urgent responses to issues that are happening right now. Take a look at their most recently announced short play line-up for May and treat yourself to a ticket. I for one am definitely going to check out A Whisper Anywhere Else today!

This Scottish three-year-old rocks

screen-shot-2017-04-20-at-10-01-18If you haven’t met Isla Nelson yet you are in for a treat. Her comedian Dad gives us her take on everything from Celebrity Culture to Easter to Valentines Day. Enjoy!

If you write it….they will come

robertmckeeThe actual film script is the cornerstone of most good filmmaking. The best films are the best stories told in the best way. Film is a fascinating medium. So much film is being made in Ireland right now. If you are interested in writing and story-telling you are in a unique position to become part of this. You can choose do it professionally or just for the laugh. All you need is a simple idea and a willingness to put in the work to see it through to fruition. You can learn to write your first short film script at Act The Maggot in Temple Bar in just six weeks. You will learn how to write a treatment, develop your characters and your story and write it in film format. You will learn to be ruthless in your rewriting until you have a tight, shootable script. Most of all, you will have a lot of fun with a group of like-minded people in a relaxed, learning environment. Call us today to book your spot – 087 374 4926 or actthemaggot@gmail.com. Read more about our next Beginners’ Screenwriting class starting on Tuesday, April 25. Read some of our creative writing testimonials. Here is an excellent link to see award-winning short films made all over the world. See for yourself what ingredients make the best shorts. Get started today!

Procrastination is as a good thing

img_2802.jpgProcrastination is part and parcel of being a writer. It can be seen as a positive. Your creative process actually needs you to indulge in day-dreaming, doodling, dawdling, journaling, cooking, cleaning, chatting, visualising in order for your stories and characters to emerge before you organically. Think about the positives here? Lots of amazing home-cooked food, spring-cleaned presses and sheds all through the year, not to mention the tons of entertaining doodles left all over the house. You just cannot force your characters to life. You have to let them appear. Often, doing some activity which is antithethical to writing can ironically help us write! But finding the idea is not enough. Focus and hard graft is necessary to see it through to completion. Having a deadline can really help put some fire into your belly once you get started on that story, script or poem. If you want to find a competition or bursary to apply for, read about lots of opportunities for writers here. If you would like to try one of our evening courses to get you going, take a look at our Beginners’ Screenwriting and Beginners’ Creative Writing coming up after Easter and early June.

Choose how and when you want to Act The Maggot with us!

img_4446.jpgC’mon you know you want to. So much talk about tapping into your creativity, getting out of your comfort zone and minding your mental health has sent lots of fun-seeking adults to try Act The Maggot! We are now offering four different courses on Tuesday and Thursday nights in Temple Bar. Want to complete your first ever short screenplay in just six weeks? Try Beginners Screenwriting starting April 25th, 2017. Want to relax and use pencil sketching to open up all sorts of creative possibilities in your brain? Try Beginners Drawing starting April 25th, 2017. Want to gain confidence and have lots of fun while improving concentration and focus? Consider our flagship Beginners Acting class starting May 11th, 2017. Or do you love to write? Want to develop a good practise, learning lots of new skills along the way? Try our Beginners Creative Writing class. Many people try more than one. There is so much to choose from. All aimed at the absolute beginner. All courses cost €180 and take place in Temple Bar. Call us today 087 3744926 or actthemaggot@gmail.com for queries/bookings.

Poem to start the week

Wake up. Day calls you

Wake up. Day calls you
to your life: your duty.
And to live, nothing more.
Root it out of the glum
night and the darkness
that covered your body
for which light waited
on tiptoe in the dawn.
Stand up, affirm the straight
simple will to be
a pure slender virgin.
Test your bodys metal.
cold, heat? Your blood
will tell against the snow,
or behind the window.
The colour
in your cheeks will tell.
And look at people. Rest
doing no more than adding
your perfection to another
day. Your task
is to carry your life high,
and play with it, hurl it
like a voice to the clouds
so it may retrieve the light
already gone from us.
That is your fate: to live
Do nothing.
Your work is you, nothing more.

Pedro Salinas
1891-1951

translated by Willis Barnstone