Draw your way into the New Year!

Would you like to begin your new year in a fun, creative way? Have you ever wanted to get into drawing? Maybe you used to draw a lot and now everything is all done on computers and you feel removed? Want to get back to basics with pencil and paper? Do you want to develop a relaxing hobby? Do you need to develop storyboarding skills? Join our artist teacher and learn the rudiments of drawing in a chilled out group on Tuesday nights in Dublin city centre. This group will focus on line drawing, perspective, shading, still life and in true act the maggot vein will also have lots of fun drawing from the imagination. Click here if you want to read about our next beginners drawing course.
Five Good Reasons to take a drawing class.
1. Making art may reduce stress and anxiety.
2. Creating visual art improves connections in the brain.
3. Art making can help us get over sadness.
4. Mindless sketching can help focus.
5. Turning our problems into narratives can help us work through them.

If you want to read the full article on this subject click here

Act The Maggot to begin a new chapter!

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xmasAct The Maggot is thrilled to be starting a new chapter in our ever developing story! That’s right, we have found a brand new home at Chapterhouse on Middle Abbey Street, right in the heart of Dublin city centre. We look forward to opening the doors of No. 73 for our signature beginner courses in Acting, Creative Writing and Drawing all kicking off the last week of January 2018. We also plan to offer some new courses and one off workshops throughout the year. We will launch a 12-week course called The Artist’s Way and a 6-week course in Public Speaking. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and feel free to contact is at anytime with your queries. Until then, have a great festive season and a very happy new year.chapterhouse

‘Tis the season! What’s new with those maggots?

xmasCHRIMPROV: It’s all go here at Act The Maggot. The Christmas Party this year has been dubbed the ChrIMPROV!! We will host a free Improv session on Dec 7th followed by a few seasonal drinks. This is open to maggots from over the years. Come back! Say hi! Whip out your wackiest character and come have the craic with your old classmates – or meet some new maggots. There is no doubt you have all got something in common! Maggotology? Maggotiness? Maggotanaeity? Maggotificence? Whatever. Join us.
OTHER NEWS: Our current beginners’ acting class is in full swing. I hear this week they were massaging their vocal chords and rolling all over the floor in their Temple bar studio.  The things you do of Thursday, wha! SHOWCASE: Elsewhere in city centre, our Level 3 maggots are up to ninety putting the finishing touches to their scenes.  They have all been working really hard. Fourteen actors will star in seven different scenes in the Act The Maggot showcase on November 30th. Break a leg guys! That is sure to be a highly entertaining evening. And no doubt a few drinks will be had after to celebrate. CASTING INFO: There is an interesting Q&A session happening over in Smithfield on Monday night, Nov 27th with top dog casting director, Priscilla John. It’s free, so if you want to know more about the business from her point of view, get thee to eventbrite and sign up for it here. NEW COURSES: Booking has already begun on our 2018 courses, so get cracking  if you want to try your hand at beginners acting, creative writing or drawing. New Year, New You? Go for it guys. You won’t regret it. We are delivering another of our regular introduction to Mindfulness workshops in Rathmines this weekend and Act The Maggot is thrilled to announce it’s new venture with Elavon Financial Services – bringing Mindfulness to the corporate sector to their offices in Cherrywood, Dublin and Arklow. That’s all for now folks! Looking forward to a calm December!!!

Drawing is so much fun!

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All sorts of wonderful drawing came out of our recent Beginner’s Drawing class in Rathmines. It’s so much fun learning to make art using just pencils, charcoal and the odd coloured pencil or marker! Such a relaxing way to spend a … Continue reading

Well done to Level 2 Maggots!

What a fun night we had with the beginner actors who are beginners no more!  After successfully finishing Level 1 – a six week course for absolute beginners, they completed five weeks of Level 2 and took to the stage last night. For most of them, it was their first time ever in front of a live audience. They were all very chuffed and rightly so. Celebratory drinks went down well after. What a buzz. Well done all.

Five reasons to take an art class

screen-shot-2017-05-31-at-09-45-241. Making art may reduce stress and anxiety.
2. Creating visual art improves connections in the brain.
3. Art making can help us get over sadness.
4. Mindless sketching can help focus.
5. Turning our problems into narratives can help us work through them.
Read the full article here
Read more about our next beginners drawing class

Sold Out!

tootootBoth Sept 14 Level 1 beginners acting class and Sept 7 Level 2 acting class are now completely full. The next Level 1 beginners acting class will run from Nov 2 to Dec 7. Contact us at actthemaggot@gmail.com to book your spot. Our Level 3 acting class will kick off Oct 19 and will finish on Nov 30. There will be another Level 2 class in March 2018. Booking is now open also for Tuesday night classes: Beginners Creative Writing (Sept 26), Beginners Drawing (Sept 26) and Beginners Screenwriting (Oct 3). Get looking and get booking maggots. Places fill fast.

Take a look at our latest Corporate Role-playing testimonials

screen-shot-2017-07-18-at-15-36-17Role-playing is a fantastic tool to use in company trainings. You can really maximise the experience and the learning by hiring real-life actors to energise challenging team work. We all have to face difficult conversations, tough meetings, unexpected situations. Why not hire a couple of professional actors to re-enact a specific work-related script? Then, in Forum Theatre style the actors can stop and start at the suggestion of the participants to find the best communication solutions. It can be a lot of fun as it is interactive learning. By having real actors as part of a training it immediately breaks the ice and ups the stakes. We can help you with your script too if you like. For more information on this programme, call Amy on 01-496 7021 or 087 374 4926 or email actthemaggot@gmail.com

TESTIMONIALS from Performance Management Workshops with our role-players and European Managers at Elavon Inc.

“Actors were fantastic. They took each scenario to the extreme allowing us to learn what to do or say, and maybe
more importantly, what not to do or say. Very effective.”

“Excellent. Helped drive the role play conversations and brought a different dimension that may not have been possible with Elavon-only participation.”

“While I have attended similar training in my previous work experience, the positive difference made in this one was particularly down to having actors to practise with. This ensured more life-like scenarios, occasional unpredictability of employee-manager interaction. Also, the focus on role play was helpful, rather than spending more time on theory slides. It all comes down to having these live conversations, so more opportunity we have to play them out in a safe environment, the better and more beneficial it is for us.”

“I found them great, I love acting and role playing so it was to my strength! I will also comment, that the fact that they didn’t force anyone to roleplay was fantastic, it means a very relaxed environment.”

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See latest testimonials for Beginners’ Creative Writing

quote4-w“I went into with a good attitude and I wasn’t let down. My teacher was brilliant. He had an amazing passion for writing that he shared with all of his students. He shared good resources with us all and gave us a beginners insight into the writing world. Something that other courses don’t offer. I couldn’t recommend the course enough and I’m looking forward to doing another course with Act the Maggot.”

“Act the Maggot was an excellent experience and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone with an interest is developing their writing skills or adapting their knowledge to serve an alternate purpose. With a diverse group of those looking to achieve different goals and pursue various methods of writing, we each have greatly gained from the course.”

“It was excellent and our teacher was amazing.”

“This was a great experience. It stretched my abilities and gave me confidence to carry on scribbling. Thanks to the teacher for his encouragement and easy manner. Keep up the good work.”

Read about the next Creative Writing course. If you have any queries please email us at actthemaggot@gmail.com

Check out the latest testimonials from the May Beginners’ Acting

BEGINNERS“I absolutely loved every second of it and the teacher was amazing.”

“Exceeded expectations! The teacher was very good at creating a safe space and was very encouraging all the way through. Amazing positive energy!”

“I thoroughly enjoyed the course. Such an amazing teacher and the rest of the class were great fun and very supportive.”

“Very enjoyable. Activities are multiple and various. There is no boring time! I liked it.”

“It was wonderful. So many games to play, so many moments where you could try things out you would never do in normal life. The teacher was so kind, motivating and fun. The group was friendly, tolerant and supporting all the time. We became closer and closer with each session, just because we shared one passion: Escape yourself for two hours and feel as free as a child again.”

If you are interested in joining our next beginners acting class contact us at actthemaggot@gmail.com or 087 3744926 and we will see if there is a place for you.