It’s important to connect and stay connected
This image was sent to me fairly recently by someone who attended my first ever Act The Maggot beginners acting class over eight years ago! Hard to believe. I love how I have been able to stay connected to maggots from previous beginners acting, drawing or writing classes through social media and have been kept informed of their lives’ vicissitudes. Career changes, babies, travels, successes, losses. It is great to stay in touch with this community and see them stay in touch with one another. I always love when people connect with Act The Maggot and send me on images, quotes and funny videos that I can share on all the platforms.
Possible reasons why Act The Maggot resonates
I think the reason Act The Maggot resonates so much with me is exactly like this picture. When I was a child the world was different. We were to be seen and not heard. We were told everything and our opinions were rarely summoned. I was constantly told to stop acting the maggot and be serious. Stop acting the maggot my teacher would say. Stop acting the maggot my Girl Guide leader would say. Stop acting the maggot, my parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, older sisters, all would say. Then when I got into my teenage years I encountered mild, existential depression I was told I think too much and to try not to be so serious! I guess I was concerned about where I was going and what would happen to me. The usual concerns of a young person.
Caminante, no hay camino, se hace el camino al andar.
Traveller, there is no road, the road is made by walking.
Anyway, I was never very good at stopping something when someone told me to. I always preferred to find my own way. So I figured out the ups and downs of my life through trial and error and through a process of elimination. Some things I never lacked were curiousity and courage. If I was interested in something I would explore. I’d try something out and if I liked it I’s stick with it, if not, I’d move on. I never stopped acting the maggot! When I went to college, I acted the maggot and failed my first year exams in Spanish. I went to Spain that summer and acted the maggot with lots of crazy fun Spaniards in Seville and San Lucar de Barremeda and as a result, became quite fluent in Spanish within five weeks of acting the maggot. I came home. Did my repeat exams and got an honour. I was beginning to learn how beneficial it could be to actually act the maggot! I was learning that connecting with people and engaging with the world was important. #founderstory #backstory #throwbackthursday
Keep an eye out for our blog posts. #mindfulmonday, #testimonialtuesday, #Whatsonwednesday and #throwbackthursday @actthemaggot
Culturehead wants you! It’s official, we are approaching winter. And with that comes great opportunities to stay warm huddling in bars and clubs and having the craic. #WhatsonWednesday we pick out one unmissable thing to do this week. So here goes for this week #whatsonwednesday says @actthemaggot Culturehead PR agency is throwing a bash, get down there. Everyone is welcome. They run ArtLot at the Electric Picnic every year and this weekend will be their EP Reunion Party with a fantastic line up of bands and performers. Read the following info from their latest insta post:
We are delighted to announce the long-awaited return our Friday Night Improv sessions.
Fun times ahead at Act The Maggot HQ on Middle Abbey Street this Autumn. We can’t wait to get these groups running at full throttle until Christmas. We must also get our 2019 party venue sorted. Hey, maybe we will start the party season early and do a fancy dress Halloween extravaganza. So many plans. Not enough time.
Greetings friends, followers and maggots (old, new and future),
Next year we are introducing a new Internship programme. It’s fairly straight forward. In exchange for taking a free course you put up some posters and do social media as well as set up the rooms and complete 30 minutes of reception work each night of the course you sign up for. Click on this internship link and have a read and see what courses/dates interest you. As I write this, Internship 1 and 5 and possibly 3 have been snapped up. So there is one Tuesday(Internship 4) and one Thursday(Internship 2) still available!
In 2018, we moved all our classes to Chapterhouse Education on Middle Abbey street which has been a great success and has enabled us to grow and develop new courses such as Level 4 Acting, Effective Public Speaking and a new level 2 Drawing class is in the works. We were also able to give something back for the first time ever on Culture Night 2018 – we flung open the doors and ran free classes all night – nearly 100 people tried it out! Watch this video we posted on Twitter about the 
In June, we devised and wrote our very first play called Private Conversations Public Transport with the Level 4 group which was so much fun to do and was a really satisfying experience. We will run another Level 4 before the summer. With just 6 short weeks to improvise and come up with a show – the maggots really pulled out the stops and developed some hilarious characters and scenarios reflecting contemporary Dublin on the Luas. In fairness, they did lots of extra rehearsals to get it tight by the show date and I was extremely proud of their achievement. The audience response was brilliant.
As it’s Christmas – this is a shout out to a small, interesting 
What a buzz we have created with our evening classes in town! We’ve been having a major maggoty Autumn on Middle Abbey street! There’s been heaps of new maggots and old ones breaking out of their comfort zones, exploring their creativity and generally having a super time in our evening classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Our Tuesday night 
Our Thursday night 
See what happens when all these creative souls mingle? Last night a whole new crop of beginner maggots got together and hopefully those first night nerves have been put to bed forever and it’ll be plain sailing from here on in. We also began our 
Act, Write or Draw! It’s playtime folks! Here’s your chance to tap into your inner maggot, er sorry your inner child. Have lots of fun trying out new hobbies or rekindling your love of old ones having let life get in the way. Our previous students from our Beginners Drawing, Beginners Creative Writing and Beginners Acting classes have lots to say about how Act The Maggot has impacted on their everyday lives, from feeling lighter, more creative, more social and even noticing these benefits while at work! 
