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.
Both 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.
Grab your place while you can. Our final Beginner’s Acting class before the summer break starts next week. There are still a few places left so give us a bell or an email to guarantee six weeks of silliness and laughter for yourself. Hurry. It books out every time! Yeah, get out and about! Sure, what else would you be doing with those long summer evenings, except acting the maggot? Read some of the testimonials to help make up your mind.
C’mon, folks! You better book fast. Places are quickly disappearing on the new Summertime Act The Maggot class!
For more information on this fun acting class have a read of this and like our Facebook page to get updates. Call us at 01 4967021 or 087 374 4926 or actthemaggot@gmail.com to book your place. Our six-week classes cost €180.
C’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.
Here are some of the latest testimonials from our March beginners’ acting class in Temple Bar. These maggots were a keen bunch and it seems like they had lots of fun. More power to them. Thank you all for taking the time to give us feedback so we can continue to refine and improve what we offer.
“I had so much fun at Act the Maggot and I met some really great people. And I also learned that speaking in front of a group isn’t as terrifying as I thought and I can actually do it!”
“I had a lot of fun acting the maggot! I couldn’t wait to see what crazy and entertaining exercises we would do next. Learning about improvisation has helped in my every day life.”
“I had an absolute ball doing the course. It’s great to push oneself out of the comfort zone. Everyone who did the course was really, really lovely and I’ll definitely be going back for round two 🙂 !”
“I had an amazing time doing this course, learned a lot about myself and met loads of amazing people. I would do this course again.”
“A brilliant course – great for people who want to get outside their comfort zone and experience something new.”
https://plus.google.com/+ActTheMaggot/posts/7BXbNbqxvJw Fantastic stuff. Conquering your fears. Getting out of your comfort zone. Making new friends. Memorising lines. Performing in front of a live audience. It seems like yesterday this bunch rocked up to try their hand at our flagship course in Beginners’ Acting. They completed six short weeks of improvisation and general mayhem. They got bitten by the bug and returned for Level 2 where they continued with improv skills but also dug deeper into character and text and the result?!! Hey presto – their first foray on stage. Well done all. A great night. We are all looking forward to what they pull out of the hat in Level 3 – where they will concentrate on scenes. Now that is a performance worth waiting for. Roll on summer time. If you are thinking about dipping your toes in, drop us a line and join our fun community. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and you can track the progress of our new Beginners’ Drawing class on our Instagram and Pinterest pages. We also have another fun Creative Writing class for Beginners kicking off on June 6th in Temple Bar. Bag your spot today! More classes happening in May and June, actthemaggot@gmail.com
Relevance.
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!
If 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!
Procrastination 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.