Playwriting - The Lir Academy

Through a series of skills-based writing workshops and tutorials with professional playwrights, directors and a dramaturge, the individual voice of the student writer will be nurtured and developed. Classes in dramaturgy and contemporary theatre practice will supplement the training. The course will culminate in the writing of a full-length play for the stage. Excerpts of these final works are shared in a public event with an invited audience of industry professionals.

Students on the course will work in a dedicated space for writers in The Lir building. In addition to the core classes and workshops, individual tuition from The Lir’s dramaturge will be a key feature of the training. In addition, master classes by visiting practitioners will supplement the student experience.

The course is designed to complement the existing MFA Theatre Directing and the MFA Stage Design including Lighting Design, Costume Design and Set Design. Students on all three programmes will work together in collaboration, developing a shared understanding of contemporary theatre practice and a collective appreciation of the dedication and commitment required to make innovative performances happen.

Full-time students take Contemporary Theatre Practice (20 ECTS), Dramaturgy (20 ECTS), and Writing Workshop (20 ECTS) modules in the first two terms, and The Play (30 ECTS) module in the third term and subsequent summer months.

Students who to take the course part-time ordinarily complete:
Year 1: Dramaturgy (20 ECTS); Writing Workshop (20 ECTS)
Year 2: Contemporary Theatre Practice (20 ECTS); The Play (30 ECTS)
The Play module will be taught by an ongoing series of individual tutorials.

Core modules include:
Contemporary Theatre Practice: Enables students to become conversant in the styles, forms, theories, and practices that constitute contemporary theatre making in Ireland.
Dramaturgy: Introduces students to a range of dramatic texts for the theatre or related media with an emphasis on the dramaturgical composition of those texts.
Writing Workshop: Students share their creative writing in a workshop format and receive both group feedback and individual tuition in the development of their craft.
Play: Individual supervision and showcase staged reading of a student’s full-length play.

Admission Requirements
In addition to the information required on the online form, applicants are also required to upload a copy of the following:

A letter that outlines the applicant’s theatre education and highlights the applicant’s writing experience to date.
A ‘statement of purpose’ that refers to the applicants ambitions in terms of writing style, form and medium.
A résumé (CV).
A writing sample in the form of a play, with a minimum 45 minutes reading time (samples will not be returned and The Lir does not provide critiques of writing samples).
Two academic or creative references / testimonials.

Closing Date: 31st March 2024
Apply via course webpage - link above
Register your interest via course webpage also.

One year Full Time/Two years Part Time

Next Intake: September 2024

Career Opportunities
This course is designed to equip students of exceptional talent with the skills necessary to pursue a career in theatre and related industries through the development of skills, professional practices and creative approaches to writing for performance