Ireland: Week One at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin

Well the day we left for Dublin was not a good day for me as some of you know. But by the time we arrived after our flight was delayed for an hour everything was fine. We arrived at our hostel, Barnacles in the Temple Bar area of Dublin. It is literally a 30 second walk to the Gaiety School of Acting where the students study. It has been a pretty intense week for the students. We have done a great deal in one week. We Wspent the first weekend getting familiar with Dublin and the neighborhood. On Monday morning our sessions with the Gaiety began. It started out with a welcoming reception hosted by Amy and Patrick Sutton. Then the students went on an tour of the city of Dublin led by Marie Fitzpatrick who has been doing this since we started at the Gaiety. The students returned to the school where they had their first acting class with Patrick who is doing Brian Friel and Samuel Beckett with them. Bill begain his internship in arts administration where he has tackled several projects. After that the students had their first seminar with Denis O'Brien on Irish dramatic literature. After dinner which we are all taking turns cooking, we went to The Abbey Theatre, Ireland's National Theatre to see The Reisistible Rise of Arturo Ui by Bertold Brecht. It was a very enjoyable show. On Tuesday, in addition to the seminar and acting we went to the National Museum of Ireland (Archaeology) which had some very interesting exhibits. That night we went to The Gate Theatre to see an adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Old Curiosity Shop. We did not enjoy this show at all. It was still in preview. We all liked the set. On Wednesday the students went to Christchurch and had acting again with Patrick. That evening we went to see a very unique production of Oedipus Loves You. Very different but good. On Thursday Denis did another seminar and Patrick another acting class. That afternoon we went to St. Michan's church where they have a crypt with mummified bodies that you can actually touch! It is good luck to rub the long finger of "the crusader" in the back of the vault. Some of us did and others didn't go near it. The tour guide was a strange little man who really scared the hell out of us! Creepy! We then went to see a Panto - Cinderella. You cannot describe what this is like. There is nothing in America like it. Tons of kids screaming, flashing lights throughout the audience, songs stolen from other musicals(Phantom, Mama Mia, High School Musical) plus other pop songs. You will have to ask the students to explain when they return. All I know is that some little urchin sprayed me with silly string while I was sleeping during the performance! On Friday the students were introduced to Martin Maguire, the acting teacher who works on scenes and monologues from O'Casey and Synge. We then hopped the bus to Galway. You can read about that adventure below this blog.



When in Galway I came upon an ice rink which I found strange because I never pictured the Irish ice skating. I tried to download a video I took but it would not download. It is evidence to prove my theory correct. I will show it to you back at school if I cannot download it. I will continue to keep trying.





Barnacles hostel in Dublin




Curtis, Dani, Joe, Bern, Ali, Caitlin, and Bill in front of "the" Temple Bar at the end of our street.




Sign at the entrance of the Gaiety





Info on the Gaiety School




Students walking to class. Gaiety is the white building straight ahead






A peek into one of the classrooms.




Meeting outside the school to go on a field trip.





Posing....




Dani posing with attitude!

St. Michan's

Waiting for the church to open at noon.

The plays we have seen or will see in Dublin.