The Actors/Writers Workshop

Dear Writers & Actors & Artists,

On November 17th 2007 between the hours of 11 o'clock am and 3 o'clock pm a special Workshop will take place in Johns Lane Studios, just off Thomas Street.

For those of you who are not aware of what the Writing Workshop is about let me briefly set the scene for you. In July 2007 myself, Jessica Foley, and Jessamyn Fiore, co-manager of thisisnotashop gallery on Benburb Street, founded what has come to be known as the Writing Workshops. We put a call out to any writers, artists, or anyone in general who has an interest in the written word, and the wonderous things that can happen when one strings them together, to get together at thisisnotashop and begin some kind of collaboration with a view to making a week long exhibition/performance/installation...or something to that effect.

The week long "exhibition" will happen from the 25th February to the 2nd of March 2008. (It is interesting to note that 2008 is a leap year).

Within the Workshop, what has begun is a cross-fertilization of ideas, crafts, styles, forms, and personalities. Short story writers begin to play with the monologue form and the idea of performance. Poetry into performance. Research into text and installation. Information into narration.

What we hope will happen in the Actors/Writing Workshop is a collaboration that mixes up the disciplines - where actors will engage with the writings (attached here) and find ways of presenting them, performing them, enacting them, visualising them.

The Workshop on the 17th of November will involve a performance exercise conducted by artist Sinead McCann. She will send each of you an email with a set of instructions in the week before the workshop (nothing time consuming, just something to think about before the workshop). The performance exercise will engage with objects, text, movement and voice and will run for an hour or so.
After lunch the writers and actors will begin to collaborate and discuss the texts to be performed or redirected for the week long "exhibition" in February.

This workshop is one not to be missed and will hopefully be the beginning of a working relationship between actors and writers that will culminate in a show/installation/performance of top quality, a real showcase of fine work and collaboration.

If you are interested in coming along please email as soon as you can. I really believe that this will be a dynamic and rewarding collaboration between a very diverse group of artists, writers and performers.

13th November Meeting

The next meeting of the Writing Workshops will take place on the 13th of November at thisisnotashop Benburb Street - Looking forward to seeing all members there.

9/oct/2007 - thisisnotashop

A few things came up at the workshop last night, it was a small turnout but none-the-less a productive one. Just to get everyone up to speed on whats happening and when its happening, and submission requirements in the coming weeks, to keep everything ticking along nicely.

The "exhibition" is set for the week of 25th Februaray to 2nd March.

There are effectively 3 strands to this "exhibition":

1. A publication (in the loosest sense of the term) -
The publication, it is hoped, will draw together the diverse and varied nature of the members works, and therefore reflect the diverse/contradictory/conflicting/similiarities of working collaboratively.

Obvious Synthesis is not compulsory, shall we say.

2. The "exhibition" itself - the gallery will be open for the space of one week, roughly. This shall contain elements of the visual/the aural/the oral...

3. The performances - Monologues/recitals/actions/speech...


The Actors Workshop:

It is hoped to have the Actors workshop on Saturday the 20th of October - that is Saturday two weeks. It is urgent that people send me the email addresses of actors they wish to participate as soon as possible - namely by tomorrow evening. I hope to have Sinéad McCann conducting part of the workshop - for perhaps an hour and a half - she is an experienced performance artist, it would be a great benefit to everyone to see what direction her instruction might lead the group and the work!

Please do send me actors emails as soon as you can!!!!!

Plenty to mull over...

Meeting in Ryans Pub - 25th Sept 2007

Due to an installation of work in the gallery the members gathered in the local pub to discuss work etc. The theme of "Identity" had been pitched the week before as a starting point...interesting interpretations of this were presented - members are asked to post these on their own pages of the blog.

The Actors Workshop weekend is under discussion - dates to be confirmed.

An eagerness to keep things open...and yet a need to pin things down...dates/times/works?

The "exhibition" is planned for the week of the 25th of February to the 2nd of March - tis a Leap Year - what could it all mean?

More on that later...

Tuesday 11th - recap

Fewer numbers tonight allowed for a more intimate discussion of individuals objectives and interests - Felicity will propose an exercise to the group loosely formed around the concept of the passport - more to follow...

Further talk of getting actors involved, so hopefully at the next session a date and time will be set to undertake an afternoon session, over a Saturday or a Sunday, working with actors/performers - and really getting to grips with the realisation of the work.

The dates for the "exhibition" are set for the last week in February (which interestingly is a leap year) from the 25th of Feb to the 2nd of March - a healthy time of year for a debut!

Ideas are certainly fermenting - hopefully each member will begin to post up their own work and ideas on this blog in the coming days and weeks.

Germination begins...

Workshop: 28th August 2007

So begins a new chapter for the thisisnotashop writing workshops - after two sessions of sharing work and responding to this work it is time to begin new work. The ambition of the group is now to develop interdisciplinary projects, combining and overlapping interests: poetry with visual interpretation, short story into monologue, prose into theatre, textual and visual experimentation.

Loose groupings have been formed - Gerry and Lucy, along with Jessamyn will meet, share expertise, and discuss the possibilities of generating new work along the lines of performance, monologue, character development. Anne-Marie and Orla will correspond virtually, exchanging poetry and visuals respectively, reading each others work and allowing for unexpected outcomes to emerge. It is likely that Blaise and Jessamyn will also team up, sharing and switching roles, working on dialogical pieces perhaps. Jessica will most probably slot between several groups and find ways of drawing together several strands with the view to creating some kind of document or publication - in all cases the outcome is left untouched, at this point in time it is more important to leave everything open-ended and full of potential.
It is hoped that by the next session participants will have posted some of their own work on their individual profile pages, and will have had a meeting or correspondence with their groups. It is hoped that through the connections and the interactions, through the rhizome of the everyday influences and interests, conscious or otherwise, that distinctive yet undeniably associated works will be developed.

The next session, which will provisionally take place on the 11th September 2007, will be centered around the ideas generated by the individuals and groups - all participants are asked to come with a 'brainstorm' effort in hand and to be prepared for some serious project development. Hopefully within the next few sessions actors, directors, musicians, and others will come on board to help realise the writings and texts under development.

Next Meeting Tuesday August 28th

Next Workshop Meeting:
Tuesday August 28th
7pm
at thisisnotashop gallery
26 benburb street, dublin 7
please feel free to post your exercises from last week on the blog or email to us at thisisnotashopwriting@gmail.com and we will post them
Annmarie and Tim will read original work
see you there!

2nd Writing Workshop - Special Guest: Clay McLeod Chapman

The second session of the workshops got underway tonight at thisisnotashop, despite the miserable precipitation. Nothing can stop these pen-wielding, keyboard tapping enthusiasts! Following a brief introduction by the rest of the group to the two newest participants, Lucy and Orla, and vice-vearsa, a stimulating session unfolded.
There were readings by Blaise (an excerpt from a work-in-progress of literature) and by Gerry (a selection of poems, some published and some unpublished). Some themes which were struck upon; paranoia, nostalgia, friendship, memory, regret, diaspora, loneliness, isolation, love, death, otherness. (There were lighter moments!) Some forms which were struck upon; inner-monologue, narration, obituary.
Two exercises from the last session were read out by AnneMarie and Felicity - hopefully we will post the lot up here at some stage.

Clay then took the group through a terrific exercise - using the newspaper as the nemesis of any writers block (in the great tradition of Antony Schaffer)! Hopefully we will post these up here too. We would like to thank Clay for his excellent input into the session, his enthusiasm and approach to writing is inspiring.

Clay will be performing Selected Stories at thisisnotashop on Benburb street on Thursday, Friday and Saturday this week - check out www.thisisnotashop.com for more details.

For the attention of all the participants so far, the next session will be on Tuedsay the 28th of August, looking forward to it!

PS: AnneMarie and Tim will be contributing to the next session. Also if anyone has any ideas or suggestions for future sessions and exercises please to post them, or send them via email.

Next Meeting Tuesday Aug 14th

Our next meeting is

Tuesday August 14th

at 7pm

we will have a special guest from New York City

theatre performer and author

Clay McLeod Chapman

to join us this evening please email

thisisnotashopwriting@gmail.com

we meet at thisisnotashop gallery/project space

26 benburb street, dublin 7

directly on the red luas line between the museum and smithfield stops

First Official Writing Workshop

Today heralded the very first official writing workshop, hosted at thisisnotashop by Jessamyn Fiore and Jessica Foley.

The turn out couldn't have been better, many thanks to Gerry, Blaise, AnnMarie, Claire, Felicity and Tim for materialising on the day and contributing so wholeheartedly to the workshop.

The workshop began with a brief personal introduction by all of the participants; backgrounds in writing range from poetry and playwriting to journalism, short story writing, art writing and critical theory, to artists working with text. The diverse nature of these interests will no doubt lead to dynamic and challenging collaborations and productions as the weeks go on.

An exercise was began in class, after an interesting reading and discussion of a short play by Jessamyn Fiore. Each participant wrote a short introductory paragraph putting a couple of characters into context, and following with three lines of dialogue. These were then sealed in envelopes and each participant took home a different envelope in order to complete the dialogue. Looking forward to seeing what responses will come from the envelopes!

The next workshop is scheduled for Tuesday August 14th at thisisnotashop. Thanks to Gerry and Blaise who will contribute a selection of their work to the workshop to be opened up to reading and discussion. An email will be sent around to all participants in the meantime.

Thanks for such a successful first workshop - its great to get such a positive and energetic response to an independent venture such as this - roll on the 14th!

Next Meeting 31/07/07

Next Meeting

Tuesday July 31st

7:00pm

if you want to come email us at

thisisnotashopwriting@gmail.com

bring a notebook and a snack

hope to see you there!

jessamyn

Next Meeting 20/07/07

Our Next Meeting is:

July 20th at 7:30 pm

If you wish to join us please RSVP to
thisisnotashopwriting@gmail.com

please come and tell others- the more the merrier!
see you then
-jessamyn-

welcome

this is not a shop + gallery/project space + 26 benburb street, d 7 + www.thisisnotashop.com

+ the work shop +

writing

Writing workshops at this is not a shop: a meeting of writers to share work and discuss.

The atmosphere will be casual and lively with an emphasis on the discussion and pursuit of ideas evolving from the various members work. We will also look to create original material based on the workshop exercises and discussion. We are looking for fictional writing which can be in the form narrative, poetry, theatre, song lyrics, etc…

We want the workshop to be what you want it to be- to help foster and develop your own work while also giving you the opportunity to discuss and gain inspiration from the other writers in the group. We will work towards a culminating event to present the final pieces which may be in the form of a performance or publication or both.

First meeting: Thursday, June 28^th, 7pm

For the initial meeting we will read a couple short pieces by members and discuss them (to get the ball rolling). The organizers will then present various exercise ideas that could lead to the creation of new pieces. It is the hope this can lead into a discussion about what members want from the workshop experience and ideas of how to proceed. All members will write down suggestions for the workshops which the organizers will take to create a framework for the following meetings. We will also discuss the possibilities of what the culminating event could be and create a goal. We will also discuss the idea of inviting actors to subsequent meetings so the writers can hear their words in another’s voice if they so choose. Since we want this is be an interactive and evolving process we will be creating a blog where members can post ideas and work as well as receive any updates from the organizers.

There will be tea and coffee provided by this is not a shop. We ask that every one attending bring a snack to share with the group and a 5 euro suggested donation for this is not a shop.

If you are interested in joining the work shop for writing please email: thisisnotashopwriting@gmail.com
tell a little about yourself and what kind of writing you wish to bring to the group.

the work shop for writing is organized by Jessamyn Fiore and Jessica Foley

this is not a shop is a not for profit gallery/project space that seeks to not only exhibit artistic work but also be a place where artists can meet and share ideas- a place of inspiration and encouragement for the burgeoning artistic community.