the work shop

A Week of Miscellany - 26th February to 2nd March

2008-02-21T02:33:00.000-08:00

Writing Workshop

Tuesday Feb 26th - Sunday March 2nd

The Writing Workshop at thisisnotashop

A Week of Miscellany

Tue-Sat 7pm Nightly, Sunday 1pm Brunch

The Writing Workshop at thisisnotashop was formed in July 2007 as a place for writers and artists interested in text to share their work and collaborate. A Week of Miscellany showcases the fruits of this exploration with evenings of presentation, participation, entertainment, and reflection: a veritable exercise in ‘work-in-progress-ness’. Each night one of the workshop’s participants will present / perform their work- all are quite different so please see details below.

Tue Feb 26: Felicity Williams

Wed Feb 27: Gerry McDonnell with Maura Foley and Damein O’Donnell

Thu Feb: 28: Susan Thompson

Fri Feb 29: Kay Inckle

Sat Mar 1: Jessica Foley and Kathryn Maguire

Sun Mar 2: Jessamyn Fiore

*If you are interested in participating in the next round of Writing Workshops (beginning May/June 2008) please come to one of the nights of the Writing Workshop Week at thisisnotashop to see the space and meet the organizers Jessamyn and Jessica. There we will have a form for you to complete that will allow us to get in touch before the next season of workshops begin.

Tuesday February 26th, 7pm:

Felicity Williams presents Benburb Street

Format: Audio Piece

Felicity Williams’ Benburb Street investigates the street, it’s past and present identity, cultural and architectural history, social products and future plans. In exploring the role of landscape, people and public experience Williams has brought together an interesting and insightful collection of dialogues from people connected to the street. With specific emphasis on truth and identity, she has not created but presented a piece of work that intimately communicates via human voice, memory and knowledge.Through an investigative process and objective collation of tangible information Williams has drawn attention to the changing territory, community and environment of the inner city area, and the experience of living, occupying and using public and private space.From the Viking settlement, the British occupation and the bustling businesses, to the desolate buildings, prostitutes, Luas line and developing apartment blocks, Benburb Street is rich in history and character, commuters and divisions. This is not subjective it is real. Williams explores how politics, history and society implicate change, how money and culture blur boundaries and understanding, and what Benburb Street is like today.

Wednesday February 27th, 7pm:

Gerry McDonnell presents Voices in an Empty Room

Featuring Performances by Maura Foley and Damien O’Donnell

Format: Live theatrical performance and reading.

Gerry McDonnell’s poems give a voice to those beyond the grave. On this very special and spooky evening actors Maura Foley and Damien O’Donnell join Gerry to bring life to the dead and let them tell their stories- some humorous, some poignant, some curious - all in a celebration of their lives once lived.

Gerry Mc Donnell is a Dublin born poet and playwright. He has written for radio, stage and TV and has had several books of poetry published. His work to date has focused on James Clarence Mangan, Jews of 19th century Ireland, and people in everyday life - heroes and heroines of the daily round celebrated in prose and poetry.

Thursday February 28th, 7pm:

Susan Thompson

Format: Videos with original sounds and writing and one imaginary film.

presently, in my mind, gravity has taken a holiday. The

Unconscious, my Unconscious is slowly slowly rolling uphill. It’s not

staying down where it belongs anymore.

presently, in my mind, gravity is taking a holiday, my mind is

turning into a mystery spot and what seemed a large part of me

now seems small or rather and more truthfully, what seemed small

is getting bigger by the minute.

Susan Thompson is an artist and writer currently completing the M.A. in Visual Arts Practices at IADT

Friday February 29th, 7pm:

Kay Inckle presents Absent Friends: A Celebration of February 29th

Format: Dinner and readings- audience participation encouraged

A buffet dinner, readings and costume- all Indian themed- to celebrate the leap year and to ask the question, what would it be like to have been born on the 29th of February? An open mike session invites participants to share their own (brief) responses in prose, poetry, story, song, mime, performance, etc to whatever this proposition inspires in them.

Saturday March 1st, 7pm:

Jessica Foley

with a secret event by Kathryn Maguire

Format: Some colouring in, some writing, some sound.

In the grids and metal architecture of colour

Do they rummage? Do they find their voices?

The slide goes one way down –

And sure the ground is padded anyway.

I’ve been thinking quite a bit lately about Benburb Street – for the purposes of an exhibition I’m doing – but instead of going one way, I’ve gone the other. A strange lady crossed my path – well not so much strange as generous, but perhaps that’s one and the same thing. She didn’t speak so much, but I read reports of her activities, her generosity, and, well, it was all so long ago. She began these community gardens – and they flourished – they fed the women and children (I don’t know if they fed the men, but one would suppose that they did) – and they also became impromptu playgrounds for the smaller more sprightly folk, namely the children. Gardens to play in, to grow in – they didn’t last it seems – at least I couldn’t find any – one near broadstone I’m told, the Lady Aberdeens. A remnant of play. But sure isn’t that what the streets are? Scars left over from the corrosive, adaptive, incessant, innovative, sparkling, ruthless and relentless bouts of activity known affectionately as play? The streets echoing the traffic of our lives, but really the spaces are silent – still. Like ghosts in a photograph – tricks of the light and time – I suppose if you had the imagination you could visualise it – or you could wander toward one of the designated areas – the fenced in rainbows – the voices echo there still, though in languages I can’t follow. Still, tis nice to hear. I thought I’d try to find some play – but I figure I’ll just have to do it myself. All the world’s a stage after all.

The space is set up for participative colouring-in, reading, listening, and of course chatting, remembering, thinking, drinking, laughing, coughing, sniffing, debating and, hopefully, enjoying.

Sunday March 2nd, 1pm:

Jessamyn Fiore presents A Brunch with Real Maple Syrup

Format: Brunch and Reading

Sunday Pancakes with Real Maple Syrup will be served up hot while Jessamyn Fiore reads some new works in progress. This casual reading will include a selection from current projects and will hopefully spark discussion to give the author feedback on her progress. So if you enjoy pancakes, mimosas, and writing- join us for a Sunday toast to the end of the writing workshop week!

Jessamyn Fiore Graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2002 and moved to Ireland where she founded The Road Show Theater. For the company she wrote/directed/produced The Mysterious World of Birds in 2003 and wrote/produced SANDWICH in 2005 which toured to London, Prague, Edinburgh, and Dublin. In June 2007 a new production of SANDWICH was judged one of the top three plays of The Wonderland Festival in NYC. Also in NYC her short play entitled Water and Discarded Hair was produced as part of The Emerging Artists Theatre EATfest in Oct, 2007. Jessamyn is a director/partner of thisisnotashop gallery and one of the organizers of the Writing Workshop.

Performance Workshop with Sinead McCann - 17th November

2008-02-21T02:27:00.000-08:00

Many Thanks to Sinead McCann for taking the Workshop participants through a stimulating and dynamic performance workshop, integrating writing, voice and movement - a tremendous experience for all involved - letting go of fears, making lots of choral noise - harmonious cacophonies - stretching our thinking about our own sense of performance, of writing, and of possibilities!

The Actors/Writers Workshop

2007-11-08T02:49:00.000-08:00

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

2007-11-08T02:46:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-10T04:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-10T04:08:00.000-07:00

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

2007-09-21T05:20:00.000-07:00

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...

2007-08-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-21T08:03:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-14T16:37:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-31T13:37:00.001-07:00

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

2007-07-23T04:14:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-12T13:25:00.000-07:00

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

2007-06-21T08:15:00.000-07:00

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.