Full Time
APPLICATIONS WILL NOW BE ACCEPTED FOR OUR 2012 CLASS.
This course is one of the leading actor training programmes for theatre, TV and film industry in Ireland. The GSA is proud of its 25 year track record in training actors to a high standard to meet the needs of the industry.
Our actors get work and can be found on the stage of every theatre in Ireland!
Graduates of the Two Year Actor Training Programme include Aidan Turner, PJ Gallagher, Eva Birthistle, Stuart Townsend, Don Wycherley, Charlie Murphy, Genevieve Hulme-Beaman, Colin O'Donoghue and Rory Nolan to name a few!
We Train Actors
The two-year full time programme prepares the actors for the theatre, television and film industries, with a solid foundation of technique and an array of tools for beginning the extraordinarily and rewarding journey of being an actor.
As talent and potential are only part of what we look for in a prospective actor; dedication, imagination, awareness, confidence and commitment will also be qualities to test during our rigorous programme.
Programme Overview
The full –time students engage in an intensive regime of physical, emotional and intellectual training, a wholesale cultivation of the skills demanded of a fully rounded actor, getting the opportunity to build a personal technique through an array of core courses.
The current faculty is comprised of top practitioners from Ireland, Great Britain, Europe, Canada, and the United States, who treat each student's creative journey individually.
We also draw upon working relationships with Ireland's professional arts community, including associations with the Gate, Gaiety and Abbey theatres, RTE and Ardmore Film Studios.
First-year consists in ‘learning the language' of acting: inner and outer awareness, performance principles and a full-bodied preparation for physical, intellectual, and emotional growth.
Second year works on ‘speaking the language': strengthen and tune the actor's instrument while maintaining a strong emphasis on performance, and starting presenting the work to directors, casting directors and agents.
Check out this video of 1st Year Students talking about training at the GSA!
Download the Two Year Full Time Actor Training Brochure
Funding Information and Options
The Gaiety School of Acting is a private school, and as such our students are generally not eligible for county and city council grants or tax relief on fees. There are, however, a number of funding options you may wish to consider to fund your training:
- The Gaiety School of Ireland is proud to be in partnership with the Gaiety Theatre who provide a bursary each year to two of our 2nd year students. This is a 10-year relationship which will run until 2016. The fund is allocated by audition - 1st years audition for a panel of 2 people connected to both the Gaiety School of Acting and Gaiety Theatre. On the basis of audition and interview, the fund is allocated to cover half the fees for 2nd year for 2 students.
- Some of our students have been allocated funding they have sourced independently through their own network of, for example, former employers. Think about the connections you have made - at work, in your community, amongst family and friends etc - and perhaps there is someone who may wish to be affiliated with your training?
- There are occassionally other external scholarship and bursary options offered from year to year which we will keep you informed about as they arise.
Feel free to contact us with any questions you have regarding funding and fees. We will be happy to advise in any way we can
Core Course Work
Performance Technique
Acting
First year is focused on developing concentration, imagination, discipline, and a strong group dynamic, as well as in nurturing and understanding the presence of the actor. Second year is spent developing a strong, versatile rehearsal-and performance technique, first through an immersion in the works of Shakespeare, then in widely divergent styles from Sophocles to Caryl Churchill, and finally with a full term on Stanislavski and Chekhov.
Improvisation
Central to the development of a strong actor, the first year of improvisation sets about to challenge the imagination, while promoting spontaneity and building confidence. Second year is focused on developing ideas, characters, narratives, thoughts and images, which, in turn, feed the process of developing the commissioned graduation play.
Devising
In this innovative course, the students learn practical ways in which new ideas can be developed and new work created. European and American techniques - ranging from Theatre de Complicité to Ann Bogart - are used as reference points for the development of students’ original works.
At the end of second year a devising showcase takes place, with directors, casting directors and agents as our guests.
Film & Television
Second-year students receive an intensive introduction to film and television acting focusing on audition technique, monologue and duologue scene work, and making of short films
Radio
Students are introduced to the world of radio and radio drama. This practical course gives students an understanding of the potential and possibilities of radio.
Showcase & Graduation Play
At the end of second year the students present an advanced scene showcase in a Dublin theatre space - the Abbey, Peacock, Gate or Project Arts Centre. The year finishes with the students going into a four-week rehearsal period with a professional support team - director, designers, and production managers-, working on an original play, emerged from the improvisation class and crafted into an original text by a writer in residence. The graduation play is open to the public.
Manifesto
Ranging from performance technique to reflection, the course pairs up the students with a mentor from the Irish theatre industry on the challenge of building a creative response to the different and current society issues, from their own personal perspective.