Abbey Theatre - Amharclann na Mainistreach

Facilitators: Brian Singleton (Research Fellow at the Freie Universität Berlin and Associate Professor of Drama at Trinity College Dublin) and Bryan Delaney (New Playwrights Programme Manager, Abbey Theatre).

The third workshop took place on Monday 21 June and focused on ‘non-traditional’ dramatic structure and form. Brian Singleton did a fascinating workshop on the theme of ‘ritual’ in the theatre. Brian began with a discussion of Japanese Noh theatre, concentrating on the tight three part structure and the idea of the ‘transformation’ of character within the ritual of the Noh. Brian then went on to explore the idea of ritual in a wider sense, what elements are required to make up a ritual and how ritual applies to theatre texts. As much as possible, the discussion was related back to the actual practice of the writers in the room and how they could use the idea of ritual in their own work as playwrights. Brian gave us an in-depth analysis of two seemingly unrelated plays – Cathleen Ni Houlihan by Yeats and Crave by Sarah Kane and showed how the idea and structure of ritual was particularly pertinent to those two texts and imbedded strongly in the form of each.

What was fascinating about the workshop was the degree to which ritual forms a central pillar of so much drama, both historical and contemporary. It became clear to all in the room the extent to which playwrights the world over have placed ritual at the very heart of their dramaturgy, and often quite deliberately. From Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, to Faith Healer, from The Walworth Farce and The New Electric Ballroom to Waiting for Godot, The Balcony, Bailegangaire and countless other plays, the more we excavated the notion of ritual, the more it emerged as a fundamental element of dramatic structure. This was a particularly rich session, especially given that a number of the writers on the New Playwrights Programme have already used ritual in a significant way in their own work. The usefulness of the workshop for their own practice as playwrights was immediate and clear.

The fourth workshop will take place on Monday 5th July when New Playwrights Programme Manager, Bryan Delaney will give a workshop on writing effective characters in drama.

Read about Workshop 2 and 3.