The building of Lir

Ireland's first national academy for the performing arts, the Lir, opens later this month in an impressive new building in
Dublin. ROSITA BOLANDspeaks to its artistic director, Loughlin Deegan, about his hopes and plans for the academy

SINCE THE scaffolding came down a few weeks ago on the corner of Pearse Street and Grand Canal Quay, Dubliners have been able to get their first proper look at the area’s newest flagship building. The Lir is a starkly beautiful piece of concrete, with eye-catching irregular-shaped windows and a series of glass bricks and panels that will light up at night. The architects for the project were Smith Kennedy.

This is the location of Ireland’s first national academy for the performing arts, the Lir – although it appears to already have been rechristened by the public from the name in the Irish folktale to the Shakespearean “Lear”. The Lir was developed through a partnership between the Cathal Ryan Trust and Trinity College Dublin; it’s full name is the National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College.

Loughlin Deegan, who is the Lir’s artistic director, explains that the academy is an independent company. It’s funded by the trust, Trinity, and by wider association, the Higher Education Authority. Trinity owns the building, and is leasing it back to the Lir. The academic director is Brian Singleton, who also holds the Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama and Theatre at Trinity.

On the day I visit, the building is nearing completion, although furniture, equipment and kitchens are still to be installed. The exterior brutalist architectural theme of classic materials used to stark advantage continues inside. It’s all polished concrete, textured plastering, bare wood – including an MDF-clad lobby that’s sure to be a talking point – and exposed metal pipes. The industrial theme created by Smith Kennedy reflects the fact that the site was once occupied by a warehouse.

It’s envisaged that, in time, the public will be regular visitors to the Lir. The first thing they’ll see is the central area that, for the immediate future, will serve as a canteen and small performance area for the incoming students. It will also act as a foyer and café for the occasions when shows will be performed in either or both of the building’s two black-box spaces, the largest of which will hold 400 people, and there is a second space that can be divided in two.

London’s Royal College of Dramatic Arts (Rada) is formally associated with the Lir, and it advised on what was needed for the interior layout of the building. For instance, Deegan opens the doors to several very small rooms, which probably won’t hold more than a couple of chairs and a table. They’re windowless cubby holes; cave-like retreats. These were put in on the specific advice of Rada, to be used as spaces for students to warm up in private, or to rehearse their lines; for short tutorials with teachers, or to simply vanish into for short intervals to recharge from what will be a frantic and relentless schedule of classes.

Apart from the black-box spaces, among the many facilities this purpose-built academy has are a large dance studio with an enviable view of Grand Canal Basin, two rehearsal rooms, four practice rooms, a wardrobe workshop, a fully-equipped technical workshop, and library. Students will also have full access to all of Trinity’s facilities, including the libraries.

The academy will roll out its courses over the next few years. This academic year, only two courses will start. They are the BA in acting and the MFA in playwrighting. Both are already full, with the majority of the students originating from Ireland. Among those who will be teaching the playwrighting students are playwrights Marina Carr and Gavin Kostick, and Thomas Conroy, literary manager of the Druid Theatre. Courses that will be offered in the future include directing, lighting design, stage design, stage management and technical theatre.

AS DEEGAN WALKS though each room, he explains what will be happening there. In the technical design room, there is a huge and complicated-looking extractor fan that would put one in mind of a kitchen. It’s to take out all the sawdust and fibres from the angle-grinding and sawing that will be going on in the creation of sets. At the Lir, a bit down the line when all the courses are running, those students taking stage and lighting design, and costume, will make all the sets and costumes for the shows the acting students will regularly perform. In the interim, they’re looking at leasing the technical spaces. “We’re hoping that the theatre industry will be involved with the Lir,” Deegan says.

There will be 15 students on the acting course, 14 of whom are Irish and one American. On the playwrighting MFA, there are 10 students enrolled, who range in age from those in their early-20s to late-40s.

Fundraising for bursaries will be part of Deegan’s job. The fees for the acting course are €9,500 per year. The MFA, which is one year, is €9,000.

As part of his preparation for his new job, Deegan spent some days visiting Rada, observing how the students worked. “I was left with two very strong impressions,” he recalls. “One, how intensive their training is, and the other, what a sense of ensemble and trust they had in each other.”

Rada is an organisation with an international reputation; with famously competitive auditions. How does a new academy such as the Lir develop a reputation? Deegan acknowledges it will take time, but he is confident that the Dublin-located Lir will become a destination academy for the performing arts.

“You build up a reputation by the quality of the courses you offer and the students you attract. What we’ll be offering here will be courses of international standards that were not available until now.”

His appointment came early in the summer, and as Deegan is also the outgoing director of the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival (DTF), he has been immersed in work for months.

Deegan’s five years as director of DTF had its own dramas, in that when he took over, Ireland was wealthy, and as he leaves, the IMF have been to visit.

“Usually as director, you build up over time and expand the programme,” he says ruefully. “My time was inverted. I started with the 50th anniversary of the theatre festival, and additional funding that year. Then, the cutbacks started.”

Tickets for DTF shows couldn’t be described as cheap, and if you want to see more than one show, it quickly adds up. But the good news is that this year, under a scheme named Final Call, the public will be able to avail of €10 standby tickets to shows. The festival will publicise each day which shows will have a standby allocation via their website, Facebook, and Twitter. A certain number of tickets will be on sale at the box office between 4pm and 6pm, or until they sell out.

As of yet, not even one stick of greasepaint has been unwrapped in the Lir, or a single class given to the performers and playwrights of tomorrow. It would be a fine symmetry to Deegan’s career should some of the students he will be responsible for eventually end up performing in the theatre festival he directed for five years.

Life at the Lir

What is it?Ireland's first academy of the performing arts, affiliated with Trinity College Dublin

Where is it?On the corner of Pearse Street and Grand Canal Quay

Who's funding it?A partnership between the Cathal Ryan Trust and Trinity College Dublin. The late Cathal Ryan was a founder member of Ryanair. His daughter, Danielle, who set up the trust in his memory, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) in London.

When can the public see it? There will be shows there during both the Absolut Fringe Festival (including Chesslaugh Mewash) and the Dublin Theatre Festival. The building will also be open during Open House Dublin in October.

How many students will start there this September?There will be 25; 15 on the BA in acting, and 10 on the MFA in playwrighting.