Stagecoach Workshop next week

'Don't put your daughter on the stage, Mrs Worthington,' was the answer of Noel Coward when he was pursued around a ship by the said Mrs W on a voyage from the Far East. She wanted his help to give her daughter a start, but, as he said, 'the profession is overcrowded, and the struggle's pretty tough'.

But these days, putting your son or daughter on the stage is not necessarily to prepare them for a career on the boards, rather to give them something that will enhance their ability to get through life no matter what career they choose.

"It is really about giving them confidence and self-esteem," says Marieclare McMahon, principal of drama school Stagecoach Kildare (pictured above with musical star Rebecca Storm). "They learn skills from acting, singing and drama that will serve them through life."

Mariclare says she is herself a perfect example of that, having been a very shy child in school. But she did drama right through, and believes that the experience helped her very much in her adult life. "Children who do drama are prepared. They gain an inner self-belief, they just feel they can do things."

In the Stagecoach workshops, the children are expected to do more than just get up on stage and sing a song. "They need to be challenged, but we have to be careful to balance that with each child, because each is different."

Mariclare took on the Kildare franchise of the international Stagecoach Theatre Arts School in 2009, and runs it from a base in Kilcullen's Cross & Passion College.

Students get three hours training each Saturday morning in singing, dance and drama, and each 'age appropriate' group consists of no more than 15 students. The age range is 6-18, but there is also a 90-minute Early Stages class for younger children.

A Holiday Workshop will be held in Cross & Passion College from 16-20 August. Contact Mariclare at 045 484879 for information. Bookings are also being taken for the next term in September.

Brian Byrne.