Kilcullen Drama Group Workshop

Images: Kilcullen Drama Group.

When voluntary groups and committees wish to upskill and develop, they often look to outside agencies for guidance and to facilitate seminars, writes Esther Reddy. Not so Kilcullen Drama Group, who looked to one of their own to run a workshop on Sunday, July 13th, in Kilcullen Town Hall. 

Allan Clarke, who has been a part of Kilcullen Drama Group for six years, led an afternoon on acting skills, drawing in no small part from his own wide and varied experience. Allan is an award-winning actor with a long-standing presence on the Irish drama circuit. Audiences in Kilcullen will remember his performances in “The Seafarer”, “Out of Order”, “A Skull in Connemara”, “Calendar Girls” and, more recently, his outstanding performance as ‘Mad Padraic’ in “The Lieutenant of Inishmore”. 

A group of twenty attended the acting workshop with Allan, some of whom are members of Kilcullen Drama Group and some people who are just curious about the world of thespians! Through demonstration and interactive activities, Allan led the group through a range of techniques and skills, from the essential art of line learning to using tempo and rhythm and understanding psychological gestures to improve the understanding of characterisation. Allan had approaches to acting which had not been considered before by Kilcullen Drama Group, such as learning lines backwards and considering your character as a matching animal! He gave the group different ways to get a deeper perspective of characters and their interaction with each other, and interspersed the session with practical examples through role play and from sharing his own approaches to performing. 

It was a very fruitful afternoon, and all participants came away feeling that they had richly gained from the experience. Kilcullen Drama Group is very grateful to Allan Clarke for generously sharing his expertise with the group and looks forward to more similar workshops. 

Anyone who might be interested in being a part of Kilcullen Drama Group can send a message to 087 4707652. New members are always welcome.

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