A Trinity College Dublin (TCD) forum to review the needs of undergraduate actor training in Ireland, which met for the first time earlier this week, is extremely unlikely to conclude its work before the summer, it has emerged.
Among the issues the forum is examining are the number of actors that Ireland should train each year, where this training should take place, and how it might be funded.
The establishment of the forum, whose membership includes the director of the Abbey Theatre, Fiach Mac Conghail, actor Fiona Shaw and the director of the Gate Theatre, Michael Colgan, was announced by TCD last month.
It followed widespread criticism - led in part by Mr Mac Conghail - of TCD's decision to cancel its renowned three-year undergraduate acting degree course in January.
For the first time yesterday, the college revealed full details of the membership of the forum - chaired by Prof Nicholas Grene of TCD - as well as details of the four broad issues it will examine.According to a spokeswoman for TCD, these are:
Market and career path: how many actors should Ireland be training each year and for what sort of work?
Location: where should acting training courses be placed, inside or outside the universities, and what should their relationship be with professional theatre?
Models of acting training: what are the available courses and the underlying principles informing them?
Funding: how might courses be best funded - by State, private or public/private partnership agencies?
The membership of the forum is comprised of 14 "key stakeholders" in the theatre profession.
Last month the college declined to say if it would be willing to revisit its decision to cancel the course.
TCD has also proposed that the forum should include a discussion of the potential role of a national institute for dramatic arts.
Forum members
Prof Nicholas Grene of TCD
Tania Banotti, CEO, Theatre Forum Ireland
Anne Clarke, producer, Landmark Productions
Michael Colgan, director, Gate Theatre
Prof Nesta Jones of the Rose Bruford School, London
Mark Lambert, actor and director
Fiach Mac Conghail, Abbey Theatre director
Martin Murphy, manager, Pavillion Theatre, Dún Laoghaire
Lynne Parker, artistic director, Rough Magic
Enid Reid Whyte, theatre consultant with the Arts Council
Actor Fiona Shaw
Brian Singleton, head of drama at TCD
Garry Hynes, artistic director, Druid Theatre
Fintan O'Toole, assistant editor of
The Irish Times.
The forum will issue a call for submissions from other interested individuals and institutions on the issues to be debated.