OSCAR WILDE said that he regarded theatre as “the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being”. When Trinity College decided a few years ago to discontinue its acting studies course, the response was one of justified protest, with some of the most vociferous criticism coming from the theatre sector which had been a beneficiary of the talent that had emerged from Trinity’s programme over many years.
The decision to drop the course may in retrospect have been one of the best the college could have made – certainly the result is one with far-reaching and positive consequences for Irish theatre. Out of the subsequent forum on acting, set up by the college in collaboration with several of the country’s leading theatre professionals, the college’s new Academy of Dramatic Art, The Lir, was born.
This new state-of-the-art centre has been made possible through an exemplary act of arts philanthropy – a partnership between the college and the Cathal Ryan Trust. This partnership comes at a time when the arts need more such private funding and patronage. It is also a demonstration of real faith in the upcoming generation of talent that will shape the future of Irish theatre and build on the success story that has opened the way for our companies and performers to bring their work to international audiences. It is to the college’s credit that the whole project has been brought from concept to bricks and mortar with such alacrity and commitment.
The Lir represents a giant step in the development of training for a life in theatre in this country, and that nurturing of talent will extend not just to those who want to “strut and fret their hour upon the stage”, but also to directors, designers, and those wishing to follow a career backstage, on the technical side. Not only has The Lir taken Rada as its model, but it has also established a very practical link-up with that most revered of Britain’s institutions, signalling the values and ambition of the forces behind this project.
Perhaps most significant, The Lir is aiming for diversity in the background of its students, with the promise that lack of formal educational achievement will not be a barrier for those who show promise. No better place than the theatre for such egalitarianism. The Lir seems destined to figure prominently as the theatrical alma mater in the programme biographies and job CVs of a whole new generation of Irish stars of stage and backstage.