A Night at The Lir National Academy
The Lir National Academy of Trinity College Dublin squats happily, if somewhat bleakly on Pearse Street, mere minutes away from a 90 degree angle in the Grand Canal. The grey building fits in with its surroundings, but reveals its more artistic nature as it is decorated with voluptuous green blobs, representing ‘atoms of creativity’. They sit strikingly bright against the soft slate colour of the rest of the building. Developed with the combined help of Trinity College Dublin and the Cathal Ryan Trust, the building opened its doors to the first students in acting, stage management, lighting design and an array of other theatre based courses in 2011.
The Cathal Ryan Trust was created in memory of the late Capt. Cathal Ryan, the founder of Ryanair. It has previously aided in funding schools and maternity hospitals in the north of Sri Lanka, following the 26 year long war that harrowed the country.
The Lir Academy can proudly boast a strong affiliation with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, and combining this with its close connection with Trinity College. The courses that are offered are set at the highest national and international standard, ensuring that students receive only the best education in the field. As well as providing courses in the dramatic arts, The Lir Academy regularly presents student performances throughout the year – these are open to the public and are a result of a culmination of the students’ work, perhaps tempting prospective students with a visual representation of all can be achieved here.
Heading into the building from the outside, you slip in through a secluded doorway and take the first on your right into a waiting area. Picking up the tickets for the show you want to see is a dawdle once you locate the small and cosy looking ticket booth on the left, low enough for even a child to be able to stutter his surname at the expectant lady behind the glass, who hands over the slips of paper with a smile.
After getting your tickets, if you have time to kill before the doors open, you can grab a drink from a varied menu and sit comfortably by a table, the colour of the surface matching the exterior of the building. The plain furniture betrays its function – the student-friendly appearance of the bar area gives you the feeling that after a long day of rehearsals it can get crowded with knackered students needing a refreshment, and who are we to judge?
Once the doors open into the theatre area itself (in this case, speaking from experience, they open to reveal black box theatre room Studio 1), you are treated to soft and comfortable bar stool seating, presented in grey rows along the back of the room. The room itself is completely black, yes, hence the name, giving the impression that anything can be created within the space, if only you have the imagination and the tools. A perfect example of this can be taken from the play The Skriker, which was recently performed by students at The Lir Academy. While watching The Skriker it was possible to experience the sound, light and backdrop in the black box studio, and see what a simple prop like a division of two-paned glass can do to effectively create a divide between the inside and the outside, the underworld and the real world.
Stepping outside after witnessing a performance in these wonderfully diverse black boxes you find yourself hungry for more – and leave the way you came in, only this time you are desperately clutching a programme, already taking note of when the next performance is running.
