The Stage

Dublin school to move into historic Smock Alley theatre

Published Thursday 2 November 2006 at 11:45 by Anthony Garvey

Irish actors of the future can look forward to learning their craft in a theatre where David Garrick is reputed to have played and which is said to have once rivalled London’s Drury Lane in importance.

Smock Alley, built in 1662, was Dublin’s first and most celebrated theatre. Now the original building in the city’s cultural quarter of Temple Bar, which has been put to a variety of uses over the years, is to be restored as the new home of the Gaiety School of Acting.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has laid the first brick in the refurbishment project, which will cost a total of €5.2 million, with the state contributing €2 million and the remainder coming - it is hoped - from the business community.

The occasion was a double celebration as it also marked a 20th anniversary party for the Gaiety School, founded by the Abbey’s former artistic director Joe Dowling, now director of the Guthrie Theatre complex in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Current school director Patrick Sutton described the original Smock Alley as “one of the most famous theatres in Europe” and said: “We’re putting it back to where it belongs.” A 220-seat main theatre, with a 100-seat studio space, is planned and the venue will be rented to outside companies as well as housing the Gaiety School.

Future training at the school, which has alumni including Hollywood star Colin Farrell, will also have a new dimension. It will include a three-year degree course, validated by Dublin City University.

Speaking at the launch, Ahern paid tribute to all those involved in the restoration project and the school. “A society without actors and storytellers, without singers, dancers and writers, is an empty society with nothing to say,” he told his audience. “We need our artists to let us see ourselves and to help us shape and make sense of the world.”

Fred O’Donovan, a long-time champion of the Gaiety, was presented with an inaugural Applause Award by the acting school.