Fishamble: The New Play Company

Fishamble: The New Play Company
Pigsback
Address	1–2 Eustace Street; Dublin; Ireland
Website
	http://fishamble.com/

Fishamble: The New Play Company is a Dublin-based theatre company specialising in new writing.

History

Established in 1988, Fishamble became dedicated solely to the development and production of new Irish work in 1990. Originally called ‘Pigsback’, the company was renamed ‘Fishamble’ in 1997 in honour of Dublin’s Fishamble Street, where in 1784, Robert Owenson established the first theatre dedicated to producing new Irish plays. Fishamble has developed, produced and commissioned plays by many Irish writers including Maeve Binchy, Sebastian Barry, Joseph O'Connor, Mark O'Rowe, Dermot Bolger, Marina Carr, Colum McCann, Pat Kinevane and Gary Duggan. Fishamble has a history of supporting the first plays of new writers through the Fishamble Firsts Scheme. In addition, Fishamble has worked in partnership with a variety of festivals, organisations and venues, including Dublin City Council, The Arts Council, Project Arts Centre, Dublin Fringe Festival, Arts & Disability Ireland, Dublin Theatre Festival, Culture Iedireland, Amnesty International, the British Council, Galway Arts Festival, Tinderbox Theatre Company, and the Irish Times. Fishamble has brought its productions to audiences throughout Ireland as well as to England, Scotland,USA, Canada, Australia, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, France, Germany, Iceland,Croatia and the Czech Republic. Awards for Fishamble's productions include Fringe First Awards, Herald Angel Awards, Argus Angel Awards, Irish Times Theatre Awards, 1st Irish Awards and, for many of its first-time playwrights, Stewart Parker Trust Awards. Fishamble's body of work is archived in The National Library of Ireland and at Notre Dame University. Fishamble is the theatre company in association at University College Dublin. Fishamble is staffed by Jim Culleton, the artistic director, Marketa Dowling, the general manager and producer and Gavin Kostick, the literary manager.

New writing

Fishamble supports new Irish writing through a variety of initiatives, courses and mentorship programs. Since 2007, Fishamble has awarded the New Writing Award for a production within the Dublin Fringe Festival. Previous winners that have since toured internationally include Elaine Murphy for 'Little Gem' and Amy Conroy for 'I heart Alice heart I'. In conjunction with the Dublin Fringe Festival and Irish Theatre Institute, Fishamble has run the 'Show in a Bag' initiative since 2010. 'Show in a Bag' assists actors, either solo or in pairs, to write a script and produce a show for the Dublin Fringe, which then has the potential to tour. Previous 'Show in a Bag' productions have toured throughout Ireland and internationally. The company also offers the New Play Clinic, an initiative to assist in the dramaturgical development of new plays to be performed in Ireland.

Productions

Spinning (2015)^[1]
Swing (2014)
Guaranteed! By Colin Murphy (2013)
Tiny Plays for Ireland 2 (2013)
Mainstream (one-off performance) By Rosaleen McDonagh (2012)
Great Goat Bubble By Julian Gough (2012)
Tiny Plays for Ireland 1 (2012)
The Wheelchair on My Face by Sonya Kelly (2012– present)
The End of the Road by Gavin Kostick (2011)
Silent by Pat Kinevane (2011– present)^[2]
Big Ole Piece of Cake by Sean McLoughlin (2010)
Turning Point (in Association with Arts & Disability Ireland) (2010)
Forgotten by Pat Kinevane (2007– present)
Strandline by Abbie Spallen (2009)
Handel's Crossing by Joseph O'Connor (2009)
Begotten Not Made (staged reading) by Paul Meade (2009)
Rank by Robert Massey (2008)
Noah and the Tower Flower by Sean Macloughlin (2007) (New York, 2011)
The Pride of Parnell Street by Sebastian Barry (2007–2009),(2011)
Whereabouts (series of short, site-specific plays) (2006)
The Gist of It by Rodney Lee (2006)
55˚ and Rising (in association with British Council, series of Scottish play readings) (2005)
Monged by Gary Duggan (2005)
She Was Wearing… (in association with Amnesty International) (2005)
Pilgrims in the Park by Jim O'Hanlon (2004)
Dislocated: A Series of Readings (plays by German, Irish and British writers) (2004)
Tadhg Stray Wandered In by Michael Collins (2004)
Radio Plays with Lyric Fm (2003)
The Buddhist of Castleknock by Jim O’Hanlon (2003)
Shorts (in association with Project Arts) (2003)
Still by Rosalind Haslett (2002)
The Carnival King by Ian Kilroy (2001)
Wired to the Moon by Maeve Binchy (2001)
The Music of Ghostlight (one-off performance) By Joseph O'Connor (2000)
Y2K Festival (series of plays surrounding the new millennium) (2000)
The Plains of Enna by Pat Kinevane (1999)
True Believers by Joe O'Connor (1999)
The Nun's Wood by Pat Kinevane (1998)
From Both Hips by Mark O'Rowe (1997)

As Pigsback

The Flesh Addict by Gavin Kostick (1996)
Sardines by Michael West (1995)
Red Roses and Petrol by Joe O'Connor (1995)
Jack Ketch's Gallows Jig by Gavin Kostick (1994)
Buffalo Bill Has Gone to Alaska by Colin Teenan (1993)
The Ash Fire by Gavin Kostick (1992–1993)
The Tender Trap by Michael West (1992)
Howling Moons, Silent Sons by Deirdre Hines (1991)
This Love Thing by Marina Carr (1991)
Don Juan by Michael West (1990)

References

^ "Review - Spinning". Irish Times. Irish Times. Retrieved 24 April 2015.
^ "Silent and Forgotten". Irish Theatre Magazine. Irish Theatre Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2015.

External links

Fishamble: The New Play Company Website