Irish Board of Speech & Drama

Speech and Drama Teachers of Ireland WORKSHOP

irishboard — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 10:12:03 +0000

I understand that this workshop (scheduled for Sunday 19 February) has been postponed.

Keep an eye out for a new date.

Sligo Féis Ceoil

irishboard — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:56:04 +0000

The nice people at Sligo Féis Ceoil have asked me to remind you that the closing date for entries is STRICTLY 24 February. The Féis takes place at Easter.

It’s open to all and they have some amazing prizes, scholarships and bursaries on offer in some of the competitions. One of them is worth €500! So even if you’re not from Sligo, it’s definitely worth having a look.

This link (Sligo Féis Ceoil) is to their Facebook page which has up-to-date information on the féis and on which you’ll find a further link to their main website.

Period Movement and Costume

irishboard — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:11:31 +0000

A query from a teacher about the theory of Period Movement sparked a quick internet search.

I found a quite remarkable book called ‘Playing Period Plays‘ by Lyn Oxenford. It was published first in 1957 and it contains significant detail about dress, costumes, music and manners in various theatrical periods: Medieval and early Tudor, Elizabethan and Jacobean, Restoration and Georgian, and Victorian and Edwardian.

For each period, Oxenford considers the spirit of the plays of the period, movement in costume (including very detailed descriptions of costumes), occupations, manners and dances, and music. There are illustrations, historical notes, further reading suggestions and suggestions for scenes to practice the movement of the period.

Here’s a link to the book on Amazon.co.uk: ‘Playing Period Plays’

The one I got cost £1.90 plus postage.

Examination bookings

irishboard — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 11:02:06 +0000

January was very busy with advance bookings of centres. March is pretty well booked out for exams now with just one or two slots still available. April is filling up very fast, and we have a some exams already provisionally booked in May, June and September (!).

Growing Up in Ireland

irishboard — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:36:03 +0000

The latest report from this important longitudinal study was published today and makes interesting reading. The study has been tracking 8000 nine year-olds and 11000 nine month-olds in order to build up a picture of the experience of childhood in Ireland.

The report published today focuses on the influence of out-of-school activities on educational performance. Among the findings were that those children who engage in ‘cultural’ pursuits outside school (e.g. speech and drama) seem to perform better at certain school subjects (such as reading and maths) than those who don’t. Cultural pursuits was only one of the indicators of enhanced performance but, for speech and drama teachers, this is very good news and something that can and should be highlighted to parents.

The report also notes that these educational benefits can be negated for children who engage in too many out of school activities. I feel very strongly about this and I am pleased that an authoritative report has highlighted the potential damage to children who are simply too busy. Time to do nothing and even be bored is an essential part of the value of childhood.

Here’s a link to the page on the Growing Up in Ireland site announcing today’s publication: Growing Up in Ireland – ‘Influences on 9-Year-Olds’ Learning: Home, School and Community

Booking Centres with the Irish Board

irishboard — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:20:58 +0000

Just a reminder: February and March are filling up very quickly with examination bookings and many dates are already unavailable. Please don’t leave it till the last minute to book your exams and always have a few date options in mind. Contact us by phone or email.

Feiseanna

irishboard — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 15:17:57 +0000

Many feiseanna take place just before or during Easter and you’d want to keep an eye on closing dates, which will be coming up soon. Our list of feiseanna in Ireland can be found HERE.

January 2012 Newsletter

irishboard — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:05:46 +0000

Click here for a downloadable copy, although it is going in the post today.

A is for absurdism

irishboard — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:17:18 +0000

Michael Billington, the drama critic of the Guardian newspaper, is writing a series of articles called the ‘A to Z of Modern Drama’ which teachers and senior students might find of interest.

The first one is ‘A is for Absurdism‘ and if you follow this link, you’ll find a link to B, C and D too.

Happy New Year! Let’s hope 2012 is a good one.

Buying Drama Books

irishboard — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 11:10:15 +0000

If you’re not sure about ordering our books online, you can simply print out this Order Form, indicate the books you want and send it to us with a cheque or Postal Order. Our books site (www.dramabooks.ie) contains information about the books, so you can refer to it for more details about each publication.