Druid’s bursary scheme offering a ‘safe creative space’ to two female directors
Directors Sarah Baxter and Emily Foran have been selected for Druid Theatre’s annual Marie Mullen Bursary for Female Artists for 2020.
This is the third year of the bursary programme which is named in honour of actress and Druid co-founder, Marie Mullen and it’s the first time two people have been accepted on the programme. The bursary scheme is designed to address the historic imbalance of female representation in theatre and to support the professional development of women in Irish theatre.
Sarah and Emily will work as Assistant Directors on productions in Druids 2020/2021 season.
They will each receive a stipend of €2,000, along with mentoring and access to workshops and to Druid’s other development programmes, including FUEL and Druid Debuts.
The winner of the first bursary award, in 2018, was Eleanor White. She worked with the company as dramaturg for its production of Richard III and has since been appointed Literary Associate at the Traverse Theatre, Scotland.
Clíodhna Hallissey, who won last year’s bursary, was Assistant Costume Designer for The Cherry Orchard, which was staged in Galway this February, and will act as Costume Designer on one of Druid’s major productions, scheduled for later this year. The expansion of the bursary in 2020 is a response to uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Druid’s Artistic Director, Garry Hynes.
The decision to have two recipients follows the company’s decision to expand its annual Druid Debut series from two to four new works this year.
The Druid Debuts are designed to promote new writing and are normally a key part of the Galway International Arts Festival programme. They have gone online for July 2020 because of Covid-19, with rehearsed readings of four new plays being shown via Zoom. The last one will be shown next Thursday, July 23.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.