Papers by Shelley Troupe
The Palgrave Handbook of Contemporary Irish Theatre and Performance, 2018
Making waves with its Expressionist-inspired, visually stunning shows, Dublin-based Co-Motion The... more Making waves with its Expressionist-inspired, visually stunning shows, Dublin-based Co-Motion Theatre Company debuted in 1985 to became one of the most successful independent companies of the late 1980s and early 1990s. A little more than a decade later, though, Co-Motion bowed to financial and administrative pressures, wrapping up in 1997. Drawing its roots from the style and interests of Co-Motion Theatre Company, Co-Motion Media appeared on the Dublin theatrical landscape in 2015.
Using Co-Motion Theatre Company and Co-Motion Media as case studies and augmented with interviews with co-founders Joe O’Byrne and Declan Gorman, this chapter seeks to identify changes in Irish funding structures from 1985 to 2015, demonstrating how those shifts influence a company’s artistic product and touring policy. To do so, this study gives a short history of funding through the ages and in Ireland to point up the tensions between funders and artistic product. Moving on, an analysis of the artistic and administrative history of Co-Motion Theatre in the 1980s showcases the importance of funding and infrastructure development to the company’s success and its ultimate demise. The evolution of Irish arts funding in the intervening years is discussed and the chapter concludes by illustrating how funding changes impact on companies such as Co-Motion Media in the present day.
The Great Famine and its Impacts: Visual and Material Culture
The first in a series of three articles for London's Ardent Theatre that trace the relationship b... more The first in a series of three articles for London's Ardent Theatre that trace the relationship between Ireland and South Africa to contextualise the 1984-1987 Dunnes Store anti-apartheid strike.
Oxford Handbook of Modern Irish Theatre, Jul 2016
Teresa Deevy Archive; National University of Ireland, Maynooth, May 2014
The first of Teresa Deevy's plays produced by the Abbey Theatre is a very good example of the eph... more The first of Teresa Deevy's plays produced by the Abbey Theatre is a very good example of the ephemerality of the art form. To answer the question "What do we know about The Reapers?" necessitates an exploration of surviving textual and production evidence. Finding such materials requires that the researcher enter into a Theatre Studies Investigation (TSI) about the work of Teresa Deevy, which results in the discovery that there is little surviving evidence from which to piece together a clear picture of the Abbey's 1930 production of the three-act play. At present, no known copy of the script has survived and the large-scale efforts of the National University of Ireland, Galway, to digitize the Abbey Theatre's archives has revealed only the production programme, a copy of which is also available in the Teresa Deevy Archive held by the National University of Ireland, Maynooth [LINK to PROGRAMME]. So, what do we know about 'The Reapers'? The three main sources of information about Deevy's play are reviews of the play's premiere, academic writing on the play, and the Abbey's production programme. From those sources, some interesting observations about the play and the performance can be gleaned. The Play Without a script, recounting the play's narrative is contingent on the critical and academic reports of it. It is, perhaps, significant that a clear-cut plot does not emerge from the reviews since, as one reviewer notes: "I am under no obligation to spoil an
Irish Studies Review, Apr 1, 2014
This article considers the relationship between Druid Theatre's productions and its administratio... more This article considers the relationship between Druid Theatre's productions and its administration during the company's first decade by investigating the links between three features: the company's fundraising practices; Druid's infrastructure development in terms of personnel and physical space; and the organisation's programming choices. Druid's artistic partnership with Irish playwright Tom Murphy is also examined as it assisted in launching Druid's international touring when Murphy's Conversations on a Homecoming was the first Druid production to travel outside of the United States/United Kingdom festival circuit.
Keywords: Druid Theatre, Tom Murphy, Ireland, funding, Irish theatre.
Interviews by Shelley Troupe
My interview with Near FM's Conor Doyle about Ireland's #WakingTheFeminists movement.
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Papers by Shelley Troupe
Using Co-Motion Theatre Company and Co-Motion Media as case studies and augmented with interviews with co-founders Joe O’Byrne and Declan Gorman, this chapter seeks to identify changes in Irish funding structures from 1985 to 2015, demonstrating how those shifts influence a company’s artistic product and touring policy. To do so, this study gives a short history of funding through the ages and in Ireland to point up the tensions between funders and artistic product. Moving on, an analysis of the artistic and administrative history of Co-Motion Theatre in the 1980s showcases the importance of funding and infrastructure development to the company’s success and its ultimate demise. The evolution of Irish arts funding in the intervening years is discussed and the chapter concludes by illustrating how funding changes impact on companies such as Co-Motion Media in the present day.
Keywords: Druid Theatre, Tom Murphy, Ireland, funding, Irish theatre.
Interviews by Shelley Troupe
Using Co-Motion Theatre Company and Co-Motion Media as case studies and augmented with interviews with co-founders Joe O’Byrne and Declan Gorman, this chapter seeks to identify changes in Irish funding structures from 1985 to 2015, demonstrating how those shifts influence a company’s artistic product and touring policy. To do so, this study gives a short history of funding through the ages and in Ireland to point up the tensions between funders and artistic product. Moving on, an analysis of the artistic and administrative history of Co-Motion Theatre in the 1980s showcases the importance of funding and infrastructure development to the company’s success and its ultimate demise. The evolution of Irish arts funding in the intervening years is discussed and the chapter concludes by illustrating how funding changes impact on companies such as Co-Motion Media in the present day.
Keywords: Druid Theatre, Tom Murphy, Ireland, funding, Irish theatre.