Cork's new theatre collective kicks off
Cork's new theatre collective kicks off
Cork Theatre Collective is the new kid on the block, based in the hallowed space at the Triskel where Corcadorca once reigned. This weekend, four artists funded by CTC will showcase works in progress.
When renowned theatre company Corcadorca staged their final production in 2022, it not only meant that the city of Cork was suddenly without its most prolific and pioneering theatre troupe, it also meant the additional closure of their development centre on Tobin Street, which was an invaluable facility to theatre makers based across the city and beyond.
This past year however has seen the formation of a new company, Cork Theatre Collective (CTC), who have taken up residence in the space vacated by Corcadorca in the Triskel Arts Centre, and they have been busy assessing the theatre scene and gaining feedback from artists across the entire county.
Led by artistic director Leigh Hussey, CTC is a development theatre initiative funded by the Arts Council of Ireland and Cork City Council aimed at supporting the development of theatre artists based in Cork through residencies and financial supports.
This week T+D spoke with Leigh and producer Sinéad Gallagher about the theatre landscape in Cork, the upcoming work in progress event called SHOW and what else might lie in store for CTC in the year ahead.
“Having met with lots of artists in the city, many of them talked about the loss of Corcadorca and especially the loss of the TDC as a space. It’s how a lot of people got their start in theatre in Cork.”
“It was sad to see the loss of a theatre company here,” Hussey added.
“As well as that, people talked a lot about the use of tech, because other rehearsal spaces in the city simply don’t have these facilities.”
Originally from Galway, Hussey moved to Cork at the start of this year to take up her new role with CTC. Prior to this, she spent six years working for the Irish Theatre Institute in Dublin and apart from the initial ordeal of finding somewhere to live in the city, she is now quite taken by her new home.
“I’ve found it very interesting hearing why other people come to the city in the first place, why they stay and am struck by the amount of people who have chosen to stay in Cork in the long term and their loyalty to the city.”
“Cork is a brilliant place and I’m not just saying that.”
Until Gallagher joined her recently, Hussey was pretty much acting as a one-woman show for CTC, but it’s clear the company has really hit the ground running in terms of providing residencies and funding to theatre artists in Cork.
“CTC is a pilot programme and it’s in its first year so we get a chance to road-test the plan we set out. We want to have transparent processes and enact what we said to the Arts Council we would do.”
“To date, there have been sixteen residencies, all by open call and all selected by a peer panel,” Hussey said.
On top of this, over €60,000 in funding has been provided to artists in Cork to help finance the residencies. According to Hussey, this figure will rise to €84,000 by the end of the year.
“It’s a proper injection,” said Sinéad Gallagher, who has come on board from Once Off Productions to produce SHOW, a work in progress event from four Cork artists.
“I’m really looking forward to SHOW. I love works in progress and getting to gauge what kind of work artists are making. It’s always interesting to see what people are writing about and Cork theatre has a distinctive identity. It’s a bit more grass-roots led and has a real creative energy.”
The selection process for SHOW was the first undertaken by Hussey on her own for the CTC, and in doing so she gained a new found appreciation for having a peer panel in place to whittle down the number of applications they received.
“It was hard to select just four artists because the applications were all very different pieces, but we wanted to have a variety of stories,” Hussey said.
“Every organisation in the city has been corralled to come and it’s really exciting to see the space in use again.”
While CTC have certainly been getting through a lot of work, there hasn’t been that many theatre productions being staged in Cork of late and when I put this to Hussey and Gallagher, they both offered an explanation as to why this might be.
“At the moment no production funding is coming to Cork from the Arts Council and there is a lack of funding in general.” Hussey said
“There isn’t enough touring funding, which is a widespread issue that affects programming.”
“I think this space not existing for a few years has affected that also,” Gallagher added.
“But the Cork Arts Theatre has had a lot of shows this year and there’s a lot happening with residencies behind the scenes,” said Hussey.
Looking ahead then, as the year draws to a close, what can people look out for from CTC?
According to Husse, next month they’ll announce residence for 2025.
“I’ll be looking at the calendar for next year and the budget and see about offering space to other people in the city.”
“But the important thing is that everyone is very invested in Cork Theatre Collective working and seeing great theatre in Cork and that’s been really hopeful.”
SHOW runs at the Triskel Arts Centre on Friday 8 and Saturday 9 November. Friday shows are by invitation only, but shows on Saturday are open to the public, For more info and tickets see here
To find out more about Cork Theatre Collective please see here
