The Gaiety School of Acting
Encyclopedia
The Gaiety School of Acting is an Irish
drama school
. It is located on Essex Street West in Temple Bar
, Dublin 8.
The school was founded in 1986 by actor
and director Joe Dowling
, who currently serves as the chairman of the school, in response to the lack of full time actor training in Ireland at the time. The school is now widely regarded as the country’s premier training facility for actors. The policy of the Gaiety School of Acting is to train actors for the theatre, film and television industries. Through their two-year intensive acting programme an individual will grow in confidence and develop techniques which will enable them to respond to the challenges of theatre, film and television while also being pro-active in the development of new work.
In addition to the one & two year full-time courses the GSA also runs many part-time and youth courses in locations all around Ireland.
The school hopes to add a three year full time degree from next year.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
drama school
Drama school
A drama school or theatre school is an undergraduate and/or graduate school or department at a college or university; or a free-standing institution ; which specialises in the pre-professional training in drama and theatre arts, such as acting, design and technical theatre, arts administration, and...
. It is located on Essex Street West in Temple Bar
Temple Bar, Dublin
Temple Bar is an area on the south bank of the River Liffey in central Dublin, Ireland. Unlike the areas surrounding it, Temple Bar has preserved its medieval street pattern, with many narrow cobbled streets. It is promoted as "Dublin's cultural quarter" and has a lively nightlife that is popular...
, Dublin 8.
The school was founded in 1986 by actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and director Joe Dowling
Joe Dowling
Joe Dowling is the Artistic Director for the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. He is also well-known for his work as Artistic Director of the Abbey Theatre in Ireland, and has directed plays in all the major theatres in Ireland as well as theatres in London, New York, Washington...
, who currently serves as the chairman of the school, in response to the lack of full time actor training in Ireland at the time. The school is now widely regarded as the country’s premier training facility for actors. The policy of the Gaiety School of Acting is to train actors for the theatre, film and television industries. Through their two-year intensive acting programme an individual will grow in confidence and develop techniques which will enable them to respond to the challenges of theatre, film and television while also being pro-active in the development of new work.
In addition to the one & two year full-time courses the GSA also runs many part-time and youth courses in locations all around Ireland.
The school hopes to add a three year full time degree from next year.
Graduates
- Joanne KingJoanne KingJoanne King is an Irish actress. She is best known for her roles as Cyd on the BBC1s Casualty and as Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford in the Showtime 2007 - 2010 series The Tudors.-Private life:...
- Lorraine PilkingtonLorraine PilkingtonLorraine Pilkington is an Irish actress from Dublin, who is best known for her role as Katrina Finlay on Monarch of the Glen. Trained at the Gaiety School of Acting, Pilkington began her career at the age of 15 when she appeared in The Miracle directed by Neil Jordan. She appeared onstage in the...
- Faye SewellFaye SewellFaye Katherine Sewell is a British model and film actress of mixed Anglo-Irish descent. During her early career, she worked as a photographic model, most notably gracing French Vogue, before training at the Gaiety School of Acting in Ireland...
- Stuart TownsendStuart TownsendStuart Townsend is an Irish actor and director. His most notable portrayals are of the characters Lestat de Lioncourt in the 2002 film adaptation of Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned, and Dorian Gray in the 2003 film adaptation of Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.-Early life and...
- Aidan TurnerAidan TurnerAidan Turner is an Irish actor. He is best known for playing Dante Gabriel Rossetti on Desperate Romantics, Ruairí McGowan on The Clinic, and John Mitchell on the supernatural drama series Being Human. He will be playing Kíli in the upcoming two-part fantasy film The Hobbit.-Early life:Aidan...
- Olivia WildeOlivia WildeOlivia Wilde is an American actress and fashion model. She began acting in the early 2000s, and has since appeared in a number of film and television parts, including roles in the serial-drama The O.C. and The Black Donnellys. She portrayed Dr...