Applications open for Theatre Bursary Award – Ireland

The focus of this award is on professional development. The award therefore provides artists with the time and resources to reflect on, interrogate and advance their artistic practice. The award supports a process of structured engagement with the development of theatre practice. There is a particular prioritisation on the development of a particular artistic impulse/artistic direction/area of theatre practice through structured research and experimentation and/or mentorship and/or collaboration.

Award Aims

• Afford theatre artists the time and space to explore and/or research ideas towards a specific artistic impulse and/or
• Support theatre artists to develop their practice through investigation and research or through discrete training opportunities of non-accredited1 study and/or non-vocational training, and/or
• Afford theatre artists the time and means to be mentored by a practitioner/s with a significant national or international track record, and/or
• Enable an artist to undertake a Residency of no more than one-year duration with the partnership of an Arts Council-funded arts centre or other relevant Arts Council-funded theatre organisation and/or local-authority arts office. In such cases, the specific contents of the work programmes will be designed by the theatre artist in collaboration with an arts centre/festival/Arts Council-funded theatre organisation and/or the localauthority arts office. Please note that, while the artist’s own professional development is still the priority within the bursary award, in the context of a residency proposal the scope of work may also include working with other artists and communities of interest and/or the production of a finished work at the end of the period of the residency.

Award Priority

• Priority will be given to applications from professional theatre artists:
  • Who demonstrate ambition and vision in creating a considered and structured approach to a bursary programme.
  • Who demonstrate how their practice as a theatre professional will benefit from structured, timely support.
  • Who seek, through national/international collaboration and/or mentorship, to develop their practice and to deepen their understanding and appreciation of theatre as an artform.
  • Who demonstrate ambition through the quality of the proposed mentorship and/or who propose high-quality professional-development support.
  • Who demonstrate the feasibility of their proposal by providing a realistic budget, timelines and evidence of appropriate supports, including artists’ pay.
  • Who provide compelling examples of recent, relevant work and/or professional achievements.
  • Who genuinely seek to develop their practice through investigation and research or through discrete training opportunities of non-formal study and/or non-vocational training.
  • Who demonstrate the feasibility of their proposal by providing a realistic budget, timelines and evidence of appropriate supports, including artists’ pay.

Funding Information

• The maximum amount that may be awarded to each successful applicant is €20,000. The minimum that can be applied for is €5,000.
• Please note that your application will be deemed ineligible if you apply for more than the maximum (unless you are applying for additional access costs) or less than the minimum amount stated.

Who can apply?

• The award is open to emerging, mid-career and established professional theatre artists working in all genres. To be eligible to apply, applicants must:
  • Be resident in the Republic of Ireland. However, they may accept applications from outside the Republic of Ireland. In this case, you must detail in your application form how your proposal would benefit the arts in the Republic of Ireland. They would need to be satisfied with your explanation.
  • Be professional practising theatre artists, as set out under the definition above
  • Demonstrate a track record with three relevant and recent examples of professional achievements.

Who cannot apply?

• People who are not eligible to apply include the following:
  • Individuals currently in undergraduate education (including those undertaking foundation courses)
  • Individuals seeking support towards fees for postgraduate, higher education – credited or unaccredited – or formal courses or modules
  • Individuals seeking support towards work undertaken as part of a formal course of study
  • Individuals seeking support towards the costs of undertaking an internship or volunteer work
  • They cannot accept applications from those employed or contracted on a fulltime basis by an arts organisation funded through Arts Council programmes or through direct state subsidy or by a commercial arts entity
  • Aosdána members in receipt of a cnuas.

For more information, visit The Art Council.