Final Lecture of the 2008/2009 Seamus Heaney Lecture Series

The final lecture in the current Seamus Heaney Lecture Series was given on Monday 23 March 2009.  The lecture given by Chrissie Poulter reflected on the role of teacher and artist in the evolving civil society on the island of Ireland.  As part of her preparation to leave Protestant-now-secular Trinity College Dublin for Catholic-now-catholic Trinity College Leeds (Leeds Trinity), Chrissie generously shared the insights she has gained from her extensive experience as a director, trainer, actor and educator over her early and recent career.

Choosing a biographical approach to the sharing of such insights, Chrisse led us on a journey which allowed us to dip into her early awareness of being ‘self other than self’ in make-believe play, through to her initial experiments with community theatre in the UK, and on to her seminal work as an advisor and facilitator in community theatre contexts in Northern Ireland.  She went on to chart the key influence of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, Cop in the Head and more recently Aesthetics of the Oppressed on her understanding of the fundamental role of theatre in society.  For her the key principles of craft, creativity and community are paramount as she continues to explore the application of theatre arts to non-theatre contexts, and in doing so, challenge the perceived boundaries of the art form itself.

This concludes the current series. The Organising Committee for the Series was Pádraig Ó Duibhir (Cathaoirleach), Máirín Nic Eoin, Máire Ní Bhaoill, Pat Burke, Rory McDaid, Maeve O'Brien, Karl Kitching, Mary Shine Thompson and Brian Ruan. To listen to the any of the lectures see Seamus Heaney Lecture Series 2008/2009

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last Updated: Wednesday April 01 2009