Backstage Club is coming and more!

Have you got your tickets to our annual Backstage Club fundraiser on July 9th?If not, here are 5 reasons…1) It’s FUN – with cocktails, a show, dinner backstage and a cabaret!2) It supports an incredible cause – creating a bursary for Stage Management & Technical Theatre students – the unsung heroes of behind-the-scenes.3) You can pay in instalments via Klarna of €50 a month over 3 months4) Walden is sold out so this might be your only chance to see it!5) Our cabaret features the stellar talent of our staff, students and alumni, many of whom came to us with significant theatre experience. We raised the roof the last two years!6) We know, we said 5 but we can’t help this one… Once you are in the door with us, you don’t have to put your hand in your pocket for the night – just let us enteratain you!

Join us on july 9th from 6.30pm for Walden or You Got Older on July 9th. Tickets are €150 with all profits going towards supporting our Stage Management & Technical Theatre students through bursaries. Bring your friends, family or your colleagues for a great night out at The Lir Academy.

After a fantastic run of Gundog by Simon Longman, with some final tickets left for today, we have two more Gradfest 2025 shows to go! Gradfest is staged by our MFA directors, designers and producers, performed and crewed by our undergraduate students. This year’s Gradfest features the work of our inaugural MFA in Theatre Producing students.

Walden by Amy BerrymanSat. 5th – Wed. 9th JulyBook here

Beneath a dying sky, twin sisters reunite, one returned from the stars, the other rooted in the soil of what remains. In a woodland cabin, time stretches and memory stirs, they face a future they never dreamed of.

You Got Older by Clare BarronMon 7th – Thurs 10th JulyBook here

After losing her job, boyfriend and apartment, Mae returns home to take care of her dad.You Got Older is about falling apart as you’re failing to launch, and what you might find instead

Check out our galleries from our most recent production – click here.

Gundog by Simon Longman’s creative team inclduing our graduating MFA students, Kate Russell (Director), Jack Shanley (Producer), Cecilia Mondadori (Set Designer) and Lisa Della Chiesa (Costume Designer). Photography by Bill Woodland

A Thank You to Brian Singleton

Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama and Theatre and Lir Academy Academic Directer, Professor Brian Singleton, is retiring at the end of this summer.

In celebration of Brian’s leadership and impact on so many students and staff at The Lir Academy, we gathered to celebrate the last 15 years of bringing The Lir Academy to where it is today. It was a fantastic afternoon of memories and music, and a big congratulations and thank you to all the students who contributed.

Brian has been a visionary guide in shaping The Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin, and it was with his dedication that we have forged ourselves to be the success we are today.

Spotlight Prize Awards 2025

We are so delighted and proud of Molly McFadden, who has been selected as one of 22 finalists to perform as part of the Spotlight Prize for 2025! Molly will be performing Spotlight Prize Showcasein London on Wednesday 2 July in front of a specially invited audience of casting directors, agents, producers, directors and actors.

You can tune into the live streamed performances on Wednesday 2nd of July at 7:30pm (BST).You can view it at the link here.

Did you know, that you can pay for Backstage Club and many of our short courses in installments with Klarna. How it works:

Contact us for a payment link (if there isn’t one on the website)

When choosing how to pay – select Klarna

You will be taken to a sign up for their service using your card details

They set you up to take the first payment and outline how much each will be

Then the payments come out automatically over the next 2 months

Courses include: Teen Summer Acting Camps – July & August, Screenwriting Intensive – here or our 6-month-long programmes Actors’ Ensemble and Youth Ensemble.

Puppetry Performance WorkshopCourse Begins: 12th & 13th July (Weekend)Duration: 10am – 5pmPuppetry Performance is a weekend course which will examine some of the multiple forms of puppetry used across theatre and filmed productions. Explore hand, object, rod, tabletop, moving-mouth and Bunraku styles, and to the basic techniques used to animate a puppet.

Musical Theatre IntensiveCourse Begins: 28th JulyDuration: 10am – 5pm, 2 weeksDuring this two-week-long course, students will work with a singing tutor/musical director, core Lir teachers and leading musical theatre directors and choreographers, to develop acting, voice, movement, singing and dance skills.

Summer Acting CampsCourse Begins: 14th July / 28th AugustDuration: 10am – 2pm, 1 weekThis summer course takes place in August and is designed for young actors aged 13-15 who have a passionate interest in performing and would like to have an early start in acting training. Get a taste of the environment of a theatre academy with core Lir Academy tutors

Youth EnsembleCourse Begins: 27th SeptemberDuration: 10am – 4.30pm, SaturdaysYouth Ensemble is a 6month programme of drama classes for young people. Taught by leading professionals, many of whom also teach on the Foundation Diploma in Acting and Theatre and the Bachelor in Acting undergraduate courses at The Lir Academy.