ARTISTIC ACTIVITIES

2006/'07

• Development and presentation of Project Solo: a piece composed and performed by Marián Araújo and directed by Aiden Condron. This performance was presented with the working-title The Myth and the Flesh in Project Upstairs, Dublin in September of this year. Nervousystem has been invited to present this work in Valladolid, Spain in March 2008 and also Venice later in the year along with leading a week-long acting workshop.

• An extended period of free worksessions led by nervousystem at DCC’s The Lab from March to July. Theses worksessions served to facilitate training and research within a safe concentrated laboratory environment and were open to emerging and experienced Dublin-based Irish theatre artists. These sessions proved a huge success and, owing to a high demand, the company aims to offer more worksessions in 2008

• nervousystem were invited to Lamezia, Italy as special guests to participate in Linea Trasversale an intercultural theatre exchange twinned with the 15th University of Eurasian Theatre in June. We were the first theatre company ever to represent Ireland at this prestigious international event led by world renowned director Eugenio Barba (Odin Teatret, Denmark) and hosted by Teatro Proskenion (Italy). The company gave several talks and presented work demonstrations to participants from Europe, South America, and the U.S. Mr. Barba paid special tribute to nervousystem and highlighted the importance of our presence this year and our significant contribution to the Theatre Research endeavor at large.

• This event led to the forging of relations with Teatro Proskenion. We have just returned from Calabria, Italy where with Uilleann piper Eoin Dillon and dramaturg Maria Ficara, we have just completed a month-long period of preliminary work on The Resurrection housed in an artists workcentre where we were were facilitated and hosted as special guests by teatro proskenion for the month of November. Nervousystem was awarded funding by Culture Ireland to facilitate this project.

• Irish actor Joseph Moylan joins the ensemble. We are delighted to welcome Joe to nervousystem after his participation in a rigorous selection session conducted by the company in August.

2005/’06

• Ongoing formulation and documentation of a detailed ongoing actor training program, consisting of 20 hours per week of extensive psychophysical and vocal work.

• January ‘05. With the support of The Arts Council the full nervousystem ensemble attended a seminar in Canterbury, England hosted by Kent University, with the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards. This organization is at the forefront of Performance Research and unique in the field Theatre Pedagogy. (www.tracingroadsacross.org)

• Subsequently and also with the support of The Arts Council, Aiden Condron was able to undertake a trip to Pontedera and become the first Irish actor to participate in a Selection Session conducted by members of the Workcenter as part of their ‘Tracing Roads Across project’.

• Since then having seen video footage of AVERSION, previously performed at the Dublin Fringe 2004, Thomas Richards, extended an invitation to nervousystem actor Marián Araújo to participate in a month long practical intervention in Moscow, Russia in November. This is a great tribute to Marián’s work and the work of the ensemble. Marián’s trip was supported by The Arts Council.

• February ’04. Aiden Condron visits Poland where he participated in training with Teatr Breton Caffe, a Warsaw based Dance Theatre Company. Subsequently he conducted a day-long intensive workshop with them which was very well received and marked significant common ground.

• Aiden was also engaged in several meetings with Warsaw based actor and director Prezemek Wasilkowski. As a result the full nervousystem ensemble undertook another trip to Poland in May where the company participated in a three-day practical exchange of work with Wasilkowski and his group in Olztyn. This exchange proved enormously beneficial for both parties and plans for a larger collaborative project are already underway

• Regan O’Brien was a key figure in the forging of relations with Daghdha Dance Company, Limerick, by participating in an exchange of work within their choreographic aesthetic Sediments of an Ordinary Mind.

• This led to nervousystem leading workshops with the company and collectively participating in their Framemakers Festival in April ‘05

• April ’05. nervousystem forms link with Storytellers Theatre Company through their Artistic Director Liam Halligan who has approached us and proposed plans for a collaborative project later this year.

• May ’05. nervousystem strengthen relations with Dublin City Council and are awarded an Arts Bursary.

• Early June to early September ‘05 nervousystem engaged in intensive research/rehearsal period reworking and developing AVERSION, Phase Two.

• August ‘05 nervousystem perform work in progress as part of audience research for AVERSION while also raising money for AWARE.

• Aug/Sep’05 French actress Jessica Losilla and Chris Carrol, a first year acting student of Theatre Studies at the Samuel Beckett Centre participate in six weeks fulltime training with nervousystem.

• September 17th  ’05. nervousystem perform a work-in-progress selection from a radically reworked second phase of AVERSION renamed AVERSION The I-EYE as part of “Offside” curated by Pallas Studios at the Hugh Lane Gallery.

• October: nervousystem receives an Arts Council Project Award for the development of Theatre Haiku

• October 2005. By special invitation from Teatr Breton Caffe, Aiden Condron returned to Poland where he conducted a very successful three-week research workshop with students and members of the company in Warsaw.

• August ’06. the final phase of Theatre Haiku Project, for which the company was awarded an Arts Council Project grant in 2005. This final phase led to a public, open-air performance: Park Action. We presented this work in Phoenix Park and also in Malta where it was adapted for a site specific space in Valletta and re-named Malta Action, where we were invited to do an exchange with two other companies; Icarus Project (Malta) and C.I.R.T. Centro Indipendente Ricerca Teatrale (Italy).

2004/'05

• Workshop and exchange conducted with Loose Cannon Theatre Company May 2004.

• Formulation and documentation of a detailed ongoing actor training program, consisting of 20 hours per week of extensive psycho-physical and vocal training.

• AVERSION: An original work in progress action performed in Belvadere Chapel, Dublin for ESB Fringe Festival 2004. A further step in nervousystem’s foray into an alternative, impulse- based theatre language. Comprising three independent ‘scores’ brought together in a montage mise-en-scene: original music by respected composer Denis Clohessy, textual score by Jeffrey Gormly and score of “physical action” created by the acting ensemble led by Artistic Director Aiden Condron.

 

PARTICIPATORY PRACTICE

• February 2004: Open rehearsal / work-in-progress demonstration to members of Dramsoc UCD in their own space, based on our rehearsal process for Fire Face.

• February 2004: Preview performance of Fire Face for students of Pius X National School, Terenure, Dublin 12.

• September 2004: Private viewing of work-in-progress AVERSION for invited guests, including specialists from the worlds of theatre, nursing, the Psychological Society of Ireland, AWARE, spiritual healing, film and marketing.

• December 2004: nervousystem were invited to perform and present work in progress for the Mamuska open day hosted by Daghdha Dance Company in Limerick. For this event nervousystem created a reworking of The Only Jealousy Of Emer extracted from Fire Face along with a contact improvisation using the Physical Score from AVERSION.