A Week @ The Well
A Week @ The Well 2024 offers professional freelance theatre practitioners paid time to work on an idea or project, time to deliberate, dream and plan, alongside other working artists as our foyer becomes a co-working space for five artists.
This years A Week @ The Well artists are Monica McCarthy, Lisa Cannon, Jackie Maguire, Trisha Maclaughlin, Fionnuala Maxwell and Diarmuid Woods. Over the next two weeks, we are looking forward to having a sneak peek into the projects that these fantastic artists are working on! Participants get:
• Paid for their week’s work.
• A desk in the theatre foyer.
• One days access to the stage space.
• A daily opportunity to brainstorm with their co-working colleagues.
• A daily shared light lunch together.The A Week @ the Well programme is managed by Hawk’s Well Theatre and funded by The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
About the Artists
Monica McCarthy is an award winning writer, actress, and director from NYC/LA residing in Sligo. Her short film, SURVIVAL JOB, won numerous international festival awards. As a playwright and screenwriter: Stow Story Lab, Athena Writer Lab, Château Orquevaux Residency, National Winter Playwrights Retreat, Inge Festival New Play Lab. Acting credits include Broadway and tv/film (Netflix, CBS, NBC, HBO). MA Creative Writing, Harvard University. MonicaMcCarthy.net
Lisa Cannon, a versatile musician and visual artist, is the founder of Ukulele Sligo CLG and runs her art business, Miss Leela Sassafras, designing greeting cards and art prints. Lisa teaches ukulele and is lead singer with The Flight band. She collaborates on various artistic and community projects with adults and children, including workshops, concerts, and exhibitions throughout Ireland.
Jackie Maguire is a musician, actor, researcher, author and early years arts lecturer with extensive experience of working with young children aged 0-6 years through the arts. In June 2024 she completed a Post Grad Diploma in Art & Ecology at NCAD and her recent practice has explored the relationship between the soil ecosystem and the human world. Recent works include Listen with soil, NCAD Gallery (June 2024) and Youth artist in residence, The Dock (2024).
Trisha MacLaughlin has worked in Community Development, Early Education for over 20 years as a Practitioner, Researcher, Consultant and Lecturer. She has research Masters investigating Creative Development Through Art in the Early Years, a Level 3 (UK) Certificate in Forest School Programme Leadership, National Diploma in Performing Arts. Trisha owns Sligo Woodland School. A creative pedagogue offering unique and creative solution to the educational environment.
Fionnuala Maxwell is an award-winning traditional singer, composer, researcher, and educator. She has spent years researching traditional singing and co-ordinates The Leitrim Larks Project which seeks to rediscover and revive the forgotten songs, singers, ballad writers, folklore and hidden history of Leitrim and its surrounding counties. She is currently working with Leitrim Library supported by Creative Ireland to curate an accessible online collection of Leitrim’s traditional music, song and dance.
Fionnuala continues to write songs when inspired by local or personal events and many of those songs have been transmitted through the traditional singing realms and are sung widely at singing sessions. She was commissioned to write songs for “As it Happened 1921 Commemorations” and for the “Iron Mountain Literature Festival.” Recent recordings include one for TG4’s “Geantraí” programme and “The Wild Atlantic Way Musical Journey” and she has also recorded two CDs of local songs and had the opportunity to record and perform with Dervish for the Leitrim Equation project. She has published a children’s book with artist Kate Murtagh Sheridan which seeks to bring an old traditional song to life for the coming generations.
As well as performance collaborations with professional artists, Fionnuala works in a socially collaborative capacity with various groups, including Leitrim International Community Group, youth groups, preschools and schools, Active Age and she is one of the lead artists in “Sowing the Seed” project, working with many communities across the county and further to research and revive strawing traditions as well as bringing modern day uses to them.
Diarmuid Woods is a Director, Actor, and Drama Facilitator with a deep passion for dynamic physical and absurd theatre. With training in Theatre Design and Directing from IT Sligo, and further development through international programs such as Nadica Krajina Harmonie in Slovakia and the YTI Artstrain course, Diarmuid has honed their skills both locally and abroad. Their experience includes roles as Assistant Set Designer and Assistant Stage Manager at the National Theatre of Ireland. As Artistic Director of Sligo Youth Theatre, Diarmuid championed a "pressure-less-play" approach, encouraging imaginative exploration. Influenced by recent training with Arthaus Berlin and the methodologies of Jacques Lecoq, Diarmuid's work focuses on the ensemble's power, scenography, and exploring societal themes to uncover profound theatrical truths and exploring liminal spaces. He believe in the power of play and collective exploration to unlock new perspectives and connect participants with their own creativity and with each other.