Opening the floor to everyone
Songwriters aren't the only ones to use the open forum to find talent or develop acts, writes Alan Owens
THE STANDARD perception of so-called 'open mic' nights is that when you arrive, you will be confronted by a singer-songwriter clasping a beaten guitar, singing whiskey-soaked songs of love. Not in this town.
One of the most popular weekly open mic nights run recently in Limerick was the ARTiculate Sessions in Baker Place in Tait Square, which saw a regular and interchangeable line-up of willing participants.
One unlikely group of regulars was headed by local thespian Myles Breen, who grew and developed their superb Choke Comedy routines from appearances at the weekly open mic.
The Choke Comedy show - made up of a troupe of local actors and comedians who perform both raw and scripted sketch comedy - is now performed regularly on the Belltable stage, and has toured around Ireland, but Breen points to the early developmental work done at the ARTiculate Sessions as having helped the show off its feet.
"Yes indeed, Choke Comedy started off there," says Breen simply of the weekly open mic night.
"It was great when we started off because we were just learning our skills, so ARTiculate was the perfect venue for us to try out - we did a short 15-20 minutes and we learnt a lot from doing our gigs in front of that audience because they were very supportive, but we also learnt a lot from putting the stuff on in front of a real audience," he explains.
"You get an idea of what works and what bits need to be worked on - and you work on your performance skills in front of an audience.
"It is always scary working out new material in front of an audience, but the open mic sessions are perfect for that because everyone is in the same boat and starting off from the same point," says Myles.
Similarly, local theatre company Changing Times, established last September by local actors, held an open casting session last Sunday in an attempt to find new talent from outside their own circle for their latest production, Dancing at Lughnasa, to be performed in the Belltable in April.
"I didn't expect anything, but a lot of people arrived after seeing it in the paper," explains Jean Fay of Changing Times.
"I actually picked two new people that I have never met before and they were excellent. They are both getting roles."
"I was hoping to get some new people in because I think people get sick of looking at the same faces all the time on stage, playing the same role. There was a lot of young people who came in, which was great."
Jean adds: "That is the type of attitude I want to create, that people don't think it is a closed shop and that everyone gets a fair chance."
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Monday 21 May 2012
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