School of Creative Arts

The School of Creative Arts celebrates the success of Gemma Bodinetz on her appointment as Director of Royal Conservatoire of Scotland's School of Dance, Drama, Production and Film from January 2022 onwards. Gemma studied Drama and Classics as a two-subject moderatorship graduating in the 90s and also served as Chair of the Trinity Players before launching an outstanding career as a director, theatre practitioner and artistic director. She was made an Honorary Fellow of Liverpool John Moores University in 2014 for services to theatre in Liverpool, including delivery of a dazzling programme of events to celebrate Liverpool's designation as the European Capital of Culture in 2008.

The School of Creative Arts congratulates Dr Kata Szita on her appointment as a HUMAN+ Fellow based in the Trinity Long Room Hub, where she will be mentored by Assistant Prof. Jennifer O’Meara, Department of Film, and Professor Aljosa Smolic, Professor of Creative Technologies in Computer Science. During the two-year fellowship, Kata will be studying the effects of augmented reality on user behaviour. The project builds on her previous cross-disciplinary research in cognitive media studies focusing on audiovisual experiences on smartphones and in virtual environments in terms of comprehension, attention, and emotions. Kata's work will focus on AR experiences in which users interact with digitally created or modified human bodies on mobile devices, including how the relocation of social experiences into digital spheres impacts social behaviour and identity. HUMAN+ is a five-year international and interdisciplinary Fellowship programme supported by the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Actions (MSCA) that addresses human centric approaches to technology development.

Colleagues, students and friends are warmly invited to the launch of Ghost Songs: Contemporary Music and Words from Ireland co-produced, recorded and mixed by Assist. Prof. Richard Duckworth, Department of Music, School of Creative Arts that will take place online on Tuesday 19th October at 8pm. Ghost Songs is a mixed-genre album on the Divine Art Métier label, comprising a unique collaboration of leading voices in poetry, drama, and contemporary music from Ireland. Choral works performed by Laetare Vocal Ensemble are interspersed with evocative readings from the poetry of Paula Meehan, the plays of Marina Carr, and the English and Irish-language collections of Dairena Ní Chinnéide, exploring the otherworldly, the liminal, the mysterious, the haunted, and the interaction of the real and the imagined. The poetry of radical Irish-American poet Lola Ridge (1873–1941) is revived through sensitive readings by well-known radio voice Carl Corcoran, while ethereal vocals and harp by Síle Denvir add depth and dimension in this innovative and immersive listening experience. Advance registration via Eventbrite required.

A unique Company SJ/Abbey Theatre production of Laethanta Sona/Happy Days at Galway International Arts Festival has been garnering rave reviews in advance of its October run in the Samuel Beckett Theatre as part of Dublin Theatre Festival. Produced by Tim Scott, directed by Assist. Prof. Sarah Jane Scaife and including costuming by Sinéad Cuthbert and associate production by Nathanael O'Leary, this unique staging on Inis Oirr with text translated into islander Irish dialect attracted a sold-out audience (including President Michael D. Higgins) and critical approval as a standard-bearer for productions of a play written by Samuel Beckett. While audience tickets for 15-17 October performances in the Samuel Beckett Theatre are difficult to get, students will be interacting with the minds who built this production throughout the upcoming academic year. A daring, bold vision, brilliantly realised - Irish Times. Photo credit: Cormac Coyne.