How to capture the ineffable: Creating a meta-methodology for bespoke theatre facilitation and interrogating the challenges facing creative artists in lived experience research

A lecture by Charlotte O’Reilly (TCD) for the School of Creative Arts Research Forum.

Abstract
This talk will interrogate the pedagogical process involved in theatre workshop realisation from conception to completion, focusing on a meta-methodology of bespoke workshop design and implementation. The discussion will begin by retracing my career as a theatre facilitator across Irish and International contexts while asking; ‘How does a facilitator learn to facilitate?’ Drawing on those past experiences, the talk will then explore the challenges I am facing now as a lived experience researcher creating bespoke theatre facilitation workshops designed for people living with Lewy Body Dementia.
This SCARF session will involve a 40-minute presentation followed by a 20-minute open forum discussion. In preparation for this forum, you are asked to reflect in advance on the following questions:

1. How can we put words on the feelings and resonances that emerge in a creative arts facilitation context?
2. What does a “successful” outcome look like in regard to a creative arts workshop?
3. In a constantly shifting and improving process, at what point should you record and publish the methodology as a finished “pedagogy”?
4. How can we ethically cite and give due credit to references we obtained through experience?
5. As many facilitators will know - a class plan can only take you so far – therefore, how can a research process leave space for contradictions, spontaneity, and a complete upheaval of the proposed outline, when necessary?

Speaker Bio
Charlotte O’Reilly is a multi-lingual playwright and award-winning theatre maker. She holds a BA in Medicinal Chemistry from Trinity College Dublin and a Masters in Movement and Creative Practice from the École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq in Paris. Charlotte has worked professionally as a performer, director and movement director; and her theatre works have been showcased across Scandinavia, The UK, France and Ireland. She is also a theatre facilitator for both young people and adults with over 10 years' experience. In September 2025 she was awarded an interdisciplinary Trinity Research Doctoral Award to undertake a PhD that is co-supervised under the School of Creative Arts and Trinity Business School and collaborates with Emerald Lewy Research Group and the Global Brain Health Institute.

This event is run in accordance with Trinity’s Dignity and Respect policy, and its commitment to nurturing a respectful and inclusive research culture.
Please indicate if you have any access requirements, such as ISL/English interpreting, so that we can facilitate you in attending this event. Contact: klineh@tcd.ie