What We Offer

Experience

We are proud to be Ireland’s longest running theatre school with over 60 years’ experience in teaching speech and drama to the highest standards. Our tutors are highly qualified, experienced and dedicated. Many of them are past pupils of the Betty Ann Norton Theatre School.

We have a rich resource of performance and teaching material that was collected and curated over decades and is unparalleled in other facilities.

Our goal is to provide students of all ages with clarity of speech, confidence in communication, creativity, and a lifelong love of the literary and theatrical arts.

We are able to provide fantastic results because of the individual feedback each child receives on a weekly basis. Our class sizes are small and our tutors are highly qualified which allows us to give 1-1 attention to each student, helping them achieve their goals whether that is to build confidence, learn acting, compete in a feis, improve a speech fault or any of the many other benefits of taking speech and drama classes. 

speech and drama classes south dublin

Daisy & Nella Maguire in “Leaves” at the Royal Court Theatre, London. Both sisters were students of the theatre school for many years as children.

Grade Exams and Diploma Qualifications

Our speech and drama classes prepare students for solo exams from kindergarten level, right through to adult performance and teaching diplomas. Our grade examinations and performance diplomas are examined by Trinity College London. Unlike many Irish boards, these grades are recognised internationally. The higher grades provide UCAS points for entry to Colleges and Universities in the UK. 

We offer preparation classes for diplomas in Musical Theatre, Performing Arts, Communication Skills, and Speech and Drama Performance and Teaching. More information on our courses for internationally recognised diplomas can be found here.

Participation in our Productions

Performance is an important part of our training here and so students get the opportunity to partake in at least three performances each year;

Winter: A large production including students of all ages in our theatre in Rathmines, The DLR Mill Theatre or an OPW Venue. Our 2019 production of The Little Princess took place in The Pearse Museum while our 2020 show ‘The Snow Queen’ was rehearsed and recorded entirely on zoom!

Spring: Performances in competitions such as Feis Maitiu and Speech and Drama Teacher’s of Ireland Feis and a Storytelling, Poetry or Prose Recital for a holiday such as International Women’s Day. In 2022 we are performing a selection of Irish Myths and Legend’s in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day!

Summer: We finish the school year with an end of year recital called ‘Mixed Bag’ where we present select pieces of poetry, prose, drama, musical theatre and film.

Summer Camps: Each summer course will present a showcase to parents, guardians and their guests to show off all the students have learned during the week. Each year, we run a summer course for our youth theatre that spans two weeks and works on a full length play that is performed for three nights at an OPW venue. Previous courses have included ‘A School For Scandal’ in Dublin Castle, ‘Alice In Wonderland’ in Pearse Museum and ‘Little Women’ in Rathfarnham Castle. 

Even throughout the Covid-19 pandemic we have managed to carry out our full production at Christmas as well as smaller productions throughout the year. See examples of past productions here

Casting and Agency Work

We offer a Talent Agency Service for all our students for casting in Ireland free of charge. Contracts organised, chaperones arranged. We look after all your interests. A percentage of 10% may be charged on fees received by students. More details here