Parallel Sessions (Pick 1 of 4)
Time: 14:15 – 15:45 
Location: Irish World Music Centre 

 Session I: 
 I Want to Break Free: Dramaturgy and the Canon. 
 Aideen Howard and Marius von Mayenburg
 What is the relationship between a lively theatre and the classic plays of the past? How does a theatre blessed (and burdened) with a weighty repertoire reanimate those plays for today? Do we seize upon the stories that we recognise as universal and timelessly human but deconstruct their form? Should we bother with them at all if they need such radical reinvention? Where lies the balance between reverence for the masterworks of tradition and the wilful rehabilitation of obscure plays?The Schaubühne’s Hedda Gabler, seen at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2006, is a recent example of a production that takes a play out of its own century and into ours. Aideen Howard and Germany’s hottest young playwright Marius Von Mayenburg discuss new approaches to the old. 

 Session II: 
 The virtual arts centre? Technology and new opportunities for cultural participation.
 John Collins and Karen Vander Plaetse
The websites of most Irish arts and cultural organisations function as online brochures and serve those with an active interest rather than the casual browser. However, the emergence of the social networking phenomenon in recent years with sites such as Bebo, MySpace and YouTube presents new opportunities for developing audiences and building communities around our work. As with a lot of new technologies it can be hard to sift the facts from the hype and the hysteria and a lot of time and money can be invested in something that soon proves not to be the solution to all our communication needs. Karen Vander Plaest of the Vooruit Cultural Centre in Belgium will discuss the development of her organisation’s exemplary new website, facilitated by John Collins, Technology Reporter for the Irish Times and publisher of the Tagging Tech blog. 

 Session III: 
 The Show Must Go On: 10 ways to make theatre against the odds. 
 Róise Goan and Cian O’Brien
Róise Goan and Cian O’Brien will lead a pro-active session, addressing the difficulties faced by young companies in getting work made, funded and seen with practical and creative solutions. They will also challenge the role that funding bodies and venues have to play in the development of work by younger companies, advocating an administrative infrastructure to support the work of emerging artists and companies that is streamlined and adequately resourced. 

 Session IV: 
 New Communities, New Scripts - The story of the future. Rotimi Adebari, Patrycja Galas and Summy Sing Wong
How can the arts reflect the diversity of the new Ireland and what role can theatre have in shaping the story of the future? Hundreds of thousands of people have come to live and work here in recent years, contributing to the taxes that fund the arts and civic life. Despite their numbers they have yet to enjoy much visibility in mainstream culture. Peter Sellars pointed out at last year’s conference it’s about who’s on stage as much as what they are performing. This panel will offer personal insight into the experiences and aspirations of three of Ireland’s new communities and will speculate where the audiences and artists of the future might emerge from.