Student actors to perform in Ireland

A group of senior student actors at the Malta Drama Centre will present the dramatised poem A Lament For Art O'Leary during the Cork Theatre Festival in Ireland late in summer.

A Lament For Art O'Leary' is a long, 17th century lamentative poem which commands wide popularity in Ireland.

It tells the tale of an Irish countryman who was murdered for refusing to sell his horse for five pounds to a British settler, leaving to mourn him his pregnant wife.

The piece was used for the past weeks as a basis for a project which introduced the Lecoq method to a group of senior student actors at the Malta Drama Centre.

The Maltese troupe will travel to Ireland late in summer and join Le Lumiere company, which follows the Lecoq system.

The Lecoq method, named after its mentor Jacques Lecoq, who died in Paris in 1999, engages the whole body, in its totality and at the same moment. Mr Lecoq spent his lifetime analysing the body and its physical possibilities. His explorations involved the use of masks and mime.

At the Malta Drama Centre, Irish director Coirle Mooney worked on the neutral mask as a vehicle for exploring the body's plastic and gestural expressiveness and for overall theatrical effect.

"It was a meaningful experience," said Ms Mooney, "and I am very happy with the dynamics that developed during our workshops in Malta". Ms Mooney said she's very confident that the Maltese actors will perform to the best effect in Ireland.

This will be the sixth overseas commitment for the centre this year. Intermediate, senior and extended programme student actors have been or are being involved in theatre encounters in France, Germany, Italy and twice in Tunisia.

The centre will also host a European Union programme during October and November.