Short Courses / Acting
Acting - THE FORGE
10 weeks / 19:00 - 21:30
Our advanced acting course for those who have completed Level 3 of our Acting programmes.
Overview
Designed exclusively for actors who have successfully completed Levels 1 to 3 of our core short course actor programmes (Acting, Screen Acting, or the Actors' Ensemble) —The Forge is a brand-new, weekly creative home for actors at Ireland's National Academy of Dramatic Art. Register your interest at shortcourses@thelir.ie
The transition from a structured class to independent practice can be challenging. Once a course ends, where do you go to keep your edge? The Forge is specifically engineered to bridge that gap. This is not a standard, skill-drilling acting class. We aren't focusing on foundational practitioner theories or fundamental exercises. Instead, it is a dedicated, high-octane workout space designed to challenge your creative instincts, push your character development, and keep your performance sharp.
Curated by The Lir Academy’s Head of Short Courses, Roger Evans (House of The Dragon, Atonement, Human Traffic) and led by acclaimed filmmaker and actor Hugh O'Conor (My Left Foot, Headcases, Metal Heart), alongside specialist guest tutors hosting masterclasses in voice, dialect, movement, intimacy and more. This programme offers an unparalleled opportunity to train directly with leading industry professionals in a dedicated, supportive environment.
Designed to sharpen your stage and screen reflexes, each session begins with a focused warm-up followed by an insightful director’s masterclass with Hugh O'Conor (or guest tutor). Participants then dive into hands-on scene work with partners, closing with collaborative performance analysis and constructive group feedback.
"The Forge is designed to give you a weekly, zero-stakes crucible to experiment, fail forward, and consistently hone your instincts alongside peers who speak the exact same language." — Roger Evans, Head of Short Courses
Places are strictly limited to Level 3 short course graduates. Register your interest at shortcourses@thelir.ie
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The Lir Academy is a registered charity (RCN: 20076689) and financially independent of Trinity College Dublin. As a non-profit, any box office, commercial or fundraised income goes back into the work we do. This includes financial student supports, mental health supports and outreach programmes to widen access and equality of training to our programmes.
So, your decision to train with us, see a show or become a donor helps keep the actors, technicians and creatives of the future in education. You can see more at thelir.ie/supportus Thank you!
Tutor Bio Hugh O'Conor click to
Hugh is an award-winning filmmaker, actor and photographer. He won the 1991 Youth in Film award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the young Christy Brown in the Oscar-winning My Left Foot (1990), and was nominated at the 2001 SAG awards for Best Ensemble for his performance as Pére Henri in the Oscar-nominated Chocolat (2000). He won the Irish Times Theatre award for Best Supporting Actor in 2013 for his performance as the Fool in King Lear at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin.
After studying film at NYU as a Fulbright scholar, he wrote and directed several shorts with the Irish Film Board, including the award-winning Corduroy (2010), which was selected for the Generation 14+ programme at the 60th Berlinale. His debut feature, Metal Heart (2018), written by the Booker Prize-nominated Paul Murray, and his animated adaptation of Nikolai Gogol’s The Overcoat (2018) were award-winners at their premieres at the Galway Film Fleadh in 2018. Metal Heart had its US premiere at the 2019 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where Hugh was nominated for the Panavision Spirit award. The Overcoat, voiced by Cillian Murphy and Alfred Molina, was nominated for Best Short Animation at the 2020 IFTAs, and acquired internationally by Amazon Prime.
His short animation Worry World (2023), directed by Jess Patterson, and voiced by Florence Adebambo and Domhnall Gleeson, won the Oscar-qualifying James Horgan award at its premiere at the 2023 Galway Film Fleadh. It went on to win the Audience Award for Best Animated Short at the 2023 Newport Beach Film Festival, and Best Animated Short in 2024 at Animation Dingle, Manchester Film Festival, and the Boyne Valley International Film Festival.
Hugh won Best Script at the 2024 Writer’s Guild of Ireland Zebbie awards. In addition to film and theatre work, Hugh has directed music videos for artists including Sinéad O’Connor, and was series director for Irish National Opera’s acclaimed 20 Shots of Opera, which was nominated for the Special Jury Prize at the 2021 Irish Times Theatre Awards. In 2019 he received the Maverick Award from the Irish Film Critics’ Circle, as well as the Jim Sheridan Award for Achievement in Irish Film at the Irish Screen America festival in Los Angeles. His photography has been exhibited at the RHA, the RUA and is in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Ireland.
Hugh recently created the family series Showkids (2025), starring Flynn Gray, Philippa Dunne, Killian Sundermann & Amy De Bhrún for Deadpan Pictures, which aired on RTÉ1 in late 2025, and was nominated for both IFTA and RTS awards in 2026. Recent acting work includes Werner Herzog’s upcoming feature Bucking Fastard.
www.hughoconor.com | www.instagram.com/hughconor
Weekly Course Breakdown click to
Every single week, you will enter a fast-paced, professional rehearsal room environment structured to maximize your creative output over 2.5 hours:
F OCUS (15 Mins): A high-energy, focused physical and vocal warm-up to shed the outside world and get you present in the room.
I NSIGHT (45 Mins): A rapid-fire director’s masterclass led by Hugh O'Connor, focusing on specific performance challenges, style exploration, and industry-level text analysis.
R EHEARSALS (90 Mins): Pure, practical scene work. Working with your scene partner, You will get on your feet with complex texts, exploring character depths and sharpening your screen or stage reflexes.
E VALUATION: At the end of each session, Hugh selects a few of the night's performances to show the group, opening the floor to collaborative discussion, constructive feedback, and group analysis.
