Acting & Playwriting Courses Now Booking
〰️
Acting & Playwriting Courses Now Booking 〰️
Artist & Creative Mentor
I'm an actor, director, and playwright from the West of Ireland, with over 25 years working in the arts and teaching since 2008 — privately and at university level.
Alongside my own directing and playwriting practice, I work one-to-one with writers on script development, with a film production company, and as a freelance theatre director on upcoming productions. I recently trained as a somatic coach, which now shapes how I work with clients moving into the next stage of their creative and professional lives.
This Autumn, I’m offering beginners’ acting classes in Galway city as well as playwriting classes online.
In my free time, I’m a jazz singer.
Autumn Acting & Playwriting Courses for Adults
Taking place in Galway & Online
Wednesdays, 23 September – 2 December · 7–9pm · Ballinfoile Community Centre · €290/€260 (concession)
No class the week of 26 October.
A ten-week introduction for complete beginners and for anyone returning to acting after time away.
Each week builds on the last. We start with the fundamentals — the body in space and how to transform both, embodying a character, speaking and responding to dialogue naturally — then moving through improvisation and ensemble work into text. There's a full class on monologues: how to choose one for an audition, open it up, and make it yours. The last two weeks are spent putting all this together to work on scenes which we’ll share with the group at the end.
You'll leave with the working vocabulary of an actor, a monologue, and a scene you've properly rehearsed and performed.
All ages welcome, from 18 to 80 and upwards. No experience needed, and if you’ve done a bit before, there’s still a lot to gain. Bring comfortable clothes and curiosity.
Twelve places only. Small class sizes ensure the right amount of attention for every student to flourish.
Booking, Concessions & Cancellations
€290/€260 (concession). Full payment secures your place.
Taking both courses? Book the [Acting + Playwriting bundle] — €470 / €440 concession.
If you are a student or unemployed, email sarahotoole@pm.me with a student card or proof of unemployment and we'll send you the discount code.
If paying in full is difficult, email me and we'll work something out.
Cancel more than 7 days before the start date for a full refund less a €15 admin fee. Within 7 days, or once the course has begun, no refund — but you can transfer your place to someone else at any time, and if I can fill your place from the waiting list I'll refund you in full less the €15 fee.
Because the course runs on fixed dates, the 14-day statutory cancellation right under the EU Consumer Rights Directive doesn't apply.
Full terms are available [here].
Mondays, 21 September – 23 November · 7–9pm · Online via Zoom · €220/€198 (concession)
No class the week of 26 October.
An eight-week course for anyone who has ever thought about writing a play.
We begin with where plays come from: a fragment, a voice, an image that won't leave you alone. From there into the practical work — what a scene actually is and how it turns, how characters want things and what happens when they can't have them, and how to write dialogue that sounds like real people talking. Short exercises each week, work read aloud in the group, and feedback both from me and the group as the play takes shape.
Each week also includes a reading & discussion of a published play - in order to illuminate the topic we are exploring that week. Most people who want to write plays haven't read many, and this is foundational to a playwright’s practice - showing the variety of styles a stage can hold, what language is capable of when it isn’t behaving like prose, and the strange and magical things a live playing space can do that no other art form can.
After the final session, a deadline will be set for you to complete your short play and you'll get written feedback from me on yours.
Online via Zoom, so wherever you are in the country, or even further afield, you can take part.
No experience needed. If you can write a text message you can write dialogue.
Twelve places only. Small class sizes ensure the right amount of attention for every student to flourish.
Booking, Concessions & Cancellations
€220/€190 (concession). Full payment secures your place.
Taking both courses? Book the [Acting + Playwriting bundle] — €470 / €440 concession.
If you are a student or unemployed, email sarahotoole@pm.me with a student card or proof of unemployment and we'll send you the discount code.
If paying in full is difficult, email me and we'll work something out.
Cancel more than 7 days before the start date for a full refund less a €15 admin fee. Within 7 days, or once the course has begun, no refund — but you can transfer your place to someone else at any time, and if I can fill your place from the waiting list I'll refund you in full less the €15 fee.
Because the course runs on fixed dates, the 14-day statutory cancellation right under the EU Consumer Rights Directive doesn't apply.
Full terms are available [here].
Wednesday 9 September, 7–9pm · Ballinfoile Community Centre
Two hours in the room, free, to find out whether this is for you.
We'll do some of what the course does — getting the body working, a bit of improvisation, some ensemble games, and a sneak peek at how you approach a piece of text. You'll leave with a real sense of what a class feels like and how I teach, which is a better basis for deciding than any description I can write.
Come if you've never acted and always wondered. Come if you did drama years ago and have been meaning to get back to it. Come if you’re 18, if you’re 80 and any age beyond and in-between. There will all kinds of people in the room, as the magic of performing is for everyone.
No experience needed. Wear something you can move in and bring water.
Booking is free but places are limited, so please reserve one.
Try a Taster Session
Monday 7 September, 7–9pm · Online via Zoom
Two hours, free, to see whether writing a play is something you'd like to do.
We'll read a short scene together and take it apart — what's actually happening, how it turns, why it works. Then you'll write something yourself. A short exercise, nothing daunting, and we'll hear a few aloud if people are willing. I'll talk about how the eight-week course runs and what you'd walk out of it holding.
Come if you've been thinking about this for years and never started. Come if you've written other things and want to try dialogue. You don't need an idea, and you certainly don't need to have read a lot of plays — that's part of what the course is for.
Online, so it doesn't matter where in the country you are.
Bring something to write with. Booking is free but places are limited.
Want to see what we’re all about before you book?
Currently Working On…
In March 2026, thanks to a Creative Artist’s Bursary from Galway City Council, I was able to do a rehearsed reading of my play FINDING GALAHAD at the Mick Lally Theatre.
I’ll be spending the rest of 2026 at my desk, integrating all the lovely feedback into another draft, before exploring the next step in bringing this baby of mine to production.
Other Ways to Work with Me
Freelance Director
I take on selected directing projects throughout the year, working with new and established playwrights on full productions, rehearsed readings, and workshop development. Recent and upcoming projects Sheep! (Jenni Nikinmaa), Journey to Apollo (Eamonn MacNicholas) and Wake of the Whale (Alice Kinsella & Daniel Wade).
For directing enquiries, get in touch.
Script Development
I work one-to-one with playwrights and screenwriters on script development — from early-stage idea work through to detailed feedback on later drafts. This is sustained editorial collaboration rather than one-off notes: I read closely, ask the questions the script is asking but hasn't yet answered, and help writers find the version of the work they're trying to make.
To enquire about availability and rates, get in touch.
Actor
I trained at the Gaiety School of Acting and haveworked as an actor for three decades. I continue to take on selected acting work in theatre and screen.
Casting enquiries welcome.