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Red Alchemy Theatre Company
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ABOUT US
Founded in 2010 by Christine Scarry, Red Alchemy Theatre Company is a professional theatre company based in the heart of Kilkenny City, with flexible performance locations.
We love to devise, develop and produce engaging, meaningful plays and musical theatre that respond to the interests of our diverse local and national community - with a special focus on niche ensemble pieces - to make theatre that is engaging, emotionally powerful and accessible to all.
Red Alchemy Theatre Company also produces The Sondheim Festival - a weekend of events celebrating the great theatre titan - which takes place from 7-8th October, 2023. We are proud to partner with Kilkenny Arts Office and the Watergate Theatre on this project.
Productions to date: In Good Company: Liz Callaway Sings Sondheim (Watergate); Light, Dark & Diverse (Watergate), Vincent – A Play by Leonard Nimoy (National Tour), Sing For Life (Online Stream), Winter Song (Sugar Club, Dublin), A Night at the Museum (Medieval Mile Museum), Song Slam (Set Theatre), Listen To My Heart (National Tour), The Lonesome West (National Tour), Take It From Me (Bewley’s Café Theatre), Ritual For Dolls (Mill Theatre, Dublin).
As an independent company, our imagination and energy are limitless, but our means are not! Our existence relies solely on box office, benefactors and sponsorship: your involvement and support is a vital element in creating and sustaining our work and to develop fresh talent, so please get in touch if you would like to become part of our story.
We aim to engage, inspire and delight.
THE SONDHEIM FESTIVAL
Christine Scarry and Red Alchemy Theatre Company, in association with Kilkenny Arts Office, are honoured to present THE SONDHEIM FESTIVAL - celebrating the life and work of theatre titan, Stephen Sondheim - which takes place over the weekend of 7-8 October, with the main events being held at the Watergate Theatre.
The award-winning actor and singer Fra Fee will close this year’s Festival with the concert, Now You Know! Having previously performed in Stephen Sondheim’s Follies (Opera Toulon), Putting It Together (Lyric Theatre) and A Little Night Music (Palace Theatre), Fra will celebrate his artistic association with the legendary Stephen Sondheim through an evening of story and song, with the incomparable David Hayes on piano, and with special guest, violin virtuoso, Denice Doyle.
An exciting new addition to the Festival this year is The Sondheim Festival Bursary worth €3,000 – generously sponsored by HP – which will be awarded by open competition in the Live Final on 7 October, with special guest Liz Callaway. The money provided by The Sondheim Festival Bursary is for the support and advancement of the winner’s musical theatre education.
Other high quality events include individual performance masterclasses with Broadway's Liz Callaway and West End's Paul Monaghan, a choral workshop with David Hayes, dance masterclass with Belinda Murphy, an accent workshop, painting in the pub, and a fun quiz with Edward Hayden – all with a Sondheim twist!
Tickets for all events are now on sale from https://watergatetheatre.ie/the-sondheim-festival/
For all updates, check out The Sondheim Festival on:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thesondheimfestival/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/thesondheimfestival
Twitter https://twitter.com/thesondheimfest
For further information please contact thesondheimfestival@gmail.com
ABOUT CHRISTINE (DIRECTING)
Christine has been working as a freelance director of plays and musicals since 2001. As both director and producer, she has worked with national and international casts on a wide range of productions at home and abroad, and has directed work to critical and commercial acclaim in New York City as well as in theatres all over Ireland.
Last year she was honoured to be appointed Writer-in-Residence at the Watergate Theatre, and in 2022 created the The Sondheim Festival - the first festival of its kind to celebrate the life and and work of the legendary Stephen Sondheim.
In that time she has developed a unique production style, her ultimate goal being the creation of an exciting theatrical and dramatic expression – both for the audience and the performers. Christine likes to reproduce honest, passionate human reactions on stage, always encouraging actors to move beyond the script and address the underlying emotional or philosophical themes of a performance piece.
Before refocusing her career as a director and voice coach, Christine spent many years working as a professional actor and singer, and believes that it benefits a director to experience performing themselves from time to time to help best understand the actor’s process. She made a brief return to the stage in 2019 to create the role of Emsy in New Fish at Smock Alley Theatre, Dublin.
Originally trained in Voice and Piano at the Conservatory of Music & Drama and the Royal Irish Academy of Music, Christine holds a first-class MA in Theatre Studies (Directing) from Dublin City University, a Postgraduate Distinction in Creative and Cultural Entrepreneurship from Trinity College, Dublin and is an accredited member of the global network of voice experts, Vocology in Practice. She has completed specialised Singing for Lung Health training and is an accredited Vocal Health First Responder.
Christine is a member of AOTOS, the British Voice Association, Kilkenny Chamber of Commerce and the Stephen Sondheim Society.
