Be Part: WIP - Home Sweet Home

Cork Midsummer Festival & SUISHA Inclusive Arts

Role: Director & Facilitator

Project Origin

In late 2022, Jody O’Neill and Al Bellamy were approached by Cork Midsummer Festival to lead a project with Suisha Arts, funded though the Beyond Participation initiative.

Members of Suisha Arts had produced a successful show called Where’s my Art?, devised with and directed by Ciaran Bermingham in 2022 and were keen to build on what they had accomplished through a project led by disabled/neurodivergent professional artists.

Structure

Workshops were held in the arts space at Cope Foundation every Tuesday and one full weekend per month from January to June 2023, with a focused three-day rehearsal period onsite at Firkin Crane Cork coming up to the in-development sharing of work.

We also had a two-day intensive workshop, including an overnight stay in Ballycotton in April 2022.

Professional Development

The cast of Home Sweet Home are at various points on their paths towards being professional artists. We have had several discussions with them about pay and professionalisation during the development process. We intend to continue these discussions as we move towards production and have designed the next phase of the process to incorporate mentorships with participants in their areas of interest that may lead towards professional opportunities in the future. We are hopeful that the production of Home Sweet Home in Cork Midsummer Festival 2024 will not be an end point, but will open up opportunities for the participants that extend far beyond the run of the play.