This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
SEEDS
SEEDS: Seek out – Encourage – Enable – Develop – Stage
In 2001, Rough Magic launched SEEDS as a pioneering initiative bridging third-level training and professional practice. To date it has supported 58 emerging theatre artists, with the vast majority of these going on to establish themselves as theatre professionals. To read more about the history of the programme and the illustrious alumni, click this link.
Collaboration is the essential element of theatre making, and theatre companies are a clear embodiment of this. There is currently a lack of support for early-career theatre collectives, and Rough Magic is setting out to respond to this gap in provision.
The programme has evolved over time in response to the needs of the sector, and this year Rough Magic will be evolving SEEDS once more to support emerging theatre collectives. This new version is being piloted throughout 2025 – 2026.
We are thrilled to announce the 2025 – 26 SEEDS participant companies, welcoming Arínọlá and Gift Horse to this new iteration of Rough Magic’s pioneering programme.
Arínọlá
artists are Tishé Fatunbi, Usher Titus, Praise Titus, Rema Hamid and Isabel Hamilton, and is a black led theatre company facilitating and cultivating an artistic community in Dublin.
Describing their work, Arínọlá said “Much of the work we create and work on features black and POC characters. Our main goal is to create a community of creatives with a specific focus on platforming the voices of those who are often unheard or misheard in the theatre community”. Arínọlá’s work includes Ololufé which was presented in Dublin Fringe Festival in 2024 and in June they will be launching My City Too, a magazine highlighting the stories and experiences of people of immigrant communities inspired by the riots and racial violence seen across the country. My City Too is accepting submissions till 7th May at this link
Gift Horse’s core artistic team are Signe Lury, Elishka Lane, and Doris de Vries, and they work with the company’s associate artists Mae Leahy, Ciara Berkeley, and Jilly McGrath.
Gift Horse Theatre is an environmentally conscious company focused on revising the repertoire and creating playful, provocative work. Their practice is ensemble-led and often incorporates live music and movement. Founded in 2018, Gift Horse have produced three open-air tours; Tess (2019-20), Twelfth Night (2021), and War and Peace (2022) and two original productions, harvest in 2023 and DON’T COPY ME in 2024. Gift Horse have a short film currently in production and are developing an original production inspired by the life and works of Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington.
Read About Recent SEEDS Participants
SEEDS 2023/2024
HK Ní Shioradáin
Sound Designer HK Ní Shioradáin is a multidisciplinary artist from Dublin. They compose, sound design, and music direct for film and theatre, and are a bilingual spoken word poet, performing in Irish and English. They have a BA in English Literature and Film from Trinity College Dublin, and a Certificate in Music Composition for Games from Griffith College Dublin.
Joy Nesbitt
Joy Nesbitt is a theatrical director, writer, and neo-soul artist originally from Dallas, Texas. In her art, Joy is inspired and motivated by stories of Black Femininity and the destruction of oppression in today’s society. Joy is a recent graduate of the Theatre Directing MFA at The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Arts. She attended Harvard University with a dual degree in Social Anthropology and Music, as well as a secondary in Theatre, Dance and Media.
Toni Bailey
Toni Bailey is a Costume Designer who studied at the Inchicore College of Further Education. She recently completed a Masters in Dramaturgy and Costume Design at The Lir National Academy of Dramatic Arts. Toni has a background in Makeup and Special Effect for film and TV.
SEEDS 2021/2022 Testimonials
“SEEDS provided me with a bedrock of experience in a professional theatre setting. My time on the programme included assistant-directing All The Angels, collaborating on the development of The Tempest, and getting the chance to stage my own work at Project Arts Centre. I came away from each of these opportunities with lessons learned and horizons expanded. SEEDS also allowed me to immerse myself in the running of Rough Magic, and observing how this dynamic company operates on a daily basis was illuminating and instructional. Overall, SEEDS equipped me with a confidence in my directing ability that I had not known before, and I am very grateful for that.”
– Dominic O’Brien, Director SEED 2021-2022
“The SEEDS program was life-changing for me. I worked on Tonic and All the Angels, doing scenic painting and assisting, working alongside amazing designers and learning from them. I also learned how the whole company works, communicates and creates. Every team member was super kind and really willing to help. The SEEDS program is like a bridge from college to real work life. It taught me lots of practical things for working professionally. I used to think being a designer is a solo career path, but being a SEED changed that. It showed me that making theatre is about community, communication, helping and supporting each other”. – Pai Rathaya, Set Design SEED 2021-2022
“SEEDS completely transformed my career, not only through practical experience but with the networking opportunities and connections I have built across the sector. Being from the North there is often a divide between the two jurisdictions of this island that permeates into our arts sectors. SEEDS has given me the chance to observe and participate within the behemoth that is the southern theatre sector. In February 2022 I was asked to design for the Abbey for a rehearsed reading of Bloody Sunday: Scenes from the Saville Inquiry directed by Lynne Parker. To say this programme has changed the trajectory of my career is an understatement.
During SEEDS I was the video designer on All The Angels and Rough Weekend. The programme taught me quite a lot about video hardware, working with projectors, video formats and frame rates, and how your knowledge of hardware is equally as important as your knowledge of software. SEEDS is a truly life changing and career-defining experience. I will be forever indebted to the wonderful people at Rough Magic.” – Eoin Robinson, Video Design SEED 2021-2022