NEW
Professional-level actor training, made accessible.
Meisner-based. Original scene work. Stage and screen.
Beginners welcome.
Come as you are.
NEW PLAY HOUSE
WITH LUKE CORCORAN
01 / THE CLASSES
START HERE
01
Every Friday, we work with repetition and original scenes.
The repetition exercise gets actors out of their heads and into genuine contact with another person. From there, we move into scene work — often using new material written specifically for the room.
No two classes are quite the same.
€20 / class
Adults · All levels
GO DEEPER
02
A deeper dive into Meisner-based training.
Work with repetition, independent activity, the knock at the door, script analysis and scene work over a concentrated period.
Designed for actors who want to understand the work more deeply and develop greater freedom, responsiveness and emotional range.
Focused training
IN FRONT OF THE LENS
03
We believe stage work gives actors one of the strongest possible foundations for film.
On stage, there is nowhere to hide. You learn to stay present, listen, respond and carry a moment from beginning to end.
Then we bring that same work in front of the camera.
Our screen acting intensives explore performance for film through practical scene work, close listening, script analysis and working truthfully within the frame.
Acting for camera
THIS IS WHAT THE WORK LOOKS LIKE
When both scene partners put their attention on the other something new emerges. That something new is where the work happens.
Adult acting workshops in Waterford and Tramore.
Ask us about your first class ↗02 / THE APPROACH
Meisner described acting as living truthfully under imaginary circumstances.
The question is: how do you live truthfully?
At New Play House, we begin with attention.
Rather than trying to manufacture an emotion or decide what a scene should look like, the actor learns to put their attention on the other person, respond to what is actually happening and allow the moment to affect them.
The repetition exercise is central to our training because it strips away a lot of the noise actors carry into the room: self-consciousness, planning, performing and worrying about whether they are doing it “right.”
What begins to emerge is something simpler and more alive.
Listening.
Behaviour.
Impulse.
Connection.
For Luke, acting is about emotional fluidity in relation to another person.
You are the instrument.
The work is learning how that instrument responds.
And whether you are standing three feet from an audience or working in close-up for a camera, the foundation remains the same:
Be present.
Listen.
Respond.
One lived moment at a time.
AN ACTOR SHOULD NOT HAVE TO WAIT FOR PERMISSION TO MAKE WORK.
New Play House grew from a simple idea.
Luke had always been fascinated by stories of generations of actors, writers and directors coming up together — training together, challenging one another, making work and developing their voices side by side.
He wanted to build a room with that same spirit.
A place where training did not end with someone pointing towards “the industry” and saying: good luck.
A place where the people in the room could actually make things together.
That idea now runs through everything we do.
The Friday class feeds original scene work.
Original scenes feed new characters.
Characters become short films, plays and new projects.
Actors move from training into performance.
And the work keeps moving.
MEET YOUR COACH
Acting coach. Playwright.
Filmmaker.
Luke Corcoran founded New Play House as a place where actor training and making original work could exist side by side.
His teaching is rooted in Meisner-based practice, with an emphasis on presence, active listening, truthful response and getting actors out of their heads and into genuine relationship with the person in front of them.
Luke trained at the Gaiety School of Acting and the Irish Film Academy and was later introduced to Meisner training at Momentum Acting Studio.
Alongside acting, he began writing and directing his own work — partly because he did not want actors to spend years training only to wait for somebody else to give them permission to perform.
That philosophy became central to New Play House.
Today, actors train in the room, work with original material and have opportunities to move into live performance and screen projects.
Actors who first walked into New Play House with no previous experience have since made their stage debuts at Theatre Royal Waterford, appeared in short films and been cast in paid professional work.
Luke’s own work moves between theatre and film.
He is the writer-director behind Pub Theatre, which has grown from intimate performances at Downes Pub into productions at Theatre Royal Waterford.
He has also directed the feature films Tuesday Traders and Poppy Loftus.
Alongside New Play House, Luke works extensively in community arts and recovery settings, including his long-running creative relationship with Aiséirí.
FEATURE FILM
Directed by Luke Corcoran.
Available on Amazon Prime Video.
FEATURE FILM
Written and directed by Luke Corcoran.
Spirit of the Festival Award, Spook Screen 2023.
ACTING
Larry David Award for Best Supporting Male Actor.
Dublin International Comedy Film Festival.
03 / FROM THE ROOM
We make work.
Original writing and performance are part of the culture of New Play House.
Pub Theatre began as a way of getting new short plays in front of audiences quickly.
Write the thing. Rehearse it. Put it in front of people.
That immediacy has become an important part of the training.
In an intimate performance space, the actor has nowhere to hide.
You have to listen.
You have to stay alive.
You have to take the audience with you.
Pub Theatre has since become a growing part of Waterford’s theatre culture, including regular Halloween and Christmas productions and a major move from Downes Pub to Theatre Royal Waterford in 2026.
We are bringing the same philosophy into film.
New screen projects are currently in development through New Play House.
THEATRE ROYAL WATERFORD / 2026
Pub Theatre Royale brought four original plays by Luke Corcoran to the Theatre Royal stage:
The production brought together actors from across the New Play House community, including performers who had entered the room with little or no previous acting experience.
Follow the work ↗
IN THE PRESS / PUB THEATRE ROYALE
“The standing ovation was raucous and thunderous, and the achievement was monumental.”
“The play was confounding, and the actors were brilliant.”
“This was high-quality theatre, whatever it was about. Great acting.”
“I was sore from laughing.”
All excerpts: Liam Murphy, Munster Express · “One Great Night”
04 / ACTING IN THE COMMUNITY
New Play House also works beyond the traditional acting classroom.
Luke has developed a long-running creative relationship with Aiséirí, working with people who have come through addiction recovery and are progressing into the next stage of their lives.
From that relationship grew In Other Words.
IN OTHER WORDS
In Other Words is a creative programme developed through Luke’s work with Aiséirí and supported through Creative Waterford.
Participants work through acting exercises, improvisation, writing and filmmaking.
Rather than beginning with a finished script, the work often starts in the room.
An improvisation creates a behaviour.
A behaviour suggests a character.
A character begins to speak.
From there, scenes and short films emerge.
The process gives participants space to explore creativity, humour, storytelling and human connection without needing previous acting or writing experience.
Now in its third year, In Other Words continues to develop alongside Luke’s work with Aiséirí.
Luke is also working with Aiséirí as an Artist in the Community through an Arts Council-supported project.
His practice and ongoing relationship with Aiséirí have also been recognised through an invitation to contribute writing about the work to the Arts & Health platform.
Luke has also delivered creative work in social prescribing and community settings in Waterford and Dún Laoghaire.
The principle remains the same wherever the work happens:
create a room where people can listen, play, respond and make something together.
Ask about our community work ↗
THEATRE ROYAL WATERFORD / 18 AUGUST 2026
In 2026, New Play House produced A Village in association with Aiséirí.
Written and directed by Luke Corcoran, the production brought performers from the Aiséirí Progression Programme onto the stage of Theatre Royal Waterford.
The project was supported by Waterford City & County Council.
A Village was a separate theatre collaboration that grew from the trust, creativity and relationships developed through Luke’s wider work with Aiséirí.
FROM THE POSTER WALL
Pub Theatre. Halloween specials. Christmas specials. Workshops. New plays. Short films. And whatever comes next.
The poster wall is a record of work made by people who decided not to wait around for permission.
Follow Instagram for current productions, classes and announcements.
YOUR FIRST CLASS
Never acted before? Good.
In your first class, you’ll begin with two short exercises.
Everyone in the room has done them.
The actor beside you who has been training for years did them.
The person who later stepped onto the Theatre Royal stage did them.
Everyone remembers their first class.
Then you’re in the mix.
It usually takes a few sessions to begin understanding the repetition exercise — and that is completely normal.
You are not expected to arrive polished.
The point is discovery.
About acting.
About other people.
And, inevitably, about yourself.
YOUR NEXT SCENE STARTS HERE
Adult drop-in acting classes are €20 and pay as you go.
Message New Play House for the current class time and venue.
Then come along.
We’ll take it from there.
Message us on Instagram ↗@thenewplayhouse