Hi all, my name is Stephanie Irwin , recently married and living between London and France the last five years.

Before that I had travelled and holidayed in France and lived in Paris during the previous twenty years and finally myself and my husband, the actor and director Conor Irwin, are moving lock stock to Bordeaux to share our work and passion with new people and hopefully settle down in a city we fell in love with immediately on our first visit!

So who are we and what are we about?

I’ve worked in performing and theatre for 16 years now, as a choreographer, a producer, an actor and a writer. I even met my husband at an audition shortly after moving to London from my native Dublin, after he had seen me a decade earlier on stage back home- all very romantic! We have grown together sharing our passions for theatre and storytelling, his coming from a physical theatre LeCoque background, mine from dance and musical theatre.

This all blossomed into a collaboration with an amazing Irish friend called Jude Schweppe, who also found herself in London and dissatisfied with the industry as it stood. We are doers. We believe if you want to make art, make it. Don’t wait for someone else to give you the opportunity you crave, go make it! This is the philosophy upon which JuSt Theatre Company London was founded in 2011, and it is this hard working, passionate dedication to great art and storytelling that Conor and I wish to bring to Bordeaux and the expat community! If they are interested, that is!

We founded an international company to reflect the diverse artists and theatre enthusiasts we discovered in London from all over the world, as we hope to now discover in Bordeaux. As CRB cleared teachers with a bilingual background and with extensive directing experience our goal is to reach out to ex-pats in the Bordeaux region and create a calendar of workshops, training and theatre study for the experienced and not so experienced performer, from pre-teens to teens to adults. We noted through research, and expat forums a real lack of the kind of theatre training, experience and opportunity in Bordeaux that we have enjoyed in London during our many years there and from students on Erasmus to long time bilingual resident family, we believe our theatre company can expand to include the kind of fun, inspiring and innovative drama teaching that would be welcome in such a city. We would also arrange visiting workshops from specialists in various areas from puppeteers from WARHORSE to international acrobats and even award winning film makers.

But this can only happen if we feel it is something the Bordeaux community want to embrace. Sessions would all be in English, but the company would be run bilingually, so one way to look at it might be as a respite for ex-pats who miss English language theatre or a good english language practise opportunity for French counter-parts looking to experience physical theatre for themselves.

Thats all for now- let us know what you think and thanks for listening.

THE BODY & THE SPACE

Conor Irwin is a critically acclaimed international director and actor. Born in Dublin, Ireland where he initially studied at The Gaiety School of Acting, he completed his training in LeCoq based physical theatre at the London International School of Performing Arts (LISPA) under Thomas Prattki. he previously performed and studied Commedia dell’Arte in Italy under Antonio Fava and Mime at Ecole de Mime Corporeal Dramatic et Theatre de L’angue Fou in London under Corinne Soum and Steven Wasson.He has appeared in productions by Dreamthinkspeak Theatre Co., StoneCrabs Theatre Co., Ichiza Theatre Co., The Gate Theatre Co.,  Zeitgeist Theatre Co., The FootPrints Project – Casa Latin American Festival, Gilt & Grime Theatre Co., Missfit & Burning Houses Productions, The IGNITE Festival at The Royal Opera House. He directed the critically acclaimed revival of Ourselves Alone in 2011 and the 2012 summer tour with JuSt Theatre Company London of which he is a company member.
www.conor-irwin.com

Stephanie Frances Irwin (nee O’Brien)
Stephanie is a published author The Price of Experience, award winning actor (See website) and a theatre/film producer with JuSt Theatre Co. & JuSt Films of which she is co-Artistic Director. She has used her fifteen years of experience with young people in the Arts and her background in teaching through theatre to choreograph major youth opera’s and charity gala performances, to produce tours and shows and is the educational tutor/mentor to the S.T.A.R.T theatre programme at The Lyric Theatre London under Hollie Evans, working with underprivileged and vulnerable young people in the Greater London area.
www.stephanie-obrien.com