Granary Theatre Current Status
Granary Theatre
The Granary Theatre is a key teaching and learning space and a critical outreach and community engagement organism within UCC.
The Granary is currently used for student learning at all levels – from the BA to PhD, for staff research, for our artists in residence, and for UCC events. Where possible, it is also used by our student societies and by some staff to put on performances or workshops. It is a dynamic part of the programme of study in the Department of Theatre, as a fully functioning black-box/miniaturised proscenium arch style venue with configurable seating and a lighting grid that is well stocked for its size. Students can study key aspects of technical theatre by taking classes in the Granary, and students in the programme perform there with full technical support.
Currently, the Granary is not used as a receiving house for touring work. The Granary does host some external companies where we can do so. We have an excellent relationship with the Cork Midsummer Festival, and every year we receive one or more of the projects aligned with the festival. We have also worked with Sounds from a Safe Harbour festival, our key industry partners: Cork Opera House, and of course, our own MA and PhD students to host work. We have also occasionally been able to host work that aligns with our future mission to become a centre of excellence for experimentation with high-quality inclusion in theatre, such as work by renowned Autistic theatre makers or work developed in conjunction with Suisha Arts.
If you wish to rent or use the Granary, or any other Department of Theatre facilities, please scroll down to the FAQ below.
The Granary Transformation Project
The Granary’s future is important to faculty, staff, students: especially to students in the School of Film, Music and Theatre; to the performance-based student societies; and to the wider artistic and audience community of Cork.
The will of the university is to renew, develop, and maximise the Granary’s presence as a beacon of teaching, learning, research, and public engagement for Theatre; for the School of Film, Music and Theatre; and for the wider university.
To that end, the Granary is currently fund-raising for a major renovation that would make it a Centre of Excellence for teaching, research and community engagement that would be pioneering on the Island of Ireland. It would have one of the most ecological and accessible lighting grids in Ireland; and become a different kind of space for the city.
For more details on this, you can contact the Academic Director/Project Champion of this renovation, Professor Yvon Bonenfant: yvon.bonenfant@ucc.ie.
The Granary, its history, and its current function
The Granary moved to this site and was opened as a venue on September 11th 1995 by now-President, Michael D. Higgins. It was seen as a key cultural asset of the city, and one of the few venues able to receive more daring, smaller-scale touring work in the Cork region, as it has a capacity of maximum 140 audience.
The Granary was used extensively by our student societies in its former location (now part of the Tyndall National Institute) and from 1995. It also was attributed a substantial budget by the University to function like a small arts-centre-style venue. Before the Department of Theatre had a formal study programme, influential figures in acting worked in the Granary, as did a whole range of directors. Graham Norton, Cillian Murphy, Fiona Shaw, Siobhán McSweeney, all performerd in the Granary, and it hosted a very wide range of work.
Over time, the priorities of national government changed. Funding per student head to universities dramatically decreased after the banking crisis in the late 2000s and has never been restored. It became progressively more difficult for the University to subsidise the Granary as if it were a recipient of Arts Council arts-centre style funding. The state considers the Granary a classroom-laboratory, owned by UCC. This is excellent for students, but it shifts the priorities of the space.
Simultaneously, the Department of Theatre had been founded, and students in the programme found themselves competing with touring performances and a range of external renters and users to access a UCC facility. By the time of the Covid crisis, the situation had become heavily imbalanced.
As we slowly emerged from the Covid crisis, the Granary’s staffing model was shifted as we moved toward our eventual renovation. The Granary’s current assigned staffing is one theatre technician and one part time trainee technician while we build toward the future.
FAQ1: Queries about renting, using or being programmed by the Granary, or other Department of Theatre classrooms
Q: What rooms does the Department manage?
A: We manage the Granary, the Theatre Lab, a studio-classroom, and the Granary Studio rehearsal space. All other rooms are managed by UCC and we cannot procure them for you. You must contact conferences@ucc.ie to access other rooms.
Q: Do you rent out your rooms or the theatre for rehearsal or performance?
A: We occasionally can do so, but we do not currently have the administrative infrastructure to manage the theatre as if it were a receiving venue or an independent arts centre. We generally only rent out facilities in conjunction with our institutional partners with whom we have established relationships.
Q: Why can’t I rent a space at a given time?
A: There are many reasons for this. Health and safety protocols are much stricter than they were 30 years ago, and they are now carefully monitored. We cannot have external (non-UCC) users in who are not fully insured; and we are required to be ON-SITE when external users are in our rooms. We cannot work all evenings and weekends and therefore cannot be here all of the time. Our campus (the Connolly campus) is locked off on weekends and for some of the year, for early evenings, and we have to pay our own Security office to open the campus out of standard hours. This is not an arts centre.
Q: There used to be a lot of shows on at the Granary, and we used to be able to access it when we wanted. Why can’t we anymore?
A: See the narrative above. The Granary is no longer funded by the University as a community-focused touring work or residency space. It was nonsensical that our own university students could not access the Granary when it is being funded for the purposes of higher education. Funds and resources are tight, and students and an inclusion and outreach mission that will be the focus of the renovation are our priorities.
Q: I am an ex-student. Why can’t I use UCC facilities on demand?
A: If you are not an enrolled student or staff member, you are not insured for use of the Granary’s or the Department’s spaces. You do not have a student card (for digital key access) and we must assign staff from our skeleton staff to be available when you are here for insurance reasons. A complex contract must be drawn up for you to use these spaces, with your company providing full insurance indemnity to UCC and with us supervising your use of the spaces. There are many steps in this process.
Q: I would like to rent space to give a class at UCC Theatre (that I will charge for). How do I do this?
A: It is not feasible for you to rent our spaces to make money at this time. We have to supervise your use, contract your use, and monitor attendance in our secured, locked facilities. It costs us a lot to do this, and we mostly can’t afford it. Contact conferences@ucc.ie for this kind of use.
Q: Will you provide a Letter of Support for my Arts Council grant (for touring, for show-making, etc.)?
A: Usually, we are not able to do this right now. Many companies ask us for extended periods of residency time during teaching weeks or to second rehearsal space. We usually cannot do this: students need the space for teaching and learning and rehearsal. Outside of these times, we have short windows when we can receive external companies, if HR resourcing and our other UCC duties allow. It is better if you obtain a Letter of Support from the appropriate producing framework (such as the festival you are working with). With the Midsummer Festival, we ask them to recommend the companies they select for LoSs.
Q: What kinds of work do you receive from non-UCC companies?
A: When we are able to host work from non-UCC companies, they are usually one of the following; inclusion-focused in some way; aesthetically daring in a way that maps on to the portrait of the School; or they are in some way involved with charitable work or fund-raising for non-profit means; or they are linked to one of our partnerships, such as that with Cork Opera House.
Q: Can we rent/book space from you for a community performance or class?
A: We simply do not have the resources to adequately oversee such rentals. They require complex administration and insurance and health and safety paperwork. If you are a community group making work but do not have a production manager, technical specialist, or understand theatrical insurance, it is very difficult for us to accommodate you at this time. We hope to be able to do so under a new staffing model as we move toward renovation.
FAQ2: If you have been offered space at UCC Theatre including the Granary as a non-student, non-staff user.
Q: What are the constraints of working at the Granary?
A: Our staff are not day-freelancers, and they do not work on day rates, but rather on paid, salaried time. Your work or show is likely not the only thing they are covering while you are with us. Therefore, we strictly adhere to fixed workdays and are not flexible about them. We are not an arts centre with a range of freelance/rotating staff. We cannot suddenly extend workdays because a moment in your process needs more rehearsal or has run into an unforeseen hiccup. Keep this in mind as we negotiate your contracts with us. The Granary no longer runs a ticketing infrastructure so ticketing must be covered by your promoter or company. The Granary requires a minimum of three ushers per show which you will have to provide or pay for.
Q: What are the fees?
A: We use a going commercial day rate to calculate user fees. We reduce these to support some work aligned with our ethos, by negotiation. We cannot provide design or technical services in their completion – you must bring in your own tech team.
Q: Do you have a scene dock?
A: The Granary has a tiny, scene-dock like space. It is not really appropriate for on-site construction.
Q: What is your technical configuration?
A: Contact declan.leonard@ucc.ie for tech specs.
Q: How does contracting work?
A: 1. We negotiate your access times and needs. 2. We determine a price. 3. We draw up a user contract. 4. You provide us with a letter of insurance indemnity. The details of the required indemnity are below. No contract is in force until our office of OCLA have signed off on your insurance paperwork. This can take up to three weeks. We will not allow you on site until your insurance paperwork has cleared.
Insurance required of outside Parties who use the UCC's facilities?
Evidence of their Employers Liability (if relevant) and Public Liability insurance cover, for the duration of their presence on site should be provided in advance. The following is an outline of the evidence required:
- A signed statement/certificate from their Insurer
- Number of the policy under which cover is being provided
- Amount of the full limit of indemnity should be stated. The indemnity limits should be not less than €13m for Employers Liability and €6.5m for Public Liability
- Specific indemnity should be made to UCC against any claim arising out of the presence of the relevant organisation on campus
- Renewal date of the policy and any specific exclusions or restrictions under its cover, relevant to their presence at UCC should be confirmed
In addition, the organisation, individual or company is informed that the University accepts no responsibility for loss of or damage to their property whilst on campus, unless specific arrangements are made with the University to the contrary. Any such arrangements must be notified well in advance to the Office of Corporate & Legal Affairs, to ensure that the insurance and legal implications may be checked.
Q: Why can’t I work until as late as I like? Why can’t you just give me the keys?
A: See all of the above. No venue would allow this in this kind of facility – we need to ensure security of the facility and the safety of the people using the space or otherwise in the space.
Q: Can you accommodate inclusion needs?
A: We do our absolute best to do this. Talk with us about it.
Contact us
Email: granary@ucc.ie
Telephone: (021) 490 4272
Address: UCC Granary Theatre, Dyke Parade, T12 VF64, Cork