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WATCH Expressive Arts Theatre School celebrates almost 40 years of helping young people across Limerick build confidence through drama, singing, and dance
Expressive Arts Theatre School in Limerick is celebrating almost 40 years of helping young people across Limerick build confidence through drama, singing, and dance. Picture: Olena Oleksienko/ilovelimerick
Expressive Arts Theatre School has announced past pupil Sarah Allen as their new Artistic Director
Founded in 1988 by directors Pearl Kiely and May O’Halloran, Expressive Arts Theatre School is marking almost 40 years of inspiring young people in Limerick through drama, singing and dance, all while building a reputation for nurturing Limerick’s stage talent.
Catering for children and teenagers aged five to 18, each class combines specialist tuition, with each class involving three separate modules, where the pupils work with specialists in each discipline of song, dance, and drama
Speaking at a celebration at University Concert Hall, where Expressive Arts stages their annual shows, founder Pearl Kiely told I Love Limerick the school was founded after the encouragement of friends. She said, “ I had two friends who kept saying, ‘You have to teach this stuff. You know a lot, you’ve got to teach it.’
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“I’d been on stage all my life. I started with May O’Halloran, who was a beautiful actress. I called her and said, ‘May, would you try it with me?’ And she said, ‘Why not give it a go?’ We were so fortunate to have such a wonderful teacher as Tommy Drennan. He had a glorious voice.”
May has now retired, and Tommy sadly passed away in July 2024.
One of the main goals of Expressive Arts Theatre School is building confidence in young performers, with Pearl saying that from a young age, students will have the chance to perform on the iconic University Concert Hall stage.
She said, “ What we do is we build confidence in children through drama, singing, and dance. We start at four or five. They appear on this stage, which is our beautiful concert hall. They come off it so full of joy, and their confidence just jumps.”
Classes take place at Villiers School on the Ennis Road, and Pearl notes, “Villiers is a lovely venue, and I have to give a shout-out to Villiers’ Jill Storey, and how wonderful they are with us.”
Expressive Arts stages a large-scale annual production involving every student, helping to develop teamwork, friendships and valuable life skills alongside performance experience.
The school has welcomed thousands of students over the past four decades, with many former pupils now enrolling their own children, with Pearl highlighting the effort of past pupil, Sarah Allen, “ We now have their children coming to us, which is even a bigger joy. I mean, Sarah, who is our new artistic director, started at five years old with us. She has never left.”
Now Sarah has been announced as the new Artistic Director, and she hopes to honour the school’s tradition of staging classic productions while introducing fresh choreography, new ideas and modern productions. Sarah, looking to the future, told I Love Limerick, “ I love the classics the same as Pearl, I really do, and I learned about them through Expressive Arts. So to keep the classics but to add those modern elements, bring in some new ideas in choreography and staging and new shows.”
Expressive Arts has also produced a number of successful performers, including Nigel Dugdale, Leanne Moore, Jean McGlynn, and Liam O’Brien, who Pearl says is “Mr Sinatra himself”.
Former pupil Gene Rooney now teaches at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin and has very fond memories of her time at Expressive Arts, saying, ” We didn’t have youth theatre at that time in Limerick, so it was really important for teenagers to have somewhere to go. I’ve met some of the best friends of my life in Expressive Arts. I have been a director and an actor for 30 years now; I teach at The Gaiety School of Acting. I’ve actually taught some Expressive Arts ex-students in The Gaiety School, which is amazing for me, a full-circle moment. It’s been a really important part of my life.”
Speaking about her future plans, Pearl says retirement is not on the cards just yet, she told I Love Limerick, “ I’m not ready to retire yet. Sarah Allen is going to be our Artistic Director. We have Ciara Meade, who is just a genius when it comes to singing. Grace Burke, of course, who’s a very gifted choreographer, and James Corr will be teaching acting. So we’ll be all up on our toes for the coming season.”
The founder took a moment to thank all of those who have supported Expressive Arts Theatre School since its foundation in 1988, saying, “ Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all those wonderful kids. I want to say a bigger thank you to the mamas and dads. I’ve made lifelong friends. I’ve just loved every moment of it.”
The new season starts this September 2026 and Expressive Arts are offering a £10 discount on the first term to those signed up before August 1st. Email [email protected] or call 087 227 9927 for more info.
Photos: Olena Oleksienko/iloveliemrick
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