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South Dublin’s Oldest Drama School Take 2 Casting Now in its 26th Year
03 Oct 2014 : Seán Brosnan
Founder and Director of Take 2 Casting Pamela Hughes spoke to IFTN this week about her casting agency and performing arts school, which is now the longest running in South Dublin after celebrating its 26th birthday this year.

Take 2 Casting, which operates out of its base on Tullow Road in Foxrock, has been mentoring and teaching child actors since 1988. Hughes herself is a highly trained actor who appeared on the large & small screen in her early days. She studied at the Royal Irish Academy of Music & Drama with Actress Aileen Harte for many years and subsequently secured her diploma with the London College of music. She attended the Gaiety school of Acting under the tuition of Joe Dowling & Pat Laffan. Pamela then went on to study in the Leinster School of Music & Drama and was awarded her Licentiate. She also holds a Licentiate & Fellowship from 'The Irish Board of Speech & Drama'. Pamela is also a senior examiner with The Irish Board and also adjudicates nationwide at Music & Drama Festivals.

Past students have included Hannah Crowley (‘Damo and Ivor’), Leigh Arnold (‘The Clinic’), Maclean Burke (‘Fair City’) and Jane McGrath (‘Red Rock’).

Speaking about her school, Hughes said:We have a couple of hundred students who we teach here and also a few hundred external clients that we take in. Our students have access and are members of our casting agency but anyone external needs to be vetted before becoming a member of the Agency. We take both boys and girls from a young age and stay with them until they are about 25.

Current success stories in her ranks include Shauna Griffith (18) who recently finished filming feature film 'The Lost Generation' playing the lead 'Susan' alongside another Take2 client 'Adam O'Neill' who plays the leading man. Shauna played Jenny in successful RTÉ drama ‘Amber’, directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan, 'Life's a Breeze' directed by Lance Daly and ‘Dream House', directed by Jim Sheridan. She also features in a 'Headstrong' Mental Health awareness promo, as well as various short films. Shauna has also played leading roles in various musicals, possessing a Soprano voice.

Budding actress Elena O'Connor (8) was cast in 'Low Level Panic' (New Theatre) alongside Take2 clients Aoife McMahon & Sophie White. She also featured in ‘Ballyturk’(Olympia Theatre) opposite Stephen Rea, Cillian Murphy & Mikel Murfi, and starred with her Take2 classmate Mimi O'Connor on 'Sky Arts' promoting The Rise & Fall of Mahagony’. She also has played in numerous TV commercials and short films. Elena is currently filming alongside John Kavanagh on short film 'The Great Wide Open' directed by Mark Holland.

Take 2 also hold a musical each year in the Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire and Hughes attributes the longevity and success of Take2 Casting to her not viewing the agency as a business.

I am doing what I love to do. This is like a hobby for me. I love teaching and watching my students learn and perform. I just want every child to come in and realise their potential. I don’t think of this as a business at all and I just want us to keep going exactly the way we are.





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