Little Seal Productions

The Most Important Person In Any Show Is Everybody Else

News

10/09/2024

From September 7th, at our base in Brussels, Fish’n’Whiskers Youth Theatre will get off to an energetic start as we launch into a new year. Groups for all ages from 7 to 18, meeting every Saturday. Use the contact form or email me direct barry@littleseal.eu

09/09/2024

Our Adult Theatre Group will meet for the first time on September 15th at Salle Dublin in Ixelles. Explore the Classics in our very own ERAS Tour, from Euripides to Frank McGuinness. Just email Barry for more details.

08/09/2024

‘Some comments from parents’ –

Barry,

Thank you so much for continuing to inspire and nurture our daughter’s love for the stage! It was so fun to finally be able to meet you and to see her in action. :)


Dear Barry,

Thank you so much to you and the team. Our son had an incredible week and even shed a tear on Saturday morning because he couldn’t go back for one more day.

Who Are We?

Little Seal Productions is a vibrant independent theatre company which brings people together to create fun, inclusive, and meaningful stage performances. As part of Little Seal, Fish’n’Whiskers Youth Theatre was founded in 2018 by Barry O’Halpin to provide a high-quality drama experience for young people aged 7 to 18. Through a safe, cheerful, and challenging environment, Little Seal nurtures both the actor and the whole person, helping talents, young and old, grow and explore the world of theatre.

Fish’n’Whiskers Youth Theatre

Fish N Whiskers Logo

Fish’n’Whiskers Youth Theatre was founded in 2018 by Barry O’Halpin as part of Little Seal Productions to provide a top-quality drama environment for young people between the ages of 6 and 18.

We offer the chance to develop both the actor and performer and indeed the whole person by creating a safe, cheerful and challenging environment for young people to explore the world and hone their dramatic talents.

September is indeed here again and we’re off on another year of fun, games, silliness and new friendships. Our standard two-term pattern starts on September 2nd with our introductory ‘taster’ day and then we will get into our Production term, working in our Junior (7 – 10 years), Intermediate (11 – 13 years) and Senior (14 – 18 years) Groups. After the show in mid-January we will move straight on to our 2025 Lamda preparation.

For information on our activities, fees and timings please contact Barry O’Halpin at barry@littleseal.eu or fill in the contact form below.

Little Seal and Fish’n’Whiskers Youth Theatre is now preparing our young people (and a few adults too!) for their Lamda exams which will be held in early May. If you are interested in doing a Lamda exam, no matter what age or experience you may carry, contact barry@littleseal.eu before February 21st. We will still be able to fit you in and if necessary can organise preparation sessions during the school holidays.

Please visit our Facebook page for updates.

Our Team

LittleSeal Ana

Anastasia McCammon

Anastasia is a performer and theatre teacher from the island of Cyprus. She studied Performing Arts at the University of California, Santa Barbara where she specialized in Shakespeare and Dance studies. After completing a Masters in Art Praxis from the Dutch Art Institute in 2020, she moved to Brussels where she has been teaching theatre and performing in solo shows. Anastasia is also the performance curator for the annual summer festival hosted by Cypriot-based NGO group Xarkis. She has been working with Little Seal since September 2021

LittleSeal Barry O'Halpin

Barry O’Halpin

Barry is the founder and Artistic Director of Little Seal Productions. A graduate of the Open University with a Higher Diploma in Education, as well as teaching qualifications from The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Barry has been teaching and directing theatre as well as acting since 2010. He founded Fish’nWhiskers Youth Theatre in 2018. Since 2020 he has been a collaborator in Theatre activities with The International School of Brussels, including presenting their Summer Theatre Camp in August of each year.

Where are they now?

Soraya Fahmy

“The skills I gained with Little Seal gave me the confidence to direct a show at 19, something I had never thought I’d be able to do.”

Soraya started theatre at 10 with EYT and later studied acting with The Little Seal Productions for it’s first 2 years, in addition to helping run a children’s camp.

After she finished school, Soraya moved to study at the University of Southampton where she joined the theatre society. After just a year and a half in the society, she has been a part of ten shows, working as an actor, producer and managing a show as a director.

On top of this, she was Theatre Group’s Tours Officer on the 2022/23 committee. She raised over £3000 to take a sellout show up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Finally, during her third year, she has started working in the marketing department for a film and theatre production company.

None of this would have been possible without the genuine passion that Soraya has for these projects, which all began with Little Seal Productions.

Faith Zammit Camilleri

“During my time at Little Seal I gained so much experience in theatre, confidence in and out of classes and endless fun.”

Little Seal has led me to be open minded about the theatre industry and directed me in finding my way in my studies, from seeing a production through the actor and director’s point of view.

Acting and interacting in groups with other enthusiastic youths helped my communication skills with others in my everyday life.

From the experience I have gained, I am currently in my third year studying Film at the University of Kent. I have reached the role as Head of Editing in a University society, teaching and presenting workshops for other students and have been creating short films for the past two years.

Little Seal is a place for everyone to have so much fun and grow together equally being included in making theatre come to life on stage.

Eleanor Haigh

“Over the years Barry, director of Little Seal and Fish’n’Whiskers, has been a creative mentor in my life.

Hi there! I’m Eleanor Haigh and I’ve been involved with Fish’n’Whiskers and Little Seal for some time now!

It all began with having Barry as my LAMDA teacher for Grade 6. I went on to work with him in the pantomime production of ‘Aladdin’, where Barry was my director. Then I got the honor of performing as Catherine in Tennessee Williams’ ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ with Little Seal which changed my life and gave me so many tools that I still carry with me and use today. I also was given a great opportunity to work for Fish’n’Whiskers for their summer school as a team leader.

Over the years Barry, director of Little Seal and Fish’n’Whiskers, has been a creative mentor in my life and I’m so grateful for all the work we have done together!

After such great opportunities that kickstarted my passion for performance and drama, I went on to study Drama and English Literature at the University of Manchester, from which I graduated in 2022. I assisted in direction and choreographed an original play called ‘I don’t feel anything’ as a part of University of Manchester’s Drama Society’s Autumn Fringe, which we also took to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2022.

While at university, and still to this day, I became a part of a theatre collective called So La Flair Theatre. We are a collaborative group that create feminist and queer theatre as well as host cabarets, festivals and workshops. We took our first production on tour in 2022 to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 42 Degrees Festival, The Edge Theatre in Manchester and the Mcqueens Theatre in London.

I am now working as a freelance creative in Manchester.

Sam Fairhurst

“I will always be grateful to Barry and the Little Seal team for everything they have done for me.”

I first met Barry at the age of 15 when he helped me to prepare for LAMDA Bronze. I was without a shadow of a doubt a very different person back then. There wasn’t a lot of eye contact back in those days and the word ‘shy’ doesn’t even to begin describe me! Barry helped me come out of my shell and bit by bit, with his support and belief in me I grew and became more confident. I got my LAMDA Bronze medal and went on to achieve Silver and Gold.

I had leading roles in the Little Seal Production shows ‘When The Sun Goes Down’ written and directed by Barry, and ‘Frankenstein’ where I had the best time working with Anastasia and also met some amazing people along the way. I loved playing the role of Frankenstein (the doctor, not the monster as I frequently have to tell people!) I have since graduated high school and I am now studying Acting and Film Making at the Raindance Film School.

Upcoming Camps

We are currently engaged in the planning phase for camps at Easter and in August next year. Watch this space for info as it becomes available. Please keep an eye on this site and our Facebook page for details.