Katie O'Kelly
Katie O'Kelly is currently artist in residence at Belltable, Limerick, supported by the Arts Council and Limerick County Council. She is developing her new play, DISPLACE, as part of her residency. Katie most recently completed a National Tour of her adaptation of James Joyce’s Dubliners short stories, Dubliners Women, dir. Sarah Baxter. In 2016, she wrote and performed her solo play about Palestine, The Olive Tree, premiering in the New Theatre and then touring to the HIFA Festival, Zimbabwe. Her solo show Counter Culture toured nationally and to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Counter Culture was created as part of the Show in a Bag initiative supported by Dublin Fringe Festival, Fishamble: The New Play Company and the Irish Theatre Institute. She also wrote and performed in the two-hander Mirror, Mirror, Off the Wall, directed by Pom Boyd. Other writing credits include the radio play CAGED, presented as part of the Dead Air series in the Bram Stoker Festival 2017.
She has toured extensively with the solo show JOYCED! written by Donal O’Kelly, for which she was nominated for The Stage Award for Acting Excellence (Solo Performer Category) at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. JOYCED! toured nationally around Ireland and to Norway, Finland and the UK, receiving a bursary to perform in the Brighton Fringe Festival. She performed in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (The New Theatre) directed by Jimmy Fay, which toured to Paris and Wales following two national tours. Other recent stage credits include Shivvie in Ledwidge (TNT National Tour), Player King/Osric in Hamlet (AC Productions), Goneril in King Lear and The Nurse in Romeo and Juliet (Smock Alley National Tour) and Ellen Byrne in Lockout (The New Theatre). Katie is a graduate of the Drama and Theatre Studies BA from Trinity College Dublin and Goldsmiths College London. She is one of the organisers of PalFest Ireland, a lively, cultural arts festival organised by Irish Artists in solidarity with the people of Palestine. |
Jane McCarthy |
Jane has over a decade of experience in theatre as a writer and producer. Most recently she wrote the critically acclaimed, sold out play, The Harvest which follwed its initially successful run with a national multi-venue tour in 2019. In December 2018 she adapted and staged a much lauded reimagining of Charles Dickens' classic ghost story The Signalman. In 2017, she was commissioned to write a short radio play, Amy, as part of the Bram Stoker Festival's event Dead Air. Her debut play, Overtime (2012, 2013) also received great critical acclaim and a sell out run in The New Theatre, Dublin. On the strength of Overtime she was selected to be part of Dublin Theatre Festival's 'Play- On' initiative in 2014, an advanced playwriting course taught by Graham Whybrow, of The Royal Court Theatre, London. In 2019 she was invited to join the annual Playwrights Workshop in The Tyrone Guthrie Centre, Annaghmakerrig, supported by Stewart Parker Trust. She was most recently commissioned to write a monologue for publication in Fortnight, celebrating 50 years of the journal, published in June 2020.
In Summer 2021 her adaptation of Edna O’Brien’s Girls in their Married Bliss, the third and final novel in O'Brien's Country Girls trilogy, will embark on a tour of Ireland and Northern Ireland, produced by WitchWork TC. Jane has an MA in Creative Writing from UCD, graduated Dec 2014, where she was taught by many esteemed writers such as James Ryan, Frank McGuinness, Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, Paul Perry and Carlo Gebbler, and a BA in English Literature, also from UCD, graduated Sep 2007. Clara Purcell
Clara has worked in theatre, film and TV production since 2012. She produced Dubliners Women (2016, The New Theatre) an adaptation of Joyce’s Dubliners by Katie O’Kelly, directed by Sarah Baxter which toured to twelve venues nationwide to great acclaim from audiences and critics.
She is currently producing the 30th anniversary tour of Donal O’Kelly’s award-winning Bat the Father Rabbit the Son taking place in late 2018/early 2019. She also co-produced the premiere run and national tour of Norah (2018, The New Theatre) by Gerard Humphreys. She is involved as producer in the development of two original projects; Katie O’Kelly’s Displace in association with Belltable, Limerick, and Sisters! The Musical – book and lyrics by Tracy Ryan, music and lyrics by Kaeylea Van Keith. Stage management credits include King Lear and Romeo & Juliet (2016, Smock Alley Theatre), and JOYCED! (national tour, 2013). She was production assistant on feature-length documentary Nuala – A Life (2012, Accidental Pictures) and worked in production support in RTÉ for four years. Clara is one of the organisers of PalFest Ireland, a multidisciplinary cross-cultural arts festival in solidarity with the people of Palestine. |
