People

Gemma joined The Lir Academy in 2023.

She had previously been the Director of Drama, Dance, Production & Film at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Previous to that, she had been appointed Artistic Director of Liverpool’s Everyman and Playhouse Theatres in 2003. Gemma co-led the transformation of the theatres to be among the most dynamic commissioning houses in the UK and a central part of the city’s 2008 European City of Culture celebrations. Under her guidance, she implemented a drive to reach out to local communities and encourage new theatre-makers and audiences to the arts. Gemma and her team also delivered a £28 million campaign to rebuild the Everyman Theatre. It was re-opened to a hugely positive reception in 2014 and won the prestigious Stirling Prize.

Prior to her role in Liverpool, Gemma had an acclaimed career as a freelance theatre director. Following three years as a staff director at the National Theatre UK, Gemma became part-time associate director at the Hampstead Theatre and a freelance director directing a range of productions. She was key to realising the production of new works for many of the UK’s leading commissioning theatres during this time. Institutions she has worked with include the Royal Court, Bush Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Gemma is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin where she read Drama and Classical Civilisation. She started her career in London as an assistant director to a range of leading figures in theatre including Harold Pinter, Sir Richard Eyre, Sir Trevor Nunn and Howard Davies.

Gemma was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of Liverpool by John Moores University in 2014 for her outstanding contribution to the cultural life of Liverpool and awarded a Companionship at LIPA in 2015. She was the recipient of the inaugural Artistic Leader of the Year 2017 by Hope University, Liverpool and won Best Director at the UK Theatre Awards for artistic directorship of the Everyman Company in 2017. She has twice been Merseyside Woman of the Year.

Samuel Beckett Chair of Drama and Theatre

Brian Singleton is Samuel Beckett Professor of Drama & Theatre at Trinity College Dublin and is the Academic Director of The Lir –National Academy of Dramatic Art in Ireland. He is co-editor of the series ‘Studies in International Performance’ published by Palgrave Macmillan for which he and Janelle Reinelt won the 2012 ATHE prize for sustained achievement in editing. He has published many articles and book chapters on interculturalism/orientalism and performance including the mongraph Oscar Asche, Orientalism and British Musical Comedy (Praeger, 2004), as well as two books on the life and work of Antonin Artaud. His latest monograph is entitled Masculinities and the Contemporary Irish Theatre (Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).

bsnglton@tcd.ie

Anne Fitzpatrick was appointed as The Lir's first Administrator and has been responsible for academic and operational administration for the academy since doors opened in September 2011. Anne trained and worked in theatre and education for over fifteen years previous to her appointment at The Lir. Anne was appointed as Director of Administration & Company Secretary in 2018 with her duties now including that of financial controller and HR management for the academy.

anne.fitzpatrick@thelir.ie

Eve has been working in theatre across the U.K for the last 19 years specialising in lighting. She has worked across multiple platforms including new writing, touring, tv and digital media. Her previous role as Deputy Technical Manager at Soho Theatre included working as Production Electrician and Chief Lighting Programmer for new and innovative theatre including “Fleabag” (Olivier Nominated) and “Silent” (Olivier Award Winner). Most recently, Eve was The Lir Academy's Head of Lighting, joining the academy in 2017.

Gavin is the Director of Actor Training and Postgraduate Studies at The Lir Academy. After joining us in 2011, he initially taught Voice & Dialect on The BA Acting program, and later became the first course director of the Foundation Diploma in Acting & Theatre in 2014, as well as heading up all Short Courses at The Lir. He studied Drama at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin, spending his ERASMUS year at Goldsmiths College, The University of London. On graduating from Trinity, Gavin trained as an actor at The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He worked as an actor in the theatre and on radio in the UK before studying for his MA in Voice Studies at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Prior to his work at The Lir Academy, Gavin taught on drama programmes at University College Cork and the University of Ulster. He continues to work as a freelance dialect coach as well as teaching voice at the Dundalk Institute of Technology. Alongside his duties on the Foundation Diploma and Short Courses, Gavin teaches dialect and sight-reading on the bachelor in Acting course.

With a professional background working in the third sector as a human rights/social justice activist, and in the arts as a creative entrepreneur and arts practitioner, Shaz has contributed towards achieving progressive social change in Ireland. Informed by race, class, gender, and sexual identity, this has included addressing LGBTQ+ discrimination, sexual health awareness, and gender equality.

Previous roles include Executive Director of Dublin AIDS Alliance (now HIV Ireland). As a songwriter and performer she self–released a body of work to critical acclaim through her own label, ‘Radical Faeries’, and has performed extensively in Ireland and abroad. Most recently she
graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a Masters in Education. As a postgraduate student she successfully ran for election as President of Trinity Graduate Students’ Union (2019-20), and served on the Board of Trinity College Dublin.

Joanne brings her significant experience of over twenty years in the creative, cultural and not-for-profit sectors to the organization. Joanne has worked extensively as a freelance media producer and fundraising consultant. Her previous roles include Head of Fundraising for Enable Ireland and CEO of the Dublin International Film Festival.

Jessica studied Drama & Theatre Studies at the Samuel Beckett Centre at Trinity College Dublin and has an MA in Performance & Culture from Goldsmiths, University of London. She has worked in various positions in the cultural sector for over 20 years with a specific focus on marketing, communications and fundraising since 2012. Her recent experience includes roles at the Irish Film Institute; Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin; Dublin Fringe Festival; and Dublin Theatre Festival. She joined the Lir in 2020 as the Director of Marketing.

Paul O’Connor joined The Lir Academy in April 2019 as Commercial Director; in charge of devising and delivering creative new business initiatives across multiple departments within The Lir. Paul is responsible for driving sales across the academy’s range of Short Courses as well as running ‘The Lir at Work’, The Lir Academy's corporate communications training programme. With over 20 years experience working in Sales, Marketing and Business Development – Paul’s most recent role, prior to joining The Lir, was based in London, as Commercial Director of 1^st Option Representation, the UK’s largest TV, Film & Photoshoot Locations Agency. Previously, Paul worked as General Manager of The Factory in Barrow Street and was one of the Senior Management Team responsible for the establishment of Bow Street Academy for Screen Acting.

Roger Evans has been appointed as the new Head of Short Courses. Roger is an Actor and Director. He was brought up in the South Wales valleys and studied acting at The Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and has worked extensively in film, television and theatre across Europe and in America. He also has an MA in Actor Training and Coaching from The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and has taught in many Drama schools including The Lir.

David is originally from Australia and moved to Ireland in 2004. He has an uncompromising passion for the professional development of emerging artists and the highest quality of actor training. He has developed his own technical practice, has self-designed and directed actor training programs including The Applied Art of Acting, and written three textbooks on acting, theatre, and film practice.

David also founded Company D Theatre, specifically designed to provide opportunities and theatrical education for emerging actors. He has written, directed and produced many stage plays and has self-published thirteen complete plays. He continues to act professionally under the name David Michael Scott.

Maree is the course director of the MFA Stage Design at the Lir. Alongside this role she maintains a busy and prolific freelance design practice. Maree is a regular creative collaborator with many of Ireland's leading companies and directors in theatre, dance, opera, and musicals. She has created worlds for performance on stages big and small across the country and internationally, in site-specific locations, immersive experiences and outdoor productions.

Maree has also worked extensively in television and film. She is the recipient of the Tanya Moiseiwitsch design award at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in 2024.

An Obie award-winning producer, he has worked with companies such as ANU Productions, Collapsing Horse Theatre, THISISPOPBABY and Dead Centre, producing work performed in venues across Ireland, and some of the most globally important festivals and theatres including Manchester International Festival, Brisbane Arts Festival, the Young Vic, and the Schaubuhne in Berlin.

As a curator and programmer, he ran Ireland’s oldest and largest comedy arts festival, The Kilkenny Cat Laughs, for five years, as well as the theatre stage at Electric Picnic for the last six years for Dublin Theatre Festival. He curated the Pitchonomics strand at Kilkenomics (Ireland’s first comedy and economics festival), and programmed and hosted Ireland’s first conference on Massive Open Online Universities (MOOCs) for the Higher Education Authority of Ireland as part of the UA Award Summit (of which he was Summit Director of for four years).

Matt is currently chair of the board of directors for Project Arts Centre, Dublin and was on the board of directors of Macnas from 2020 until 2023. He is also a qualified career coach working with arts practitioners around Ireland and the UK.

Annabelle is an award-winning Irish freelance theatre director, artistic director of Hatch Theatre
Company and Head of MFA in Theatre Directing, at The Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Arts,
Ireland. She has been working as a theatre director for 28 years and in recent years has
established herself as one of Ireland’s leading theatre directors.
In a freelance capacity, she has directed work for The Abbey, The Hampstead Theatre (London),
Druid, The Gate, Landmark Productions, The Gaiety, Dublin Theatre Festival and The Lyric
Theatre, Belfast among others.

Plays include Ravens (Hampstead Theatre, London), Our New Girl, Look Back in Anger (The Gate, Dublin), Evening Train (The Everyman, Cork), Asking For It (Landmark Productions, The Everyman and The Abbey), Andrew Synnott’s opera Dubliners (Opera Theatre Company and Wexford Festival Opera), Crestfall, Helen and I (Druid), The Wake, Hedda Gabler, Major Barbara, The House (Irish Times Irish Theatre Award for Best Director), Pygmalion, A Number, Blue/Orange (Abbey Theatre), Dancing at Lughnasa (Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Dublin Theatre Festival), Contractions, The Sit (Bewley’s Café Theatre), The Vortex (Gate Theatre, Dublin). For Hatch Theatre Company plays include The Talk Of The Town (in a co-production with Landmark Productions and Dublin Theatre Festival), Love and Money, Further Than The Furthest Thing, Cruel and Tender, Pyrenees, Blood and The Country (Project Arts Centre) and Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse adapted by Marina Carr (Hatch, The Everyman and Cork Midsummer Festival) and Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr for the Abbey Theatre.

Graham Whybrow is Course Director of the MFA (Playwriting). He was Literary Manager of the Royal Court Theatre in London for twelve years (1994–2007), when it premiered more than 200 new plays and launched a new generation of over 50 playwrights.

Des has worked as a production manager in Irish theatre for over twenty years. During this time Des has had the opportunity to work on shows of all sizes from tiny studio performances to West End transfers to festival management and everything in between, collaborating with companies including Fishamble, Cois Ceim, the Corn Exchange and the Abbey Theatre to name but a few.

Aisling has worked in Theatre for 27 years as a stage manager, production manager and technical director amongst other roles.

Aisling has production managed for THISISPOPBABY and Landmark Productions as well as The Abbey Theatre and worked at Inchicore CFE teaching Crewing and Working in the Performing Arts Industry.

Aisling was the Technical Director of the Abbey Theatre and member of the Senior Management Team. She has also worked as Head of Production and a Production Manager, CSM and DSM for the Abbey Theatre. She had been with the Abbey for nearly 12 years.

Aisling has a Diploma in Stagecraft Production from Inchicore VEC, she was a board member of the Association of Irish Stage Technicians, and is committed to the promotion of theatre specific training and creating best practice within the sector. She has directed an adaptation of Dawn Kings’ radio play ‘My One and Only’ starring Paddy Joe Malpas for Theatre Upstairs. She completed a BA in Management Practice from NCIRL in 2019.

Ivan has been working as a composer and sound designer in theatre for over twenty years. Working with most major theatre companies in the country, Ivan has been Head of the Sound Department at The Lir Academy for over ten years. He also runs courses for the Fringe Festival and the AIST.

Ivan has a background in live music having played in many bands and released many records over the last 25 years. He also has experience in nearly every field of audio having worked in TV and film as location recordist, boom op, Foley artist, post-production sound and has produced lots of material for radio, podcasting and beyond.

Jason obtained an MA in visual art from IADT Dun Laoghaire in 2005 and has worked extensively as a scenic artist in Ireland since 2006.

In tandem with his work as a scenic artist, Jason has worked freelance as a specialist painter, painting murals and bespoke paint effects on cruise ships and for the hospitality industry worldwide.

As part of the SMTT course, Jason is responsible for guiding the student Scenic Head of Department through the process of preparing and completing the scenic elements of the sets for all The Lir’s in house productions, as well as teaching the fundamental skills necessary to become a competent and professional scenic artist.

Jason Coogans career in set construction began in Northern Ireland with Big Telly Theatre company when he worked constructing underwater sets, drawing on his experience as a commercial diver. He has since worked in set construction and as a touring stage carpenter in Ireland China, Serbia, Africa, the UK and Europe for seventeen years. During this time, he has worked extensively in theatre, dance, opera, television and installations. He has toured with Fishamble, Riverdance, Barabbas, hot for theatre, Rough Magic and the Abbey Theatre as well as many others. Jason joined the Lir in 2020 as the Construction & Technical Stage Manager. (Bachelor in Stage Management & Technical Theatre) (F/T)

Blue Hanley has been working in theatre and performance since 2010. She began working in subtitling for theatre before moving into lighting. Her design work includes The Abbey, Asylum Productions, Big Telly NI, and An Taibhdhearc; and work as a technician for axis, Druid, The Gate, and the Town Hall Theatre Galway.

Blue studied Stage Design (Lighting) MFA, The Lir 2018-2019; Translation Studies MA, DCU 2020-2021; and her recent research focuses on accessibility in theatre.

Clodagh Deegan is a Costume Designer and (former) Costume Supervisor who works across theatre, film and opera. Recent design work has included Costume Design for Spirits Unsurrendered, a contemporary opera performed in Kilmainham Gaol, directed by Aoife Spillane Hinks; Horse Ape Bird, a contemporary opera directed by Zoe Ni Riordain for Irish National Opera; Eist Liom, a filmed theatre piece, produced by One Two One Two in a co-production with The Abbey Theatre; and films Citizen Lane and Arracht, the latter earning her an IFTA nomination.

Clodagh has presented costume workshops to second-level students as part of the Cinemagic Festival for Young People in Ireland and Northern Ireland. She was a contributor to the Clothing in Lockdown project initiated by fashion academics Lori Smith and Jana Melkumova-Reynolds on rarelywearslipstick.com, and to Women in Clothes by Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton. Clodagh has written for The Journal of Dress Historians, and has presented a paper ‘Extrapolating History’ to their Costume Drama Conference.

Ed has worked as prop maker, sculptor, set builder and large-scale puppet maker in film, television, theatre and street theatre for the last 15 years. He holds a diploma in sculpture and an honours degree in Modelmaking, Design and Digital Effects for Film and Television.

In his career he’s worked on Game of Thrones and the Pope’s exorcist in film. In theatre Ed has worked for the Abbey Theatre and The Gaiety among others and has also built large scale puppets for Macnas Street Theatre and St.Patrick's Festival.

Now as the Head of Prop Making for the Lir Academy, Ed is responsible for teaching prop making to the SMTT students as well as guiding the students through making high end theatre props for The Lir Academy’s many yearly plays.

Colm began his career in healthcare, working for several years as a healthcare assistant before moving into medical secretary and administrative roles in settings including A&E, ICU, Palliative Care and Psychiatry. Colm later worked with both the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland, coordinating postgraduate medical education and training for Ireland’s graduate doctor’s.

Since 2013 Colm has worked in various roles in the arts, including with The Abbey Theatre, Landmark Productions and Dublin Fringe Festival. Colm holds a BA in Contemporary Culture & Society from Dublin City University as well as a Higher Diploma in Counselling & Psychotherapy from Dublin Business School.

Ciara worked as a stage manager in the theatre industry for the last decade. She studied English with Drama at UCD, followed by a MA in Stage & Event Management from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, leading to eight years based primarily based in the U.K. She was London based for most of this time working in theatres such as the Young Vic, The Donmar Warehouse, the Arcola and the Hampstead Theatre. During the pandemic, she branched out and worked as a Covid Testing Coordinator for Netflix, Nimax and Disney Theatrics. Alongside the move back to Ireland she is now pursuing the Events Management side of her career at the Lir.

Leonor joined the Lir Academy in 2024. Since arriving in Dublin in 2022 to complete a postgraduate course at UCD, she has worked with varied performing arts organisations.

Before moving to Ireland, Leonor worked with the Centre for Theatre Studies at the University of Lisbon on theatre archiving research projects, as well as in various producing roles in different performing arts companies.

As the Admissions and Short Courses Interim Manager, it is Leonor's job to engage with and support all potential students of The Lir Academy, as well as manage the delivery of short courses, in collaboration with the wider Short Courses team.

Jennifer McConnell is the Human Resource Manager for The Lir Academy. Her work with The Lir Academy is to align the organisation with best practice human resource support to our amazing team of staff, as well as explore areas in line with our Strategic Plan (2022-2026) for benchmarking, succession planning, and undertaking a full HR Audit.

Jennifer has previously supported HR consultancies and has served on the Board of non-profit organisations. The founder of Living Legacy, Jennifer supports organisations with succession planning and individuals with advanced planning for full life and end of life considerations.

Jennifer comes with a wealth of experience, formerly as the General Manager for environmental conservation social enterprise, Irish Seed Savers Association, and prior to that, as Human Resource Director for telecom business, Digicel, in their operation in Haiti. Jennifer's early career had her working with Metropolitan Films, and Cinehub which provided online support to the film industry globally.

Maeve Hickey studied Media and Sociology at Maynooth University and has a Masters in Public Relations and Strategic Communications from Dublin City University.

She has worked in the arts and culture sector in communications positions since 2021, including Temple Bar Gallery + Studios and the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. Maeve’s most recent position was with the Irish Museum of Modern Art as their Digital Marketing Fellow, working on a variety of exhibitions and creative programmes including the museum’s eco-arts festival Earth Rising.

Maeve Bradley is a 2021 BA Acting Graduate of The Lir. Since graduating she has been pursuing her acting career as well as working with us part time as a development officer and Lir Alumni Network administrator. She also teaches acting at our Junior Academy.

Sarah Joan K is a director, performer, facilitator and visual artist from Kilkenny. She is a first class honours graduate of Drama and Sociology at Trinity College Dublin, and a Youth Theatre Ireland QQI accredited youth drama facilitator. Sarah has performed in a number of regional and national venues, including the Peacock Theatre, Project Arts Centre, Visual Carlow, the Irish Museum of Modern Art, The Watergate Theatre, and Temple Bar Gallery and Studios.

She is director of emerging theatre collective ‘Hello Operator,’ and was selected as Young Curator for the Nasc Network festival Lasta (2023-2024). Sarah has directed work shown in Smock Alley, The Samuel Beckett Theatre, and Kilkenny Arts Festival, and delivered workshops and lectures in Dublin City University, The Lir Academy, and Callan Open Doors festival (in association with Asylum Productions).