Red Programme 2017

A co-production with

SINNERS

SPRING/SUMMER AT THE LYRIC

THE HABSBURG TRAGEDIES

10 APR

The Belfast Ensemble presents a double of cutting edge music theatre firsts. Written by award-winning composer/playwright Conor Mitchell and with live chamber orchestra, these unique performances bring Europe’s most misremembered sisters to life. Starring Stella McCusker (Game of Thrones), Abigail McGibbon (Best Supporting Actor, Irish Times Theatre Awards), and Jo Donnelly (Chronicles of Long Kesh).

ANTHONY TONER

23 APR

Anthony Toner makes his solo debut on the Lyric Theatre stage to celebrate the release of his seventh album. This new collection, Ink, finds the Belfast-based songwriter in top form on a series of stripped back, acoustic-based songs dealing with the big themes of love, loss and happiness. He’ll be joined by special guests Eilidh Patterson, Ciaran Lavery and John McCullough.

HAVE I NO MOUTH

27 APR

A real-life mother and son take a brave, unflinching look at their past and attempt to piece together the truth in the aftermath of a family tragedy. Breaking all theatrical conventions, Brokentalkers’ Feidlim Cannon and his mother Ann are joined onstage by their Dublin-based psychotherapist Erich Keller who guides them through an exploration.

SINNERS

6 MAY - 3 JUNE

An isolated farming community comes under the spell of the charismatic yet mysterious preacher, Pastor O’Hare. He’s ofering redemption – but at what price? An uproarious satire on religion, family and greed from the wicked pen of Marie Jones, loosely based on Moliere’s Tartufe

A TIME TO SPEAK

2 - 7MAY

Sam McCready’s adaptation of Helen Lewis’ memoirs returns to us this season. Helen Lewis, dancer and choreographer needs little introduction to Ulster audiences. After the publication of her memoir A Time to Speak, which has become a classic of Holocaust literature, she visited schools, clubs and organisations throughout the Province, sharing her remarkable story of courage and survival.

THE BLUE BOY OF GLENMORE

9-14 MAY

Brassneck Theatre Company present this haunting and sensational dark comedy. Jemmy John is a tortured soul who shares his parents’ cottage with his sister Colleen. With the help of a local bachelor Paudie Rua, Colleen is determined to escape Glenmore for the chance at a better life... but her brother is having none of it!

MADAME GENEVA

18 MAY - 27 MAY

Macha productions presents a new play by Jo Egan with composition by Garth McConaghie. It tells of a ferociously exciting time in the birth of western history when the economic structure of Capitalism falls into its metier feeding massive trade expansion and soaring wealth.

IN THE WINDOW

31ST MAY - 4TH JUNE

Nuala McKeever returns with her internationally-acclaimed dark comedy. Life hasn’t turned out the way Margaret dreamed. So tonight, she’s got a date with a bottle of fizz and a bowl of pink pills...But her romance with death is rudely interrupted by an intruder, a nosy neighbour and a policeman – a tall, handsome policeman.

THE GRUFFALO

2 - 6 AUG

A mouse took a stroll through the deep dark wood... Join Mouse on a daring adventure through the deep, dark wood in Tall Stories’ magical, musical adaptation of the classic picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Schefer. Songs, laughs and scary fun for children aged 3 and up and their grown-ups, in the much-loved show that’s toured Britain and the world!

WELCOME

home grown work. In Emma Jordan they have an exemplary artistic director of vision and articulation. Nobody speaks about their work with more clarity and passion then Emma and after her huge success with the Lyric’s production of Educating Rita I am delighted that she has returned to direct Red with her company in partnership with the Lyric.

I am delighted that Patrick O’Kane has returned to the Lyric which is the first time he is back on our stage since Quietly by Owen McCaferty was presented here by the Abbey three years ago. Patrick also played John Proctor in The Crucible which was the inaugural production of the New Lyric building in 2011. He is an extraordinary actor and one of the most in demand theatre actors Belfast has ever produced. He has found time to fit this production between commitments with the RSC and the National in London. The brilliant young actor Thomas Finnegan has come through the Lyric Drama Studio and Royal Welsh and continues to make his name through performances in Blackout and Here Comes the Night

THE

RECIPE

OF A WORK OF ART.

ITS INGREDIENTS. HOW TO MAKE IT. THE FORMULA.

1. There must be a clear preoccupation with death –intimations of mortality… Tragic art, romantic art, etc., deals with the knowledge of death.

2. Sensuality. Our basis of being concrete about the world. It is a lustful relationship to things that exist.

3. Tension. Either conflict or curbed desire.

4. Irony. This is a modern ingredient – the self-efacement and examination by which a man for an instant can go on to something else.

5. Wit and play…for the human element.

6. The ephemeral and chance…for the human element.

7. Hope. 10% to make the tragic concept more endurable.

I measure these ingredients very carefully when I paint a picture. It is always the form that allows these elements and the picture results from the proportions of these elements.

Hello and welcome to our co-production with Prime Cut of John Logan’s Red Red is a remarkable play based on fictionalised incidents from the life of the mid-twentieth century, Russian born, American artist Mark Rothko. Rothko was a painter whose canvases consisted of large, hypnotic and poignant fields of colour. Their vastness confronts us, the play of light and space reminds me of looking at a lake with a calm surface concealing depths. But it’s like the lake is standing in front of you or you are flying over it backwards. After a while you realise that the surface is not so calm, the tranquillity they promise is hard won, the vertigo is efective. You don’t so much look into them as, in a Nietzschian (a favourite philosopher of Rothko’s) way, they look back into you. In some of these extraordinary paintings it is as if you have been granted the ability to see into the centre of an atom as it splits.

We are delighted to be presenting this with Prime Cut. They have been at the forefront of theatre in these islands for the past decade and more. Their choices are always unique and inspired by the politics and philosophies of the city they come from. They have forged a clear and strong identity by producing a healthy mix of international plays with new

Along with the award winning and hugely talented designer Ciaran Bagnall these wonderful artists have found inspiration in the work of Rothko and I am really looking forward to how they make John Logan’s Tony award winning play dance across the Lyric stage.

Jimmy Fay Executive Producer

“THERE IS NO LANDSCAPE IN MY WORK” MARK ROTHKO

Mark Rothko.

DIRECTOR’S NOTE ABOUT THE ARTIST

Welcome to Prime Cut and the Lyric Theatre’s co-production of Red by John Logan. I feel like a very lucky woman to be directing this play about the wonderful Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko. I have often wondered why theatre and visual arts don’t cross over very often – it seems to me that there is a natural afnity between the artforms – theatre at its best is a series of compositions underlined by emotional truth so the opportunity to direct a play about an artist who was so inspired by Greek theatre is awesome, in the real sense of that word. On several occasions Rothko spoke of the importance of tragedy and tragic themes as stimuli for the creation of profound beauty: he considered tragedy a theme worthy of art; he cited Greek Theatre and the way it dealt with the depth of human emotions and universal truths. Although the colours, composition, and levels of intensity change, heroic themes permeate his painting, so too do they permeate this play. Whilst Rothko’s tragic suicide in 1970 is not directly dealt with in Red it nevertheless permeates Red

John Logan was inspired to write Red after seeing the Seagram collection in the Tate – If you are lucky enough to have experienced a visit to that commanding and austere room you will understand the power of those

paintings. When I visited last summer I found them overwhelming – I frankly couldn’t wait to leave that room – in the midst of a recent bereavement I found myself in a panic. If there is a single thing I like about this play is that it leads us into a way of seeing Rothko’s work – there is something wonderfully democratic about that – liberating. In the process of working on this play I think I have learned how to ‘see’ better – so next time I go to the Tate I will stay a while – I will go past my panic and I will sit and let the paintings work.

I hope you enjoy Red as much as we have enjoyed making it.

Emma Jordan Artistic Director Prime Cut Productions

Fleeing anti-semitic oppression in his native Russia, the ten year old Mark Rothko travelled across Europe and the Atlantic to the promise of the New World. Once there he spent three weeks crossing the country to Portland, Oregon, wearing a sign around his neck declaring he spoke no English. Fast forward seven years and he had won a scholarship to Yale University. But this bastion of WASP privilege, where numbers of Jewish students were limited by a strict quota, ofered Rothko no sense of belonging. He would leave without graduating, joining an avant-garde community of immigrant artists in New York which watched as its Old World was torn apart by the Second World War. The ravages of that war and the horror of the Atom Bomb meant that the world would never be as it had been before; nor would art. Bodies could no longer be complete – the war had distorted, destroyed them, ripped them apart. So Rothko looked for a whole new language for his paintings. Gone were the figures of representational art; moving centre stage were the fundamental elements of form and colour. Enigmatic life-size canvases with luminous, soft-edged pulsating doorways, ways in or out, from here or now or there or then, calling and beckoning. Rothko had found a sublime universal language for the tragedy of the human condition, and the emotion of all our lives and journeys and deaths.

“I PAINT VERY LARGE PICTURES… THE REASON I PAINT THEM...IS PRECISELY BECAUSE I WANT TO BE VERY INTIMATE AND HUMAN. TO PAINT A SMALL PICTURE IS TO PLACE YOURSELF OUTSIDE YOUR EXPERIENCE, TO LOOK UPON AN EXPERIENCE AS A STEREOPTICON VIEW OR WITH A REDUCING GLASS. HOWEVER YOU PAINT THE LARGER PICTURE, YOU ARE IN IT. IT ISN’T SOMETHING YOU COMMAND!”

MARK ROTHKO

MARK ROTHKO TIMELINE

1935

1903

Marcus Rothkovich was born in Dvinsk, Russia (now Daugavpils in Latvia), youngest of four children.

1913

Young Rothko travelled to America with his mother and older sister. His father died seven months later.

1925

Studies painting with Max Weber in New York.

1910

Father Rothkovich emigrates to the US, settling in Portland, Oregon.

1921-23

Rothko attends Yale University.

Founder member of The Ten, an avant-garde group of artists including Adolph Gottlieb.

1938

Becomes a US citizen.

1946

Starts painting multi-forms, and abandoned titles and descriptions for his works.

1958

Rothko accepts commission to paint murals for the Seagram’s Building, New York.

1952

Contributes to “15 Americans” show at the New York Museum of Modern Art.

1961

Commission to decorate dining room at Harvard University.

2015

1966

Final trip to Europe.

A Rothko painting, No. 10 (1958), sells for $81.9 million at auction.

1929

Starts teaching children art at the Jewish Centre Academy in Brooklyn.

1936

Works at the painting department of the WPA.

1950

Rothko and his wife Mell visit Europe for five months.

1955

One-man show at the Sidney Janis Gallery.

1970

Rothko takes his own life and is discovered by his assistant in his studio.

1964

1959 Trip to Europe.

Engaged to create mural series for a new chapel in Houston, Texas.

1940 Becomes known as Mark Rothko.

CREDITS

CAST (IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE)

ROTHKO PATRICK O’KANE

KEN THOMAS FINNEGAN

CREATIVE TEAM

WRITER JOHN LOGAN

DIRECTOR EMMA JORDAN

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR RHIANN JEFFREY

SET & LX DESIGN CIARAN BAGNALL

SOUND DESIGN CARL KENNEDY

COSTUME DESIGN ENDA KENNY

MOVEMENT DIRECTION DYLAN QUINN

DRAMATURG CAOILEANN CURRY THOMPSON

PRODUCTION TEAM

PRODUCER UNA NIC EOIN

PRODUCTION MANAGERS SIOBHAN BARBOUR ALAN Mc CRACKEN

COMPANY STAGE MANAGER KATE MILLER

STAGE MANAGER NATALIE MURPHY

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER SARAH GORDON

INTERN STAGE MANAGER MARYANN MAGUIRE

TECHNICIANS DAMIEN COX

TIGHEARNAN O’NEILL IAN VENNARD

TECHNICAL APPRENTICE CONAL CLAPPER

WARDROBE SUPERVISOR ENDA KENNY

WARDROBE ASSISTANT ERIN CHARTERIS

SET BUILD STEPHEN BAMFORD

SCENIC ARTISTS WENDY FERGUSON ANNA DONOVAN

COMPANY CARPENTER NOEL WOODS

THE LYRIC THEATRE WOULD LIKE TO THANK

GILLY CAMPBELL AND DEBBIE YOUNG AT ARTS COUNCIL NI, NAOMI DOAK AT BELFAST CITY COUNCIL, USHI BAGGA AT PAUL HAMLYN FOUNDATION, PHILIP YOUNG & INDEPENDENT

AGENCY, PURWITA SUSANTO AND JAMES SCOTT AT THE WILLIAM SCOTT FOUNDATION, KYLE

SHUTTLEWORTH, ANNE STEWART, TANYA KIRK, SARA GUNN-SMITH, LIZ CULLINANE, DOUGAL MCKENZIE, WENDY FERGUSON, KEITH ACHESON, IAN WILSON, ADAM TURKINGTON, LIZZY BROWN, AOIFE O’CONNOR, KARL HAGAN, AND STUART MARSHALL.

#REDJOHNLOGAN

A co-production with

11 LYRICTHEATRE

#REDJOHNLOGAN

THE SEAGRAM MURALS

In 1958 Rothko was commissioned $35,000 to decorate approximately 50 square meters of wall space in the Four Seasons Restaurant of the high-end Seagram’s Building on Park Avenue, New York. This was the first series of related paintings which Rothko would undertake, and the first opportunity to design work for a specific room.

ROTHKO’S LOCAL CONNECTION

On a trip to Europe in 1959 Rothko stayed with renowned British Abstract Expressionist painter William Scott. Scott had spent much of his childhood in Enniskillen and trained at the Belfast School of Art. At the time of Rothko’s visit both men were engaged in large scale mural commissions: Rothko’s was the most lucrative commission in art history at the time, Scott’s was for the first newly-built NHS hospital, Derry’s Altnagelvin. We’ll never know what the two artists spoke about, but surely they’d have discussed their current work; perhaps they considered the nature and power of art, its place in society, its existential dimension and healing potential. What we do know is that not long after this trip Rothko pulled out of his contract with the high-end Four Seasons Restaurant, while in 1962 Scott’s large Four Seasons Mural would be unveiled at Altnagelvin where it would hang for generations, welcoming all those in need in that shared space.

CAST

CREATIVE TEAM

Patrick made his professional debut at the Lyric in Observe The Sons of Ulster Marching Towards The Somme Patrick’s previous work for The Lyric includes: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Crucible. He has also appeared at the Lyric in Hamlet – a co-production with The Abbey Theatre and in Ashes to Ashes, a Prime Cut production.

Also for Prime Cut: Cold Comfort and Titanic

Other theatre work includes: The Seven Acts of Mercy, Macbeth, (Royal Shakespeare Company), Antigone, (Barbican Theatre/Toneel Group/ Theatre de la Ville, BAM),War Horse, Scenes From The Big Picture, Closing Time, The Playboy of the Western World, Peer Gynt and Romeo and Juliet (National Theatre), 16 Possible Glimpses, Medea, The House, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme, The Plough and the Stars, Hamlet, As The Beast Sleeps, for Best Supporting Actor, Irish Times Awards, Quietly Best Actor UK Theatre Awards, Best Actor Of West End Awards, Best Actor Stage Awards , Edinburgh Festival, The Strip and Trust (Royal Court) Dr Faustus, A Whistle in The Dark, Shoot the Crow, Unidentified Human Remains and The True Nature of Love Julius Caesar, Miss Julie and Donny Boy (Royal Exchange Theatre), Sweet Bird of Youth Edward II, Lulu and 1953 (Citizens Theatre, Glasgow), Popcorn (Nottingham Playhouse, West Yorkshire Playhouse and West End), The Grapes of Wrath, The Three Musketeers and Insignificance

(Crucible Theatre, Shefeld ), The Postman Always Rings Twice (West Yorkshire Playhouse) The Crucible (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre), Volunteers (Gate Theatre).

Patrick has also been an Associate Artist with Nottingham Playhouse and with Prime Cut Productions, for whom he directed The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek

Film work includes: Prometheus , Perkins 14, Exorcist – The Beginnings Charlotte’s Red Stealing Rembrandt Octane, Brilliance, Home Stories

Television: The Secret, DCI Banks, Jamaica Inn, Strike Back, Game of Thrones, The Borgias, The Fall, Vera, New Tricks, Holby Blue, Five Days, Waking The Dead, Holby City, Holy Cross, A Rap At The Door, As The Beast Sleeps, Any Time Now, Gunpowder Treason and Plot, Wire In The Blood

Patrick is a NESTA Fellow and his book Actors’ Voices is published by Oberon Books.

Thomas trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Whilst there he performed in VS09 and You Can Take It With You (Richard Burton Theatre Company, 2014). Since graduating Thomas' film credits include the award winning short A Confession (Irresistible films 2015).

His radio credits include The Fewness Of His Words (BBC Radio NI, 2013) and David Ireland's Not Now (BBC Radio Scotland, 2015)

His stage credits include The Enemy Within (Kabosh theatre Company, 2015) Blackout (Lyric Theatre Belfast, 2015) 1932 The People of Gallagher Street (Green Shoot Productions, 2016) and his debut performance on the Danske Bank Stage in Here Comes the Night (Lyric Theatre Belfast, 2016) and he is delighted to be back once again.

Patrick O’Kane Rothko

Thomas Finnegan Ken

Thomas Finnegan at the Tate

Photo: © James Scott 2017. Courtesy of the William Scott Foundation

The Tate

CREATIVE TEAM

John

Writer

Logan

John Logan received the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critic Circle and Drama League awards for his play Red. This play premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in London and at the Golden Theatre on Broadway. Since then Red has had more than 200 productions across the US and has been presented in over 30 countries. In 2013, his play Peter and Alice premiered in London and I’ll Eat You Last: A Chat With Sue Mengers opened on Broadway. He also cowrote the book for the musical The Last Ship and is the author of more than a dozen other plays including Never the Sinner and Hauptmann.

As a screenwriter, Logan has been three times nominated for the Oscar and has received a Golden Globe, BAFTA and WGA Award.

His film work includes Skyfall Spectre, Hugo, The Aviator, Gladiator Rango, Genius, Coriolanus, Sweeney Todd, The Last Samurai, Any Given Sunday and RKO 281

He also created and produced the television series Penny Dreadful for Showtime.

Emma Jordan Director

Emma is Prime Cut’s Artistic Director and her directing credits for the company include Educating Rita (Lyric Theatre, 2016 & 2017) Stacey Gregg’s multi – award winning Scorch [2015,2016 International Tour 2017] After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber [produced in Association with the MAC & Project Arts Centre 2016]. Yasmina Reza’s The God Of Carnage ( Prime Cut / MAC coproduction 2015), The Conquest of Happiness for Derry-Londonderry City of Culture and European Tour (2013), I Am My Own Wife by Doug Wright ( Prime Cut, MAC coproduction 2012), David Harrower’s Blackbird (2011), Owen McCaferty’s Shoot The Crow (2011 & 2012), Fiona Evans‘ Scarborough (2010), Marina Carr’s Woman and Scarecrow (2009) and Denis Kelly’s After The End (2008).

Emma’s acting credits include work with numerous theatre companies including Charabanc, Tinderbox, The Lyric Theatre, Replay, Dubblejoint and Young at Art.

Her producing credits for Prime Cut include Three Tall Women (Assistant Director), The Coronation Voyage, Shopping and Fucking, American Bufalo, Macbeth, The Chance, After Darwin, The Mercy Seat, Ashes To Ashes, A Number, Cold Comfort, The Trestle At Pope Lick Creek, Scenes From The Big Picture, Owen McCaferty’s version of Antigone, Vincent River, The Chilean Trilogy and most recently Jack Thorne’s Mydidae

In 2014 Emma was the recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Cultural Entrepreneurship Breakthrough Award and in 2015 the Spirit of Festival Award at the Belfast International Arts Festival.

Rhiann Jefrey Assistant Director

Rhiann is a Drama graduate from Queen's University. After graduating in 2014, Rhiann was awarded a BBC Performing Arts Fellowship and completed a year working with Prime cut as a director, under the mentorship of Emma Jordan. Rhiann assisted Jordan on God of Carnage, After Miss Julie and most recently, on Red. Rhiann also directed her first professional production Mydidae by Jack Thorne in 2015 for the company.

Other directing credits include; Her Naked Skin by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, Bash Plays by Neil Labute and a modern, all-female production of Macbeth for Queen's 2nd year Drama students. Rhiann is currently directing a new play by Jane Coyle Both Sides that will be performed in the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival.

Ciaran Bagnell Set & LX Designer

Ciaran trained at the Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardif.

Lyric set & lighting design: White Star of North. Lighting design: Three Sisters, St. Joan, Pentecost (Winner of Irish Times Theatre award for Best Lighting Design) Philadelphia, here I come! The Little Prince and Pump Girl.

Other lighting & set designs include: The Train, Observe the Sons of Ulster marching towards the Somme (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); Ashes, Educating Rita, Two, A view from the Bridge, Love Story, Twelfth Night, Piaf, Of Mice and Men, The Glass Menagerie, Habeas Corpus, Oleanna (Octagon Theatre, Bolton); A Christmas Treasure Island, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella (Hull Truck); Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe, London); Singin’ in the Rain (UK Tour); Othello (RSC, Stratford upon Avon); Lally the Scut (MAC, Belfast); The God of Carnage, Villa, Discurso, Tejas Verdes (Primecut, The MAC, Belfast); Conquest of Happiness (Primecut Productions, Olympic Stadium, Sarajevo); Shoot the Crow (Opera House, Belfast); Snookered (Bush Theatre, London); The Killing of Sister George (Arts Theatre, London); A Slight Ache and Landscape (Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre London).

Enda Kenny Costume Designer

Enda has worked in costume departments in theatre and film for the last 15 years.

He works as a Costume Designer, Prop Costume Maker, Textile Artist and Milliner. He has designed for the Lyric on a number of occasions and created work for many UK based theatres including ENO, NI Opera, ROH Covent Garden, National Theatre London and the Lyceum Theatre London to name a few. Previously Enda has worked with Prime Cut Productions as Costume Designer on Scorch

Previous TV and film work includes Fortitude Season 2, Emerald City, Game of Thrones, Your Highness, The Golden Compass and King Arthur.

Carl Kennedy Composer/Sound Designer

Carl trained at Academy of Sound in Dublin. He has worked on over one hundred theatre productions, working with venues and companies including The Lyric Theatre, Prime Cut Productions, The Abbey, The Gaiety, Decadent, ANU Productions, HOME Manchester, Fishamble, Theatre Lovett, HotForTheatre, Rough Magic, Guna Nua, Loose Canon, Peer to Peer, Siren, Broken Crow, Randolf SD and Theatre Makers. He has been nominated three times for the Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Sound Design.

He also composes music and sound design for TV and video games. Game titles include Curious George, Curious about Shapes and Colors, Jelly Jumble, Too Many Teddies, Dino Dog and Leonardo and His Cat. TV credits include sound design for 16 letters (Independent Pictures/RTE) and SFX editing and foley recording for Centenary (RTE).

Dylan Quinn Choreographer

Dylan Quinn and has been working as a Choreographer, Dance Artist and facilitator for over 20 years. In 2009 he established Dylan Quinn Dance Theatre (DQDT) in his native Enniskillen and has created numerous company performances as well as several commissioned productions for companies such as Maiden Voyage Dance Company, Ludus Dance, DanceXchange and Birmingham Royal Ballet.

Dylan has presented work across the UK, Ireland and Internationally including regularly at The MAC Belfast. He has presented recent productions as part of Dublin Dance Festival, Commencez! Paris Beckett 16 and Instances Festival France.

Dylan performed in Catastrophe directed by Adrian Dunbar in Commencez! Paris Beckett 16 and during the Enniskillen Happy Days Festival 2015, Dylan has performed and or worked with a range of actors and artists including visual artist Paddy Mc Cann and actors Stanley Townsend, Orla Charleton, Frank Mc Cusker and Dan Gordon. Dylan has extensive experience of working within community settings and particularly within a peace and conflict context. Dylan was recently Movement Director for Three Sisters at The Lyric Directed by Selina Cartmell in 2016.

Caoileann is a Belfast-based theatremaker, writer and dramaturg. She has worked with the Lyric Theatre, Prime Cut Productions, Accidental Theatre, Belfast Children's Festival, Belfast International Arts Festival, The Theatre Chipping Norton, The Dukes Lancaster and Creation Theatre (Oxford). She has a PhD on the theatre of Stewart Parker, and teaches Drama and Creative Writing (Scriptwriting) at Queen's.

Caoileann Curry Thompson –Dramaturg

PRIME CUT PRODUCTIONS

What we are:

Established in 1992, Prime Cut Productions is an Independent Theatre Producing Organisation based in Belfast. Prime Cut Productions are committed to producing excellent contemporary theatre that is accessible and entertaining for as wide an audience as possible, forge artistic links locally and internationally and continue to nurture the development of theatre practice and artists in Northern Ireland. Prime Cut have produced over 50 highly acclaimed Northern Irish Premieres of the best of International Theatre as well showcasing the work of Northern Irish Theatre Artists across the Island of Ireland and beyond.

Since 2015 Prime Cut have the recipients of the BBC Performing Arts Fellowship, the Weston Jerwood Creative Bursary, our Chair won the Allianz Arts & Business Board Member of the Year Award (2015) and our Artistic Director Emma Jordan was awarded the Breakthrough Fund in Cultural Entrepreneurship by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and the 2015 Spirit of Festival Award at the Belfast International Arts Festival. Our multi award-winning production of Stacey Gregg’s Scorch has recently played to overwhelming critical acclaim at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and is currently touring Europe and the UK and ???

Artistic Director: Emma Jordan

Executive Producer: Una Nic Eoin

Outreach Manager: Matt Faris

Associate Producer: Stephen Couldter

Administration & Finance Ofcer: Lorraine McBrearty

Artistic Associates:

Ciaran Bagnall, Rhiann Jefrey and Louise Lowe.

Board of Directors: Chris Bailey [Chair], Peter Ballance, Chris Glover, Edel Magill, Georgia Simpson, Michelle Young

Prime Cut Productions, 5th Floor, The MAC, 10 Exchange St West, Belfast, BT1 2NJ 028 9024 4004, info@primecutproductions.co.uk www.primecutproductions.co.uk

Prime Cut Chronology

1992

Irish Premiere of Jim Cartwright’s Two, directed by Simon Magill, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast and national tour.

Northern Irish Premiere of Athol Fugard’s A Place with the Pigs, directed by Simon Magill, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast and national tour. Ger Ryan winner of EMA Best Actress Award.

1994

Irish Premiere of Ariel Dorfman’s Death and the Maiden, directed by Simon Magill, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast.

1995 Northern Irish Premiere of David Mamet’s Oleanna, directed by Simon Magill, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast and tour of Northern Ireland.

1996

World Premiere of Trevor Grifths’ Who Shall Be Happy?, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and national and international tour. Stanley Townsend winner of TMA Best Actor Award.

April Sunday’s Festival of New Writing, a coproduction with Tinderbox Theatre Company.

1997 Company change name from Mad Cow Productions to Prime Cut Productions.

Irish Premiere of Sam Shepard’s Simpatico, directed by Jackie Doyle, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast and national tour. Niamh Linehan nominated Irish Times Best Supporting Actress Award.

European Premiere of Daniel Danis’ Stone and Ashes,directed by Jackie Doyle, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast and national tour.

1998

Irish Premiere of Cindy Lou Johnston’s Brilliant Traces, directed by Jackie Doyle, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast and the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and national tour.

Northern Irish Premiere of Clare McIntyre’s Low Level Panic, directed by Jackie Doyle, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and tour of Northern Ireland.

Women’s writing workshop with Clare McIntyre.

1999

Irish Premiere of George Walker’s Criminal Genius, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast

April Sunday’s co-production with Tinderbox Theatre Company and Centre des Auteurs Dramatique, Montreal.

2000

Irish Premiere of George Walker’s Problem Child, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and national tour, Maria Connolly nominated Irish Times Best Actress Award.

Irish Premiere of Patrick Marber’s Dealer’s Choice directed by Tim Loane, the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and tour of Northern Ireland. Dan Gordon nominated TMA Best Supporting Actor Award.

Writer’s Residency Programme, Tyrone Gutherie Centre, Annamakherig.

2001

European Premiere of Michel Marc Bouchard’s Coronation Voyage, directed by Jackie Doyle, Waterfront Hall, Belfast.

Irish Premiere of Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women, directed by Jackie Doyle ,Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and national tour. Kate O’Toole winner of TMA Best Actress Award.

Northern Irish Premiere of Mark Ravenhill’s Shopping and F***ing, directed by Jackie Doyle, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and national tour.

2002

Northern Irish Premiere of David Mamet’s American Bufalo, directed by Jackie Doyle, Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and national tour.

William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, directed by Jackie Doyle a co-production with the Lyric Theatre, Belfast, and national tour.

World Premiere of The Chance, Peter Carey’s story adapted for the stage by Jackie Doyle produced in association with the Belfast Festival at Queen’s.

2003

Irish Premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker’s After Darwin, directed by Jackie Doyle The Project, Dublin and the Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast.

Irish Premiere of Gregory Burke’s Gagarin Way, directed by Jackie Doyle Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and national tour.

2004

Ashes to Ashes by Harold Pinter and The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute, Lyric Theatre, Belfast.

2005

World Premiere of Cold Comfort, written and directed by Owen McCaferty Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, in association with Theatre503 London.

2006

Samuel Beckett’s Endgame, in association with the Waterfront Hall Studio, Belfast, directed by Mark Lambert. Staged reading of Beckett’s All That Fall, Waterfront Hall Studio. Monica Frawley nominated Best Designer Irish Times awards.

Irish Premiere of Naomi Wallace’s The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, directed by Patrick O’ Kane, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and national tour.

2007

Irish Premiere of Owen McCaferty’s Scenes from the Big Picture, directed by Conall Morrison - Waterfront Hall Studio, Belfast nominated Best production and Best lighting Design [Nick McCall] Irish Times awards.

2008

Irish Premiere of Dennis Kelly’s After the End, directed by Emma Jordan Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast. World Premiere of Sophocles’ Antigone in a new version written and directed by Owen McCaferty, Ulster Bank Belfast Festival at Queen’s. Walter McMonagle nominated Best Supporting Actor Irish Times Awards.

2009

Northern Irish Premiere of Marina Carr’s Woman & Scarecrow, directed by Emma Jordan, Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast, and national tour. Gina Moxley nominated Best Actress Irish Times Awards.

Irish Premiere of Vassily Sigarevs Black Milk b directed by Matt Torney for the Ulster Bank Festival at Queens. Community Engagement production with Ardoyne Women’s Group and New Lodge Arts - The Heights by Lisa Magee directed by Alison McCrudden. Old Museum Arts Centre, Belfast

2010

Irish Premiere of Scarborough by Fiona Evans directed by Emma Jordan site responsive production, produced in association with the MAC.

Community Engagement production written and directed by Louise Lowe and Matt Faris Baby Grand Opera House, Belfast

Irish Premiere of Vincent River by Phillip Ridley directed by Sophie Motley: Crescent Arts Centre and island wide tour

2011

Northern Irish Premiere of Shoot The Crow by Owen McCaferty directed by Emma Jordan

Community Engagement production written and directed by Louise Lowe and Matt Faris The Assembly Rooms, Belfast

Northern Irish Premiere of Blackbird by David Harrower directed by Emma Jordan: Lyric Naughton Studio and NI tour

2012

Revival of Shoot The Crow by Owen McCaferty directed by Emma Jordan: Grand Opera House Belfast and Ireland wide tour.

Community Engagement production The Baths directed by Louise Lowe – Templemore Baths, Belfast

Northern Irish Premiere of Doug Wrights I Am My Own Wife in a co-production with The MAC, directed by Emma Jordan – The MAC, Belfast.

2013

Community Engagement production Kaleidoscope directed by Louise Lowe - Belfast City Centre

The Conquest Of Happiness co-created by Emma Jordan & Haris Pasovic in a co-production with East West Theater , Sarajevo and Mladinsko Theatre, Ljubljana – commissioned for 2013 Derry –L/derry City of Culture UK and European Tour.

2014

The Chilean Trilogy – Villa & Discurso by Guilermo Calderon directed by Roisin McBrinn and Tejas Verdes directed by Sophie Motley in a co-production with The MAC Belfast. (included in The Stage UK’s Top 10 Productions 2014)

The REVEAL Programme launched to support and develop the work of emerging NI Theatre Artists.

2015

God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza directed by Emma Jordan in a co-production with The MAC, Belfast. Mydidae by Jack Thorne directed by Rhiann Jefrey (REVEAL Artist and BBC Performing Arts Fellow) in association with The MAC. Ulster Bank International Arts Festival.

Scorch by Stacey Gregg directed by Emma Jordan in association with The MAC and Outburst Arts Festival, The MAC, Belfast. Stacey Gregg Winner Best New Play: Irish Times Theatre Awards.

2016

After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber after Strindberg directed by Emma Jordan in association with the MAC and the Project Arts Centre.

2016-17

Scorch by Stacey Gregg directed by Emma Jordan, Edinburgh Fringe, Island of Ireland Tour and Adelaide Fringe. Winner Adelaide Fringe Weekly Theatre Award, Adelaide Fringe Critics Circle Choice Award, Scotsman Fringe First, Irish Writers Guild Best Theatre Script, Holden Street Street Theatre Award, Summerhall Vertebra Best Actor for Amy McAllister.

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SUPPORTING CAST

PRINCIPAL FUNDER:

LYRIC THEATRE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SIR BRUCE ROBINSON (CHAIRMAN)

STEPHEN DOUDS (VICE CHAIR)

PHIL CHEEVERS

NICKY DUNN

HENRY ELVIN

PATRICIA MCBRIDE

DR MARK PHELAN

PATRON

LIAM NEESON OBE

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

ROSEMARY JENKINSON

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

JIMMY FAY

APPRENTICE PRODUCER

BRONAGH MCFEELY

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

CIARAN MCAULEY

LITERARY MANAGER

REBECCA MAIRS

HEAD OF MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

SIMON GOLDRICK

MARKETING MANAGER

AISLING MCKENNA

MARKETING OFFICER

AIVEEN KELLY

COMPANY STAGE MANAGER

KATE MILLER

DEPUTY STAGE MANAGERS

TRACEY LINDSAY

AIMEE YATES

ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGERS

LOUISE BRYANS

STEPHEN DIX

PRODUCTION MANAGER

ALAN MCCRACKEN

TECHNICAL MANAGER

KEITH GINTY

TECHNICIANS

DAMIAN COX

IAN VENNARD

TIGHEARNAN O’NEILL

APPRENTICE TECHNICIAN CONAL CLAPPER

WARDROBE SUPERVISOR

ENDA KENNY

WARDROBE ASSISTANT ERIN CHARTERIS

ADMINISTRATION MANAGER

CLARE GAULT

ADMINISTRATION ASSISTANT CAT RICE

HEAD OF FINANCE

DEIRDRE FERGUSON

FINANCE ASSISTANT

TONI PATTON

HOUSEKEEPING

DEBBIE DUFF

AMANDA RICHARDS

SAMANTHA WALKER

HEAD OF CREATIVE LEARNING

PHILIP CRAWFORD

CREATIVE LEARNING ASSISTANT

PAULINE MCKAY

CREATIVE LEARNING INTERN

ERIN HOEY

HEAD OF CUSTOMER SERVICE

JULIE MCKEGNEY

DUTY MANAGERS

MARINA HAMPTON

ASHLENE MCGURK

ELLA GRIFFIN

FOOD & BEVERAGE SUPERVISOR

CATHERINE REGAN

HEAD CHEF

ROSS MCMULLAN

COOK

MARTA KUKIE

KP

HASSAN DAFES

BOX OFFICE SUPERVISOR

EMILY WHITE

BOX OFFICE DEPUTY SUPERVISOR

PAUL MCCAFFERY

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND BOX

OFFICE STAFF

PAMELA ARMSTRONG

LAURIE BAILEY

LUKE BANNON

MICHAEL BINGHAM

CARLA BRYSON

PAULA RUTH CARSON-LEWIS

REBECCA COONEY

HANNAH CONLON

EMMETT COSTELLO

ELLISON CRAIG

ALACOQUE DAVEY

AMANDA DOHERTY

DARREN FRANKLIN

CHRIS GRANT

ADELE GRIBBON

PETER HACKETT

SIMON HALL

DAVID HANNA

CATHAL HENRY

TERESA HILL

MEGAN KEENAN

GERARD KELLY

JULIE LAMBERTON

HELEN LAVERY

JANETTE LOUGHLIN

RADEK MASLCLAK

MEGAN MAGILL

COLM MCATEER

AOIFE MCCLOSKEY

PATRICIA MCGREEVY

MARY MCMANUS

CATHAN MCROBERTS

CATHERINE MOORE

DONAL MORGAN

EDITE MUCENIECE

SEAMUS O’HARA

BERNADETTE OWENS

PATRICK QUINN

BOBBI RAI PURDY

HAYLEY RUSSELL

MICHAEL SHOTTON

SUSANNAH WILSON

VOLUNTEERS

JORDYN CUMMINGS

JOAN GORMLEY

JAKE KIERAN

CAOIMHE MANNION

ALANA MCALISTER

MELISSA PATTY