The Beauty Queen of Leenane Programme 2023

Programme A LYRIC THEATRE & PRIME CUT CO-PRODUCTION

THE BEAUTY QUEEN

OF LEENANE WRITTEN BY MARTIN MCDONAGH DIRECTED BY EMMA JORDAN

27 MAY 1 JUL 2023

mother

name

“The exact fecking image of your mother you are,

sitting there

sitting there pegging orders and forgetting me name!”

Welcome

I remember when Martin McDonagh exploded onto the scene back in 1997.

I missed the opening of a new play in Galway that had all the critics describing it as Tarantinoesque. Which was not surprising, quite a few of the up-and-coming 90s theatre folk were defined after the new cinema of Quentin Tarantino. Tarantinoesque meant something to do with violence but also a morbid wit and someone who was probably more influenced by the rhythm of cinema they saw on tv rather than the three-act structure of a play witnessed in a traditional theatre. The added comparison for McDonagh was that he married this modern cinematic sensibility with the poetic intensity of Synge. But that was to ignore the actual melancholic violence at the heart of much of Synge. Martin McDonagh has always been more strange and theatrically adventurous than some of his critics liked to pigeonhole him.

1997 was the apex of something extraordinary in Irish theatre.

And most of it was happening in the fringes or small studio theatres of Dublin theatre.

In 1995 Conor McPherson’s

breakthrough play The Lime Tree Bower premiered in the inaugural Dublin Fringe Festival at the compact Crypt Arts Centre, Enda Walsh’s seminal Disco Pigs followed a year later in the tiny International Bar, Mark O’Rowe’s electric From Both Hips in Project at the Mint and Marina Carr’s exhilarating Portia Coughlan in the Peacock in ’96, Owen McCafferty’s outstanding Mojo Mickeybo landed at the Dublin Fringe in ‘98. Then McDonagh came from the West, thanks to Galway’s Druid theatre company. Before most people could see his first play, he had a trilogy performed at the Olympia (McDonagh wasn’t even 28 yet!?!) for the Dublin theatre festival 1997.

I remember sitting down to it and thinking this better be good. Brendan Gleeson sat in the row in front of me with his teenage sons. Twelve hours and three plays later, he was the first to his feet, leading the thunderous ovation.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane was, and is, an extraordinary play. By dealing in the spuds and carrots of Irish drama (the mammy, the rainswept West, the stagnation of the country, the frustrated spinster) and mixing it up with the macabre cinema of Robert Aldrich at his most grotesque (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane), it was so far ahead it lapped the competition. No wonder the Abbey saw it as regressive when McDonagh submitted a draft earlier. They were looking for something urban, new, forward planning but this was raw, country and eerie. The past comes back to haunt you, so they say and that’s what happened to Celtic Tiger Ireland as it was about to enter the 21st century the troubled ghosts emerged from the shadows and wanted recompense for all the inflicted cruelties of a repressed past.

Emma Jordan is a Director of integrity and vision. Her production of Red (co-produced with Prime Cut and Lyric) is rightly heralded as a triumph.

Still, the quality of intent she has brought to several other less-celebrated productions shows her brilliance not only with actors but also with the shifting meaning of a play.

She delivered a masterclass in wiping Educating Rita of its smug commercial complacency and gave it back as a freshfaced working-class vision of aspirations and dreams. And her vivid illumination in handling the notoriously difficult second act of Brian Friel’s Lovers (the first act is no easy stroll either) was a revelation. Anne Friel said she had never seen it so well executed. It made her re-evaluate the piece itself, which she had always seen as fluff, but she realised Brian was exploring a particular form of hereditary madness, and this realisation was down to Emma’s production.

And Emma’s relentless dramaturgical exploration of Michael Patrick and Oisin Kearney’s new play, The Border Game, redrew the map on that particular play several times and always to significant effect.

She has a fantastic cast and designers, and I look forward to her vision of McDonagh’s world.

Enjoy the show.

JIMMY FAY EXECUTIVE PRODUCER

A note from the Director The Beauty Queen Of Leenane has legendary status among Actors and Directors.

We are in week four of the rehearsal process and I can see why – it has everything that makes theatre such a buzz. The play works on so many levels - part dark comedy, part thriller, a sprinkling of repellent violence and excoriating examination of twisted family dynamics. I am in awe of McDonagh’s skill – undoubtedly a contemporary classic the play has stood the test of time and central to this is his observation of the ties that bind Mag and Maureen. It’s a trip, and one which never ever loses sight of the experience of the audience – no grandstanding here, no dialectic, not even an unnecessary comma.

This production marks the third time Prime Cut have co-produced with the Lyric.

We love working with the fantastic Lyric team and it is such a beautiful building to make work in, a privilege and a pleasure. We would like to extend our thanks to everyone who has supported our work most especially to our principal funders the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and Belfast City Council. We are so excited to share the work with you and hope you enjoy watching it as much as we have making it.

EMMA JORDAN DIRECTOR

“ The play works on so many levels - part dark comedy, part thriller, a sprinkling of repellent violence and excoriating examination of twisted family dynamics”.

Postcard

s

Nature

Concept Images

“It’s not about my

ego or presenting this beautiful design – it has to be something that works practically for the cast and for the director – to elevate and tell the story.”

Final Model

l a r Ru

Q&A with Ciaran Bagnall Lighting & Set Designer With over twenty-five years of expertise as a Lighting and Set Designer, Ciaran has established himself as a prominent figure in the industry.

In this exclusive interview, we delve into Ciaran’s artistic process and uncover the inspirations that drive his ambitious designs Firstly, can you start off by telling us a little about your process?

“It starts with the script, the story and then the initial conversations with the director. If the director has an idea beforehand regarding style, timeframe or abstraction of the piece, that would inform things, but if not, we would go through the play together – you learn everything you need to know from the words on the page. Is it a modern piece?

Is it historical? Is it inside, outside, various or different locations? That’s where it begins.

I would put together a mood board, a concept, images, or thoughts – they could be really abstract or realistic, either way, this is the starting point for ongoing conversations with the director. Then we move to the white card stage – that’s a draft model of the space without any of the colour just to give us ideas of shape and form, levels and heights, entrances and exits.

From that we move onto the final model stage where we would start to put colour, render and texture into the design. Then we come to the technical drawings and drawings of the space and set for builders who will then come in and work practically from these to build the set.

Once rehearsals begin, I always feel there has to be enough space in this time for the designer to work with the cast. For me it’s very much an organic process, nothing is set in stone. I’m very keen that throughout the rehearsal process that if something needs to move or change then that is what happens. And then we move forward to the Production week which is where all the elements - the set, lighting, sound and AV (audio visual design), comes

together with the cast. Then Tech week for the technical rehearsals, then we open!”

Can you tell us a little about your design for The Beauty Queen of Leenane?

So it’s not a question of delivering the design and moving on to your next job?

“Emma (Jordan: Prime Cut Artistic Director) and I have talked about doing a McDonagh for many years, but we were keen not to produce it in a similar style to what has been presented previously, particularly with the Leenane Trilogy.. We wanted to lean into the gothic humour and language that permeates these plays, they’re fables, they’re not real stories. There is the realistic element of the house in The Beauty Queen of Leenane, but it can be twisted, or pushed somehow. I was very keen that the space itself was quite constricted, quite small - so you had these two women, Mag and Maureen within inches of each other, elevating the pent-up aggression in this small, confined space. I found some images of cottages with trees growing through them, becoming part of them, almost part of the stonework.

And I very much saw Mag, the mother as this black withered hawthorn as the centre point of the house, constricting and controlling every element within the house which resulted in this iconic image of this huge tree looming over the house and the proceedings of the play”.

“No, I’m very happy with the structure of theatre that I tend to work within. There are other methods of making theatre but the role I play within the triangle of the director and creative team is something that really works for me as I very much consider my role to provide everyone with the platform to tell the story. It’s not about my ego or presenting this beautiful design – it has to be something that works practically for the cast and for the director- to elevate and tell the story. It’s not about me rather it’s very much a collaborative experience for me and one I value that deeply.

An organic process that can change at any time – that’s the beauty of theatre. We all come together in one room working towards the same goal as a team, rather than separate elements being thrown together”.

Ciaran, you are both a set and lighting designer – can you tell us about that? Does one influence the other in terms of your style as a designer?

“Sometimes yes and largely it’s about the time spent on the project.

Lighting designers are historically brought in closer to rehearsal than a set designer would be. Set designers would have much longer lead-in times – anything from two years to two months but its still something that allows you to have an idea of what it is you want to achieve sooner. So when working as both, I get longer to think about it and that helps immensely. For instance I formulate the two things together so I don’t have to design a show and then months down the line light it. There are new challenges with every single play – particular things we have to learn or do. I do think I have a certain shape rather than style if that makes sense. I’m fond of the perspective point and I think that comes from being a Lighting Designer. I’ve thought about this previously, wondering where I’m getting all these angles from and of course as Lighting Designers that’s what we see in our heads, angles of lights – the triangular point and the perspective point. I think where that comes from in terms of a style as I was a Lighting Designer first and lighting is in some ways my first language. In terms of style I would lean towards less is more. I don’t believe I’m a very fussy designer in terms of loads of props or detail.

But it all comes back to the play, because it will teach us everything we need to know”.

Finally Ciaran, do you have any top tips for any aspiring young designers?

“Reach out to any designer whose work you like. It’s easier now with email and social media and even if they don’t reply after your first email, keep trying. Go and see theatre as much as you can. Read as many plays as you can. Be up for going to meet for coffee and a chat. Be proactive. Identify the types and styles of theatre you like and interests you the most. Do the same with directors and other creative professionals. You can get that information from theatres and indeed programmes. Try and reach out to get conversations with these people. I and many other designers are very happy to talk to people who are interested in this world and there are many more opportunities now ranging from colleges and the academic route to the freelance world.

It’s tough at the beginning….and the middle…and the end but take your time with it. Don’t be offput if things aren’t happening at the speed you want them to – it’s a long journey, but one that’s absolutely worth it”.

“Often their clothing and surroundings would appear frozen in time like snapshots of a bygone era...

Pato

This was the sort of feeling I wanted to create within the costume dynamic”

n e e r au

M

Ray Dooley

g a M

A note from the Costume Designer As I read the play for the first time it reminded me of my own experience of growing up in an isolated rural community in the west of Ireland. These small villages and outlying areas are full of colourful characters but also come laden with mental health issues. Mag and Maureen’s relationship reminded me of various neighbours from my locality where grown up children in the 40s and 50s were still living with their parents, acting as reluctant carers for their ageing and incapacitated parents. Often their clothing and surroundings would appear frozen in time like snapshots of a bygone era. This was the sort of feeling I wanted to create within the costume dynamic between Maureen and Mag.

Concept Sketch

For Mag I had this overwhelming feeling of stagnancy and rot and referenced mould and mildew for her colour palettes. I also had an image of her being a wild mountain woman and her shawl references wool caught on rough barbed wire.

For Maureen I looked at once vibrant but now bleached out colours of discarded items left outside in the sun or washed up on seashores ravaged by the elements.

In conversation with the Director we decided to move away from naturalism with both these characters to evoke their relationship in the costume visual. Maureen’s clothing consists of random pieces from her past put together

as functional attire, clashing patterns without any real thought for self-image or selfcare. I felt like she has been trapped in time since her return from England and as a result a lot of her clothing has a feeling of her youth both in colour palette and style.

I wanted to create a sense of tension between both their colour palettes so their colour tones are different ends of the colour spectrum. Ray and Pato help to set time-period for the piece with more identifiable clothing from the Nineties.

ENDA KENNY COSTUME DESIGNER

Final Costum e

THE COMPANY Pato Ray Dooley Mag Maureen

Caolán Byrne Marty Breen Ger Ryan Nicky Harley

Writer Director Lighting & Set Designer Sound Designer Costume Designer Choreographer, Movement Director & Intimacy Coordinator Voice Coach Fight Director Assistant Director

Martin McDonagh Emma Jordan Ciaran Bagnall Neil Martin Enda Kenny Paula O’ Reilly Cathal Quinn Philip Rafferty Ross Fitzpatrick

Executive Producer Senior Producer Casting Director Literary Manager Production Co-ordinator

Jimmy Fay Morag Keating Clare Gault Rebecca Mairs Kerry Fitzsimmons

Head of Production

Adrian Mullan

Production Manager

Siobhán Barbour

Company Stage Manager Stage Manager Deputy Stage Manager Assistant Stage Managers

Aimee Yates Louise Graham Kerri McGimpsey Jude Barriscale Codie Morrison

Technical Manager

Arthur Oliver-Brown

Senior Production Technician

Ian Vennard

Chief LX and Programmer

Jonathan Daley

Technicians

Liam Hinchcliffe Sheila Murphy Danny O’Shea Declan Paxton Corentin West

Set Construction

Lyric Scenic Workshop

Lead Scenic Carpenter Scenic Artist Scenic Carpenters Scenic Construction Apprentice Workshop Assistant

Aidan Payne Chris Hunter Finn Steadman Jack McGarrigle Phelan Hardy

Costume Supervisor Deputy Costume Supervisor Costume Assistant Maintenance Hair & Make-up

Gillian Lennox Sarah Carey Mairead McCormack Arlene Reilly Connie McGrath

Photography / Videography

Carrie Davenport, Leighton Milne, Johnny Frazer & Melissa Gordon

Graphic Designer

Adam Steele

Public Relations / Press

Rachael Harriott Communications

CAST

CAOLÁN BYRNE PATO

Caolán trained at RADA. Film credits include: Dead Shot (Upper Street Films), The Wonder (Element Pictures/ Netflix), Nowhere Special (20th Century Fox), A Good Woman Is Hard To Find (Superb Films), The Foreigner (STX Entertainment), The Lock Inn (Lockinn Productions), Florence Foster Jenkins (Qwerty Films), The Comedian (The Bureau), Mr Nice (Independent), Round Ireland With A Fridge, Swansong: The Occi Byrne Story (Zanzibar Films/ Florin Films), Titanic Town (Company Pictures) and This Is The Sea (Pembroke Productions).

Television credits include: Das Boot Season 3 (Sky/Bavaria), Bloodlands (Hattrick/BBC), Dr Who (BBC), Miss Scarlet And The Duke (A+E), Casualty (BBC), Britannia Season 2 (Sky Atlantic), Chernobyl (HBO), The Miniaturist (The Forge/BBC), Porridge (BBC), Will (Turner Network TV), Harley And The Davidsons (Discovery USA), The Rack Pack (BBC), Vera (ITV), Mrs Browns Boys (BBC Scotland), Wodehouse In Exile (BBC), Titanic Blood And Steel (Starz) and The Message (BBC).

Theatre credits include: Macbeth (New York Theatre Workshop), Othello (New York Theatre Workshop), Culture Night Belfast, Particle Of Dread (Field Day Theatre Company), The Magic (Soho Theatre/ Edinburgh Festival), Over The Bridge (Finborough Theatre), Scenes From The Enquiry (The Mac), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Guildford Shakespeare Company), The Tempest (Guildford Shakespeare Company), Playboy Of The Western World (Nuffield Theatre Southampton), The Flags (Hull Truck Theatre), A Tale For Winter (Quicksilver/ National Tour), King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company/ West End), Romeo & Juliet (Royal Shakespeare Company), Macbeth (Royal Shakespeare Company), The Cherry Orchard (Acting Shakespeare Company) and Cinderella (Couch Potato Productions).

MARTY BREEN RAY DOOLEY Marty recently appeared in Rough Magic’s production of The Tempest directed by Lynne Parker for Kilkenny Arts Festival for which they were nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award in 2023. Other recent theatre includes: Window a World by Choy Ping Clarke Ng at Dublin Theatre Festival 2022, Once Before I Go, by Philly McMahon at the Gate Theatre directed by Selina Cartmell, Lúminaria by Fionnuala Gygax directed by Masie Lee on national tour. For Rough Magic Marty also appeared in Hecuba by Marina Carr (dir: Lynne Parker, Dublin Theatre Fest 2019, also in the filmed version in 2022) and was part of their 2018 ensemble, in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (adapted by Arthur Riordan, dir: Ronan Phelan, Dublin Theatre Festival & national tour), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (dir: Lynne Parker, Kilkenny Arts Festival, Winner Irish Times Theatre Award Best Ensemble).

Marty’s screen credits include the soon to be released Baltimore written and directed

by Christine Malloy and Joe Lawlor (Sampson Films), Doctors (BBC), Vikings: Valhalla (Netflix), The Doireann Project (RTE), as well as a number of short films. Marty is a founding member of Broad Strokes, an all-women identifying improv troupe, performing Edinburgh Fringe & Dublin Fringe 2023. They are an Arts Council Next Generation Theatre recipient 2023.

GER RYAN MAG

NICKY HARLEY MAUREEN

Born in Dublin,Ger began her acting career with The Passion Machine Theatre Company with the writer/director Paul Mercier. She has worked with Rough Magic, Druid Theatre Company, Charabanc Theatre Company (Belfast) and Prime Cut Theatre Company (Belfast). The Abbey Theatre, Juno and the Paycock she played Juno and Pegeen Mike in The Playboy of the Western World. She played Esther in The Price at The Gate Theatre, Mavis in Graham Reid’s Love Billy at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, The Waste Ground at the Peacock Theatre and The Children at the Gate Theatre.

Nicky’s Theatre credits include: Something Different (Tinderbox Theatre Company); Frankenstein’s Monster Is Drunk and The Sheep Have All Jumped The Fences (Big Telly Theatre); Scenes From An Inquiry (Sole Purpose); Department Story (Big Telly Theatre); Rough Girls (The Lyric Theatre); Still Here (Civic Theatre); Macbeth (Big Telly Theatre); A Bellaghy Tale (Kabosh Theatre Company); Big Kid, Little Kid (Civic Theatre); Lullabub (Theatre Hullabaloo); The Worst Cafe In The World (BIAF).

Television work includes, Family, Kavanagh QC, Amongst Women (BBC), Queer As Folk (Ch4), Clocking Off, Fat Friends, Forgive and Forget, Oliver Twist (ITV), Plotlands, No Tears (RTE), Malice Aforethought, Prosperity, Body Farm (BBC) Hit and Miss (Sky Atlantic) The Street (BBC/ITV) Stardust (RTE) Raw (RTE), and Sylvia Ross in the Canadian Tv Series Little Dog for CBC. Film work includes The Commitments, War of the Buttons,The Van, Intermission, Moll Flanders, After 68, A Love Divided, Sinners, Exodus, Damage, Frozen, Deceit, Happy Ever Afters, 5 Day Shelter, Dorothy Mills, The Return, Hummingbird, The Callback Queen, Keys to the City, The Food Guide to Love, Love, Rosie, The Man Who Invented Christmas and Rialto.

In 1994 Ger received an EMA Award for Song of the Yellow Bittern (Druid) and A place with the Pigs (Prime Cut). She was nominated in 1995 for Family and in 1999 for Amongst Women for best actor female by The Royal Television Society.

She has been nominated 6 times for an IFTA and received the IFTA for best actress in a leading role for Stardust (RTE) in 2007.

Ger has also narrated numerous television series and documentaries.

Ger is delighted to be back at the Lyric Theatre.

Television Credits include: Rough Girls (BBC / Lyric Belfast): Bloodlands (Hat Trick / BBC); Game of Thrones (HBO); Shirt Factory Horn (BBC / Imagine).

Radio credits include: Dead Hand (BBC Radio 4); On The Street Where We Live (The MAC); Denouement (Traverse Theatre); The Dogs In The Street (BBC Radio 4).

Nicky is thrilled to be returning to The Lyric stage and to be performing Maureen, a character she fell in love with over twenty years ago.

CREATIVES WRITER MARTIN MCDONAGH Plays: The Beauty Queen of Leenane A Skull in Connemara The Lonesome West The Lieutenant of Inishmore The Cripple of Inishmaan The Pillowman A Behanding in Spokane Hangmen A Very Very Very Dark Matter As Writer/Director: The Banshees of Inisherin Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri Seven Psychopaths In Bruges Six Shooter (short film)

DIRECTOR EMMA JORDAN Emma is Artistic Director of Prime Cut Productions and has directed a strong body of critically acclaimed plays for the company, most recently The Border Game (Lyric co-production)

by Michael Patrick and Oisin Kearney, Darren Murphy’s X’ntigone, Fionnuala Kennedy’s Removed, East Belfast Boy (Edgefest at The MAC, Edinburgh Fringe and Island of Ireland Tour) 2018-19, Red by John Logan a Prime Cut - Lyric co-production (Winner of 4 Awards at the 2017 Irish Times Theatre Awards including Best Director and Best Production. Nominated for Best Director 2017 UK Theatre Awards), Stacey Gregg’s Scorch (winner of 7 international awards including a Scotsman Fringe First, Adelaide Fringe Best Theatre Award and the 2015 Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play) Belfast, island of Ireland and UK Tour, the Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe Festivals, Sweden and Germany tours. Directing credits also include After Miss Julie (Patrick Marber), The God Of Carnage (Yasmina Reza), The Conquest of Happiness (Co-created & directed with Haris Pasovic) I Am My Own Wife [Doug Wright], Blackbird (David Harrower), Shoot The Crow (Owen McCafferty), Scarborough (Fiona Evans), Woman and Scarecrow (Marina Carr), After The End (Denis Kelly).

Her Digital work during the Covid 19 Lockdown throughout 2020 21 includes Father The Father by Gilly Campbell for The MAC online, Fionnuala Kennedy’s Removed for

Traverse 3 Online, SEODA Culture Ireland Showcase and Imaginate, Solas Nua Prime Cut Showcase and Fintan Brady’s East Belfast Boy for Eastside Arts Festival, Carmarthen Film Festival (Winner Best Poetic Film) Maui Film Festival, Dancer From The Dance Festival at Irish Film Centre, and Sydney Opera House UK Australia Season.

Emma’s has also directed New Electric Ballroom (Gate theatre, Dublin) Educating Rita, Lovers Winners and Losers and A Streetcar Named Desire (Lyric Theatre), Lord of The Flies (Sherman Theatre Cardiff and Theatr Clwyd) and A Good Turn (The Abbey Theatre, Dublin).

In 2014 Emma was the recipient of the Paul Hamlyn Cultural Entrepreneurship Breakthrough Award and the Spirit of Festival Award at the Belfast International Arts Festival 2015. She won the Best Director Award for Red at the 2017 Irish Times Irish Theatre Award and has been nominated consecutively for Best Director at the UK Theatre Awards for Red and Lovers (2017-18) She has been nominated for Best Director Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2020 for Removed and A Streetcar Named Desire.

CIARAN BAGNALL LIGHTING & SET DESIGNER Ciarán is the Creative Director for Prime Cut Productions, Belfast. He trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in Cardiff and was made a fellow of the College in 2017.

In 2022 he was the Assistant Artistic Director of the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

In 2023 he was made an Honorary Member of the Chinese Institute of Stage Design and was presented a special award for international communication.

His work was used to represent Irish Performance Design at the Prague Quadrennial in 2019 and he has been invited back to exhibit again in 2023.

Recent Set & Lighting Designs include: Of Mice and Men (Birmingham Rep); Hangmen (Gaiety Dublin); Cavalcaders (Druid); X’ntigone (MAC, Belfast/ Abbey Theatre, Dublin); Rough Girls, A Streetcar named Desire, RED, Lovers

(Lyric, Belfast); The Whip (RSC); A Christmas Carol, The Great Gatsby (Gate, Dublin); The Merchant of Venice (Great Theatre, Shanghai); UBU The King, The Man who fell to Pieces, Hard to be Soft, Lally the Scut, The God of Carnage, Villa, Discurso, Tejas Verdes (MAC, Belfast); The Train, Observe the Sons of Ulster marching towards the Somme (Abbey Theatre, Dublin); Macbeth (Shakespeare’s Globe, London); Othello (RSC).

NEIL MARTIN SOUND DESIGNER Belfast-born Neil Martin is an awardwinning composer and musician with an international reputation who enjoys a most varied and rewarding career encompassing dance, opera, theatre, film, television, radio, concert hall and studio. Recent compositions include an opera, Nobody/Somebody (2023); a violin concerto, dall’ombra (2022); the RTS award-winning score for a 90-minute tv film, Lost Lives (2020), theatre scores and chamber music.

Amongst other works are – Sweeney (2018), an orchestral song cycle based on Seamus Heaney’s Sweeney Astray; this is an Irish dance (2015) a duet for dancer and cellist, co-created and performed with Jean Butler; a score for Oscar Wilde’s De Profundis (2017); an opera - Long Story Short: The Belfast Opera (2016); the choral symphony OSSA (2007); No Tongue Can Tell (2004), a concerto for uilleann pipes.

A cellist and an uilleann piper, Neil has collaborated with many leading artists, from Liam O’Flynn, Bryn Terfel, Sam Shepard, Christy Moore, Stephen Rea, Josh Groban, Jean Butler and Barry Douglas to the LSO, RPO and all the principle orchestras in Ireland. He has scored music for plays on Broadway, in the West End and in Europe, and has contributed to more than a hundred albums.

ENDA KENNY COSTUME DESIGNER Enda is an award winning costume designer based in Belfast.

He also works as a tutor, Prop Costume Maker, Textile Artist , Leather worker and Milliner for Theatre, TV and film. He has created work for ENO, NI Opera, ROH Covent Garden, National Theatre London, Saddlers wells and the Lyceum Theatre London, Tokyo Ballet,

Opera du Montpellier, Opera NI and teatro Nacional de Sao Carlos Lisbon.

He also works as an associate lecturer for UAL and Nottingham Trent University.

Previously costume design theatre credits include Border Game (Prime Cut 2021, 2022) Sylvan (Tinderbox 2021) One Good Turn (Abbey 2021), Father the Father (Prime cut 2021), A Streetcar Named Desire (Lyric Belfast 2019- Winner of Best costume design at the Irish times theatre awards 2020) Lovers (Lyric Belfast 2018), Red (Prime Cut / Lyric Belfast 2017), Educating Rita (Lyric 2016) and Scorch (Prime Cut 2015).

His TV and Film work includes The Northman, Krypton S2, His Dark Materials (BBC), Outlander S4 (Starz) and Game of Thrones (HBO).

PAULA O’ REILLY CHOREOGRAPHER, MOVEMENT DIRECTOR & INTIMACY COORDINATOR Theatre: Tartuffe (The Abbey Theatre, Dublin & National Tour) Silent Trade (Kabosh, The Lyric Belfast & NI Tour) Aladdin (GBL, The Waterfront, Belfast) Bridesmaids of Northern Ireland (GBL, The Grand Opera House Belfast) Lie Low (Ciara Elizabeth Smyth, Project Arts Centre, The Lyric) The Half Moon (Alice Malseed & Green Shoot Productions) Callings (Kabosh) Distortion (The MAC) The Shedding of Skin (Kabosh) Beauty and The Beast (The Marketplace & GBL) Secrets of Space (Cahoots NI, The MAC Belfast & USA Tour) The Playboy of The Western World (The Lyric and The Gaiety co production with Dublin Theatre Festival) The Snapper, Revival (The Gate Theatre, Dublin) The Odd Couple (The Everyman, Cork) Bigger People (The Local Group and Pentabus) In Our Veins (Bitter Like A Lemon and The Abbey Theatre) Girls Like This (TU Dublin), The Tales of Hoffmann (Irish National Opera) The Snapper (The Gate), Pulse (Primecut Productions) Hansel & Gretel (The MAC) SINNEAD, One Night Only for Two Nights (The MAC), Harder, Faster, More, (Red Bear Productions at The Project), Acis & Galetea (Ireland National Opera at The National Opera House and National Tour), The Fairy Queen (RIAM at The Samuel Beckett), Herculaneum (Wexford Festival Opera) Cristina

Regina di Svezia, Le Roi Malgre Lui, A Village Romeo & Juliet, The Magic Flute (Wexford Festival Opera), Orfeo ed Euridice (Buxton Opera Series) The Rubberbandits (Electric Picnic, The Olympia) ponydance (National and International Tours) Film / Television: Here Before, Stacey Gregg, Pia Pressure, NI Screen, BBC Film. ponydance - The Movie (TG4). The Savage Eye, Series 1 & 2 (RTE2). 3 Wishes (Will McConnell, NI Screen)

CATHAL QUINN VOICE COACH Cathal Quinn is Head of Voice at The Lir, Trinity College Dublin, and works as a voice coach in theatre, film and television.

Most recently he has worked on The Hangmen at the Gaiety Theatre, The New Electric Ballroom and Endgame at the Gate and Cocaine Bear for Universal Studios.

He has two theatre companies: Mouth on Fire which has toured Beckett productions to Spain, Russia, Japan, India and the UK, and Guthanna Binne Síoraí which tours Irish language theatre all over Ireland.

This is Cathal’s second time at The Lyric, the last time was A Whistle in the Dark many moons ago!

PHILIP RAFFERTY FIGHT DIRECTOR Philip Rafferty, is a Stage Combat Instructor and Fight Director based in Belfast and a member of the Academy of Performance Combat.

He is extremely privileged to be working with Prime Cut Productions and the Lyric Theatre on The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

Previous credits as a Fight Director include Good Vibrations (Grand Opera House) & Lie Low (Naughton Studio).

His work has led him to be the Stage Combat Instructor in Rose Bruford College at their Belfast Campus where he has been teaching for the last three years.

Philip is honoured to continue his working relationship with the Lyric Theatre, as once their student at the

Drama Studio and now working on their annual Summer Stage Combat Course and NT Connections.

ROSS FITZPATRICK ASSISTANT DIRECTOR Ross Fitzpatrick is an Irish actor/ writer/director. He trained in Drama (Performance) in The Conservatoire of Music and Drama in Dublin and is currently under the directorial mentorship of Emma Jordan. Stage credits include; Romeo in Romeo and Juliet at the Dlr Mill Theatre, Swing in Julius Caesar (dir. Aoife SpillaneHinks), Witch/Fleance/Captain/Young Siward in Macbeth, Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet & understudy for Little Red at the Dlr Mill Theatre. Romeo in Romeo and Juliet (dir. Miriam O’Meara), Witch/ Johannes in Grimm Tales (Smock Alley Main Stage), Bill in The Panel (Peacock stage - Abbey Theatre), James in Chromatics (dir. Andrew Keates), Arlecchino in Commedia Marketplace and Beast in Beauty and The Beast.

Screen and Voice over credits include the award-winning Irish language short film FAITÍOS directed by Martha Fitzgerald and Narrator/Ferdia in AN TÁIN directed by Miriam O’Meara. Ross is an Axis Assemble 2022 artist, with a play currently in development.

June will see Ross performing in The Asylum Workshop - A site-specific documentary play about the history of the Grangegorman mental hospital in Dublin’s north inner city.

FROM THE REHEARSAL ROOM

Lyric Theatre Staff List Board of Directors Sir Bruce Robinson (Chairman) Stephen Douds (Vice Chairman) Nuala Donnelly Paul Hayes Jean Horstman Mike Mullan Dr Mark Phelan Rosie Timoney Louise Warde Hunter Patron Liam Neeson OBE Executive Producer Jimmy Fay Senior Producer Morag Keating Casting Director Clare Gault Literary Manager Rebecca Mairs Production Co-Ordinator Kerry Fitzsimmons

Head of Production Adrian Mullan Production Manager Siobhán Barbour Company Stage Manager Aimee Yates Stage Managers Stephen Dix Louise Graham Technical Manager Arthur Oliver-Brown Senior Production Technician Ian Vennard Theatre Technicians Liam Hinchcliffe Declan Paxton Corentin West Scenic Construction Manager & Lead Carpenter Aidan Payne Scenic Construction Apprentice Jack McGarrigle

Head of Finance & HR Micheál Meegan

Costume Supervisor Gillian Lennox

Finance & HR Officer Barry Leonard

Costume Assistants Mairead McCormack Niamh Mockford

Finance Officer Sinéad Glymond Finance & Admin Assistant Shireen Azarmi

Head of Development & Marketing Claire Murray Marketing Manager Rachel Leitch Marketing Officers Emma Brennan Adam Steele Digital Marketing Officer Beverly Steele Development Officer Ben McDaid

Head of Creative Learning Philip Crawford Creative Learning Manager Erin Hoey Creative Learning Manager (Maternity Cover) Kathy Moore Creative Learning Administrator Caragh O’Donnell Delaney

Casual Costume Assistants Ally McConnell Arlene Riley Casual Theatre Technicians Mairtin Bradley Deborah Branson Jonathan Daley Patrick Freeman Emma Gibson Annemarie Langan Shane Lunn Barry McCusker Ross McDade Sheila Murphy Danny O’Shea James Shortt Adrian Wall Casual Scenic Carpenter Finn Steadman Casual Workshop Assistants Conor Barbour Kevin Cush Phelan Hardy

Head of Customer Service Julie McKegney Customer Service Manager Seán Gallagher Assistant Customer Service Manager Anna McErlane

Duty Supervisors Orla Graham Marina Hampton Gerard Kelly Carley Magee-Tollerton Tierna McNally Box Office Manager Emily White Box Office Supervisor Paul McCaffrey Housekeeping Debbie Duff Amanda Richards Samantha Walker Customer Service Staff Matthew Armstrong Pamela Armstrong Niki Browne Jennie Burns Carla Bryson Michelle Calvert Stephen Calvert Jack Corbett Jolene Craig Conor Cupples Alacoque Davey Cara Devlin Ryan Donnelly Sam Furlong Tighe Orla Graham Marina Hampton Teresa Hill Lauren Hutchinson Megan Keenan Gerard Kelly Greta Kelly Megan Kelly Shannen Lofthouse Carley Magee-Tollerton Tiarnán McCarron Ellen McCormick Andrew McCracken Clara McDevitt Patricia McGreevy Suke McKegney Shaunagh McKirgan Tierna McNally Francis Mezza Catherine Moore Donál Morgan Solomon Morrow Sionnán Ní Nualláin Aoife O’Neill Hana O’Neill Samantha Obman Bernadette Owens Ellie Pearson Alba Perez Ben Purdy Bobbi Rai Purdy Joia Raychoudhury Sarah Reid Liam Rowan Ide Simpson Morgan Shuttleworth Caelan Stow Jennifer Walsh Esmé White Volunteers Jean Dumas Yvonne Dumas Joan Gormley Eveline Wilkinson

Prime Cut Productions Company Biography Established in Belfast in 1992 Prime Cut Productions is a company limited by guarantee a registered charity. Prime Cut is one of Northern Ireland’s critically acclaimed arts organisations.

Excellence is at the core of our practice and we are committed to producing artistically engaging experiences for our audiences and artists.

Prime Cut delivers under three main strands: CREATE; INNOVATE and PARTICIPATE. CREATE: The production of excellent performance and writing from Northern Ireland for an international audience INNOVATE: Driving the development of Northern Irish Performing Artists through the provision of the finest professionals training, mentorships and opportunities PARTICIPATE: The provision of a creative resource promoting autonomy and artistic selfexpression for communities across Northern Ireland with trust and collaboration at its heart.

Since 2014 Prime Cut has been the recipients of 6 Core Awards including three Weston Jerwood Creative Bursaries and Artistic Director Emma Jordan awarded the Breakthrough Fund in Cultural Entrepreneurship by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation. Our touring productions and coproductions have played to audiences across Ireland, the UK, Europe, Australia and the USA to critical acclaim and 17 international awards.

Artistic Director: Emma Jordan Executive Producer: Una Nic Eoin Creative Director: Ciaran Bagnall Community Engagement Manager: Bobbi Rai-Purdy Administration & Finance Officer: Lorraine McBrearty Associate Producer: Ronan McManus Board of Directors: Edel Magill [Chair], Lesley Holmes (Secretary), Kerry Teahan (Treasurer) Stephanie Fitzsimons, Darren Murphy, Jacqueline O Hagan, Sophie Hayles Prime Cut Productions, Unit 5 8 Maxwell St, Belfast, BT12 5FB 028 9024 4004: info@primecutproductions.co.uk www.primecutproductions.co.uk