Paul Brennan
|
Biography A member of a well-known Dublin theatrical family, Paul has worked as a professional actor, director, playwright, and acting teacher for more than thirty five years. He has worked as a director with the Abbey, the Gate and other Dublin theaters, with Druid in Galway, with Island and Daghdhain Limerick and with Red Kettle in Waterford for whom he has directed two Bernard Farrell premieres and five other shows. Productions in the past decade or so include: Diarmuid de Faoite’s award winning Padraig O’Conaire; the prizewinning Paris Texas with POC Productions at the Dublin Fringe Festival, Shock and Awe - a version of Homer’s Iliad for Island Theater Company, The Laramie Project for Aboutface and his own play, Herman, for POC. His produced "The Fairgreen Slaughterhouse" by Colm corless for Project '06 in Galway and at the Project Arts Center, Dublin; in ’07, Look Back in Anger by John Osborne at Andrews Lane Theater, Dublin. He co-directed Kissing Syd James for Stone Mad Co. in ’09 and his own play A Man's Game for Limerick Youth Theater in ’10. He directed Mike Finn’s Pigtown for the Belltable in Limerick, in ’12 and Valentine's Dead for the Attic Studio, Dublin in September ’13. He was theater director for the Brian Ború Millenium weekend in April 2014 in Killaloe, Co. Clare. Having studied Michael Chekhov acting technique and attended workshops with Joanna Merlin, Fern Sloan, Sarah Kane, Per Brahe, Graham Dixon, Lenard Petit and with Michael Chekhov Europe, Paul first introduced Chekhov technique into his professional work in 1999 (Bernard Farrell’s Happy Birthday Dear Alice for Red Kettle, with Tony award winner, Anna Manahan) and into all his subsequent productions. He teaches Chekhov Technique at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin. He has also taught the technique at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth, with Theater MA students at the National University of Ireland, Galway (’07), and at University Colleges, Dublin and Cork. He has written and directed a number of community plays including An Leigheas for Inisheer in the Aran Islands where he was artist-in-residence and A Hook in the Heart for East Clare. He also conducts workshops in Chekhov technique for professional and amateur actors and for youth groups. He will produce his own play Hats off to Clare in Clare in October ’14 |