Meet the Team
Eugene O'Brien
Mentor
Eugene wrote the play EDEN which debuted at the peacock theatre in 2001 and transferred to the Abbey stage later that year and then onto the Arts Theatre in London’s West end in 2002. It has been translated into Romanian, Italian, Catalan, Dutch and German. EDEN received the Irish times theatre award, the Stewart Parker award and the Rooney prize for literature. Eugene adapted the play for the screen and the film, directed by Declan Recks, played many festivals around the world including Edinburgh and New York’s Tribeca Festival where it won best actress for Eileen Walsh.
Eugene also wrote PURE MULE, a six part series for RTE, winner of five IFTA awards and a two part follow up PURE MULE- THE LAST WEEKEND. Other work includes the THE NEST, SLOTH and NUMB( nominated for ZEBBIE AWARD) all for RTE radio drama and an adaptation of Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown trilogy for BBC radio drama.
Other Theatre work includes SAVOY produced in the Peacock Theatre and THE GOOD HOUSE OF HAPPINESS, ELIZA’S ADVENTURES IN THE UNCANNY VALLEY, MESPIL IN THE DARK, all in collaboration with PAN PAN theatre company. Most recently HEAVEN, produced by Fishamble, debuted at The Dublin Theatre festival 2022 and completed a very successful run in the E59E theatre New York. Heaven was named best new play at the Irish Times theatre awards and won a fringe first at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe festival.
Other work includes film comedy THE FLAG, starring Pat Shortt and co writing credits on TV3 drama RED ROCK and the film’s THE FOOD GUIDE TO LOVE and famine drama BLACK 47. Eugene’s novel GOING BACK was published by GILL in 2022 and TARRAC, a cine 4 Irish language feature film opened in cinemas last year.
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Lisa Daly
Co Artistic Director
Lisa has a degree in Theatre Arts from Muhlenberg College, Pennsylvania. While living in Galway, she performed with Selkie Theatre in Galway in "Laundry and Bourbon" by James McLure; "A Broken Moon at Midnight", site-specific work by Kerric Harvey, and "Desdemona: A Play about a Handkerchief" by Paula Vogel. Other roles include Ophelia in "Hamlet and Ophelia", an original work (Ninth Wave Theatre Company), and Stevie in "The Goat, or Who is Syliva" by Edward Albee (Lily Hill Productions)
Film work includes "Summer of the Flying Saucer", directed by Martin Duffy and premiered at Cinemagic Film Festival, Dublin. In Connecticut, she is a member of A Broken Umbrella Theatre company where she has performed in several shows, including “Scene Change,” “Gilbert the Great,” and “Freewheelers” which premiered at The International Festival of Arts and Ideas.
She has been a co-producer of Scripts for 12 years and currently resides in Hamden, Connecticut where she is the Theatre Coordinator at Hamden Hall Country Day School. She teaches film and acting and directs performances annually for students in grades 1 up through high school. Her most recent shows she directed and produced are “Clue.” and “Finding Nemo, Kids.” She is also a certified Cosmic Kids Yoga instructor.
Angela Ryan Whyte
Co Artistic Director
Angela Ryan Whyte is a multi-faceted theatre artist with an eclectic background. Angela holds an Honours M.A. in Drama and Theatre Studies from N.U.I. Galway, as well as a BA in English, Sociology, and Politics, and a Higher Diploma in Education. Post university, she held many roles, including actor, playwright, director, producer, and drama facilitator and toured nationally and internationally. In 2008, she made her playwriting debut with the production of her play "Til Kingdom Come" by Selkie Theatre in association with Age Action Ireland. In 2009, Angela founded Jasango Theatre, where she produced, and managed tours for productions such as "Bombshells" and "My Brilliant Divorce." She has also co-produced new works, including "For Penguin's Sake," "Old Habits," and "The Mire."
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Additionally, Angela has extensive experience in youth theatre. She was a founding facilitator with Offaly Youth Theatre and has devised and directed several youth theatre productions. In 2015-2016, she produced and directed "Write Your Mind" with Jigsaw, The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, which later won an award for Best Drama at The New York Festival of Radio in 2019. She recently led a youth theatre initiative in association with Youth Theatre Ireland, coordinating the development of new works for the stage for young audiences under the banner of the The George B Miller Award.
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Outside of theatre, Angela worked with Jigsaw - The National Centre for Youth Mental Health for eight years, moving from the role of National Youth Participation Coordinator to take on a full-time role in Offaly County Council Arts Office.
Emma Nee Haslam
Birr Theatre & Arts Centre
Producer
Emma has been the Manager at Birr Theatre & Arts Centre for over twenty two years and has extensive experience in event management, running approx. 180 events per year.
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During the past twenty years she established, and currently co-produces, both Hullabaloo! Offaly’s Children’s Arts Festival with Offaly County Council and Scripts Ireland’s Playwriting Festival with Jasango Theatre and was a member of the team that established OFFline Film Festival and Birr Festival of Music.
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Emma Nee Haslam became a member of the Vintage Week family as vice-chair from 1994 to 1996 and continues to be involved at many levels since then including festival secretary for many years, festival chair in 2007 and currently is a member of our board of directors.
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Rebecca Kelly
Marketing & Audience Development
Rebecca is a freelance Marketing & Audience Development Manager with over 10 year's experience working in the arts and non-profit sectors. In her work, she supports organisations to transform the way they tell their stories through integrated and strategic communication. This is done through a range of services including social media curation and implementation, brand work, website design and maintenance and the development of PR & marketing strategies (both traditional and digital).
Ongoing clients include Birr Festivals Collective (including Birr Festival of Music, Birr Vintage Week & Arts Festival, SCRIPTS and OFFline Film Festival) and Bram Stoker Festival. She has also acted as Social Media Support on X-Pollinator and Storyhouse and has also worked on some of Ireland’s major charity campaigns including Hospice Sunflower Days, Ireland’s Biggest Coffee Morning, Bereaved Children’s Awareness Week, National Pyjama Day. She was also part of the team to deliver Ireland’s first National Bereavement Helpline during the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions in 2020.