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The Arts Council Playography Na Gaeilge

People

Phyllis Ryan

1920 - 2011

One of the most important independent producers on the Dublin scene, Phyllis Ryan is best remembered for having founded Orion Productions and later Gemini Productions in the late 1950s. In 1970s she was appointed Artistic Director of the Irish Theatre Company and produced many plays with them. As well as producing the new Irish plays listed below, she was also the moving force behind many hugely successful productions in the 1960s, '70s and '80s, and maintained close working relationships with writers such as John B. Keane and Hugh Leonard.

Phyllis Ryan died in 2011. Her memoir,'The Company I Kept', was published by Town House in 1996.

Company Jobs

Job Title Company
Founder Gemini Productions
Founder Orion Productions

Actor

Play Title Playwright
Caesar's Image E.F. Carey
Fohnam, the Sculptor Daniel Corkery
Illumination T.C. Murray
Lovers' Meeting Louis d'Alton
Medea Kenneth McLeish Euripides
Mysteries 2000 Deirdre Purcell Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill Johnny Hanrahan Joseph O'Connor (1) Pat Kinevane Gavin Kostick Michael Scott (2) Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy Declan Gorman Joe O'Byrne Derek Chapman Aidan Mathews Fergus Linehan (1) Brendan Kennelly Michael McCaffery
Pilgrims Mary Rynne
Shadow and Substance Paul Vincent Carroll
The Cursing Fields Andrew Ganly
The Fort Field George Shiels
The Spanish Soldier Louis d'Alton
What the Doctor Ordered MJJ MacKeown

Artistic Director

Play Title Playwright
A Borderline Case Harry Barton
Big Maggie John B. Keane
The Giant Lobelia Harry Barton

Company Artistic Director

Play Title Playwright
A Christmas Carol Tomás Mac Anna Charles Dickens
A Keane Sense of Humour Joe O'Donnell John B. Keane
Adapted from the writings of John B. Keane.
Boat People Dillie Keane
Bonfire Joe O'Donnell
Cop-Out David Hayes(1)
Crooked in the Car Seat Brian Lynch
Defence in Depth Patrick Riddell
Dublin One Hugh Leonard James Joyce
Based on Short Stories by James Joyce
Gone Tomorrow Tom Coffey
King of the Castle Eugene McCabe
McRoarty T.D. Fergus Linehan (1)
Mick and Mick Hugh Leonard
Pull Down a Horseman Eugene McCabe
Stephen D. Hugh Leonard James Joyce
The Au Pair Man Hugh Leonard
The Barracks Hugh Leonard John McGahern
The Change in Mame Fadden John B. Keane
The Chastitute John B. Keane
The Devil's Own People Patrick Galvin
The Dosshouse Waltz Aodhán Madden
The Family Way Hugh Leonard Eugène Labiche
Adapted from "Celimare, Le Bien-Aime" by Eugene Labiche
The Field John B. Keane
The Late Arrival of the Incoming Aircraft Hugh Leonard
The Passion of Peter Ginty Hugh Leonard Henrik Ibsen
A new version of the original play Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen
The Patrick Pearse Motel Hugh Leonard
The Poker Session Hugh Leonard
The Private Death of a Queen Aodhán Madden
The Saints go Cycling In Hugh Leonard Flann O'Brien
Who Do You Love, Mrs Munch? Kevin Grattan
Zoz Joe O'Donnell

Producer

Play Title Playwright
A Walk on the Water Hugh Leonard
Crooked in the Car Seat Brian Lynch
Lady Spider Donagh MacDonagh
Little City Séamus Byrne
No More in Dust John B. Keane
The Blind Mice Brian Friel
The Dead Hugh Leonard James Joyce
Based on the short story of the same name, first published in 1914.
The Highest House on the Mountain John B. Keane
The Ice Goddess James Douglas
The Streets of Dublin Fergus Linehan (1) Dion Boucicault
A version of Dion Boucicault's melodrama, originally titled The Poor of New York.

Artistic Director (Gemini)

Play Title Playwright
Ghosts Thomas Kilroy Henrik Ibsen
Adapted from Ibsen's original play.
Noone Joe O'Donnell
The Brother Eamon Morrissey Flann O'Brien

Dramaturg

Play Title Playwright
Sisters Declan Hassett