The First Child programme book

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 1
Landmark Productions
in association with Irish National Opera
THE
FIRST
CHILD
a new opera by Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh

PAGE 2
THE FIRST CHILD

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 3
Landmark Productions
in association with Irish National Opera
THE
FIRST
CHILD
a new opera by Donnacha Dennehy and Enda Walsh
presented in partnership with Crash Ensemble
OPERA IN ONE ACT
World premiere Saturday 2 October 2021
O’Reilly Theatre Dublin
Dublin Theatre Festival
ENDA WALSH | PHOTO: SARAH WEAL
Sung in English with English surtitles
Running Time: 90 minutes without interval
Performances O’Reilly Theatre Dublin
Saturday 2, Monday 4, Wednesday 6, Friday 8 and Saturday 9 October 2021
Saturday 9 October is live-streamed
and available on demand until Saturday 23 October

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THE FIRST CHILD

PROGRAMME NOTE
PAGE 5
THE FIRST CHILD
The First Child is the last opera in my trilogy with Enda Walsh. It feels
to me to be the most intense of the three, powered along by a kind of
tidal energy. And yet, within that, I’m forever seeking the melody in
these broken characters. In some way, the opera is about the impact
that circular forces can have on our life and on nature. Though it
has a dystopian looping structure to it ultimately, there is also a kind
of catharsis unleashed by the power of the music. I should let you
know that three of the players within Crash Ensemble also double up
as microtonal pianists, playing notes between the equal tempered
scale. Quite often these relate to the overtone series, but at other
times they present strange doppelgängers of their equal-tempered
equivalents. The bulk of the opera was written during the pandemic,
and one can almost feel the music yearning and bursting to break
the banks set up around it. Writing this opera was probably the most
intense creative experience of my life so far.
Donnacha Dennehy
September 2021

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THE FIRST CHILD

PROGRAMME NOTE
PAGE 7
‘WHEN ALL IS REAL,
AND ALL ARE GHOSTS’
THE LAST HOTEL | PHOTO: PAT REDMOND
We didn’t set out to make a trilogy. In our first opera – The Last Hotel
– myself and Donnacha Dennehy were interested in the ordinary
being faced by something dark and unfathomable. The clash of
those two things. Of a character losing a sense of themselves –
becoming untethered and committing a terrible act. In The Last
Hotel, an assisted suicide. In the second opera – The Second Violinist
– a double murder. The trilogy just happened. I would think of them
as salacious Sunday World stories – that on the surface were cheap
and nasty – that morphed into something entirely different through
the expression of music and opera. Narratives that are much larger
than the characters themselves have always interested me. Very
ordinary people whose lives are altered by a story they started and a
story now which can’t be stopped.
The First Child has a greater structural complexity than the previous
two. It reveals itself incrementally and cuts between the normal and
the mythic. It’s passed through the strange minds of the central
characters. It’s shaped by obsession and unstoppable hate. It
moves sharply from darkness to comedy – and it tries, I hope, to
understand what it is that makes us do these terrible things.
THE SECOND VIOLINST | PHOTO: PAT REDMOND
After such a long time away from making work – I feel an
extraordinary privilege to have been able to make this opera with
Donnacha and Ryan Mc Adams and Crash and Emma Martin – and
with such wonderful singers and creative collaborators for INO and
Landmark. Though the work is undeniably dark – the process and
the expression of it – has been gloriously light.
Enda Walsh
September 2021

PAGE 8
CREATIVES
CREATORS
Composer
Librettist and Director
Donnacha Dennehy
Enda Walsh
CAST IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Man
Eric Jurenas
Karen
Sarah Shine
Simon
Emmett O’Hanlon
Girl
Caia Leseure
Older Woman
Joan Sheehy
Alva
Niamh O’Sullivan
Gary
Dean Power
CREATIVE TEAM
Conductor
Choreographer
Set Designer
Lighting Designer
Video Designer
Costume Designer
Sound Designer
Assistant Conductor
Associate Director
Associate Costume Designer
Associate Sound Designer
Répétiteur
Studio Conductor
CHILDREN’S CHORUS
Voiceover of Young Alva
Ryan McAdams
Emma Martin
Jamie Vartan
Adam Silverman
Jack Phelan
Joan O’Clery
David Sheppard
Elaine Kelly
Eoghan Carrick
Sinéad Lawlor
Sinéad Diskin
Richard McGrath
Molly de Búrca
Tom Egan
Clare Griffin
Joya Hobson
Priya Hobson
Catherine Leahy
Harry McEvilly
JJ Orange
Molly Verdier
Freya Feeney

CREATIVES
PAGE 9
CRASH ENSEMBLE
Susan Doyle
Leonie Bluett
Deirdre O’Leary
Cliona Warren
Hannah Miller
Barry O’Halpin
Alex Petcu
Eliza McCarthy
Dermot Dunne
Diamanda Dramm
Larissa O’Grady
Lisa Dowdall
Kate Ellis
Malachy Robinson
Flute, Alto Flute, Piccolo
Clarinet
Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Bassoon, Contrabassoon
French Horn
Electric Guitar, Microtonal Piano
Percussion
Piano, Microtonal Piano, Celesta
Accordion, Microtonal Piano
Violin
Violin
Viola
Cello
Double Bass
DONNACHA DENNEHY | PHOTO: BRITT OLSEN-ECKER

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THE FIRST CHILD
Production Manager
Stage Manager
Assistant Stage Manager
Chief Electrician
Sound Mixer
Lighting Programmer
Lighting Operator
Sound Crew
Sound Assistant
LX Team
Wigs, Hair, Make-up Supervisor
Wigs, Hair, Make-up Assistant
Chaperones
Costumer
Costume Assistants
Dresser
Dye & Breakdown Artist
Set Construction
Scenic Artist
Lighting Provider
Sound Provider
Surtitle Operator
Eamonn Fox
Kate Watkins
Sophie Flynn
Colm Robinson
Jonathan Green
Kevin Smith
Gavin Kennedy
Alan Whelan, Cian Murphy
Kate Crook
Leo Cooney
Carole Dunne
Tee Elliot
Emily Bradley, Jordan Brown,
Hannah Kate Sheridan, Nina Hynes
Tara Mulvihill
Lou Dunne
Alannah O’Leary
Molly Brown
Theatre Production Services
Sandra Butler
Cue One
Stage Sound Services
Maeve Sheil
Photographer
Rehearsal Video
Promotional Video
Graphic Design
Ste Murray
Gansee Films
Sayonara Bittencourt
Gareth Jones

THANK YOU
PAGE 11
THANK YOU
We are grateful to the following for their help with this production:
Willie White and Stephen McManus and all at DTF; Siân Cunningham, Kate Ellis
and all at Crash Ensemble; Clare Barrett; Paul Fahy, Jacinta Dwyer and all at
Galway International Arts Festival; Dylan Farrell; Colm and Deirdre Flynn; Conor
Hanratty; Eleanor Methven; Gillian Oman and ITW; all at the O’Reilly Theatre.
This production is funded by an Opera Projects and Production Award from
The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

PAGE 12
CREATORS
DONNACHA DENNEHY
Composer
Donnacha Dennehy’s music is marked by a sonic
and rhythmic intensity and a kind of volatile tonality
that travels in and out of an overtone-based focus.
His music has featured in festivals and venues such
as the Edinburgh International Festival; Carnegie
Hall, New York; Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam;
Barbican, London; and BAM, New York, among
many others. In addition to two previous operas
with Enda Walsh, The Last Hotel and The Second
Violinist (Landmark Productions and Irish National
Opera), recent large-scale commissions include The Hunger, a
docu-cantata for Alarm Will Sound (presented by BAM, New York
and Opera Theatre St. Louis), Broken Unison for Sō Percussion
(co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall and Cork Opera House);
Overcasting (commissioned by the LA Phil); Tessellatum for Nadia
Sirota, Liam Byrne and microtonal viol consort; and pieces for Dawn
Upshaw, Third Coast Percussion, Kronos Quartet, and the Doric
Quartet. He continues to maintain a close artistic connection with
the group he founded, Crash Ensemble, and they feature in The First
Child and in his opera, The Second Violinist, which won the 2017
FEDORA-Generali Prize for Opera. Portrait albums of his music have
been released by Nonesuch, New Amsterdam, Cantaloupe, NMC
and Bedroom Community. His new violin concerto for Augustin
Hadelich will be premiered in the Netherlands in October 2021,
and he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship earlier this year.
Dennehy is also a professor at Princeton University and his music is
published by G. Schirmer, New York.

CREATORS
PAGE 13
ENDA WALSH
Writer and Director
Enda Walsh is a Tony and multi award-winning
Irish playwright. His work has been translated
into over 20 languages and has been performed
internationally since 1998. His recent plays
include Medicine [2021], produced by Landmark
Productions and Galway International Arts Festival;
The Same [2017], produced by Corcadorca;
Lazarus [2016] with David Bowie; Arlington [2016],
Ballyturk [2014] and Misterman [2012], produced by
Landmark Productions and Galway International
Arts Festival; and the operas The First Child [2021], The Second
Violinist [2017] and The Last Hotel [2015] produced by Landmark
Productions and Irish National Opera. His other plays include Once
[2011]; The New Electric Ballroom [2009], Penelope [2010] and The
Walworth Farce [2006] with Druid Theatre Company; Chatroom
[2005] with the National Theatre; The Small Things [2005] with
Paines Plough; Bedbound [2000] with Dublin Theatre Festival; and
Disco Pigs [1996] with Corcadorca. Most recently, he wrote the
book for the musical adaptation of the 2016 film Sing Street by John
Carney which was due to open on Broadway in spring 2020.
For the past ten years he has been supported by, and shown work
at, St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York. He has made an ongoing
series of immersive theatre installations, Rooms, with Galway
International Arts Festival’s Artistic Director, Paul Fahy – Room 303,
A Girl’s Bedroom, Kitchen, Bathroom, Office 33A, Waiting Room,
Changing Room and this year’s Bedsit.
His film work includes Disco Pigs for Temple Films and
Renaissance; Hunger for Blast and FILM4; and The Last Hotel
which was made into a film for Sky Arts, produced by Brink Films,
Landmark Productions and Wide Open Opera. In 2014, he received
an honorary doctorate from NUI Galway.

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THE FIRST CHILD
ERIC JURENAS SARAH SHINE EMMETT O’HANLON
ERIC JURENAS
Man
Eric Jurenas is a graduate of Juilliard
School and gave his debut at the
Wiener Staatsoper, performing
Natasha in Eötvös’ Tri Sestri. Also
at Wiener Staatsoper, he created
the part of Guardian Angel in O.
Neuwirth’s Orlando, chosen by
Opernwelt as ‘Best World-Premiere
of the Year’. Engagements include
the world premiere of Rinaldo with
Ensemble Matheus for Theater an der
Wien, Opéra Royal de Versailles and
Philharmonie Moscow, Natasha and
Arsamene in Xerxes at Oper Frankfurt,
Arbace and Fulvio in Catone in Utica
at the Glimmerglass Festival, Fidi
Wagner in Dorman’s world premiere of
Wahnfried at Staatstheater Karlsruhe,
Refugee in Dove’s Flight with Opera
Lafayette, the title role in Orlando at
the Kammeroper Wien, Narciso in
Agrippina at the Royal Opera House,
the Münchner Opernfestspiele and the
Komische Oper Berlin, the title role of
Ayres’s Peter Pan, and Herald in Medea
by A. Reimann at Komische Oper Berlin.
Concert highlights include David in
Handel’s Saul at the International
Handel Festival Göttingen (CD
nominated for the Grammy Awards),
the recital Time stands still at Innsbruck
Early Music Festival, the world
premiere of a trio by Aribert Reimann
at the Pierre Boulez Saal, Berlin (with
Daniel Barenboim as pianist), his
recital British Heroes at the Château
de Versailles Spectacles, and Farrini’s
mono-opera La Dolce Morte in the
METLiveArts series with International
Contemporary Ensemble.
Eric sings regularly with Boston
Baroque, Colorado Symphony
Orchestra and at the Baldwin Wallace
Bach Festival, and has worked with

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 15
Ivor Bolton, Anthony Bramall, Laurence
Cummings, Ruben Dubrovsky, Maxim
Emelyanychev, Barrie Kosky, Yuval
Sharon, Jean-Christophe Spinosi and
Keith Warner.
SARAH SHINE
Karen
Irish soprano Sarah Shine’s recent
performances include Linda Buckley’s
Glaoch in INO’s 20 Shots of Opera,
and Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff
for Wexford Festival Opera, where
she also created the role of Fran in
Andrew Synnott’s What Happened to
Lucrece? In 2019 she created the role
of Angelika in Marius Felix Lange’s
children’s opera Der Gesang der
Zauberinsel at the Salzburg Festival,
also performed in Masterclass with
Helmut Deutsch and appeared with
the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg. In
2018-19 she was an artist in residence
at Opéra national de Paris, where
she participated in concerts of the
Academy at the Amphitheatre Bastille
and Palais Garnier and performed
the role of Adele in Johann Strauss’s
Die Fledermaus presented at the
MC93 before a tour of several French
cities. In 2017-18 she made her debut
in Paris as Leocadia in Phillippe
Boesmans’s Reigen conducted by
Jean Deroyer, and performed in
concert with the Philharmonic Radio
Orchestra, Bucharest, for the Beirut
Chants Festival. In 2018 she was
awarded the Siemens Opera Award of
€10,000. Sarah graduated with a BA
in Music Performance and a Recital
Artist Diploma from the Royal Irish
Academy of Music where she studied
with Veronica Dunne. Shortly after,
she was chosen as one of 40 finalists
to compete at the Neue Stimmen
International Singing Competition
2015 in Gütersloh, Germany. She has
received bursaries from Siemens,
the Arts Council/An Chomhairle
Ealaíon, Limerick City Council and the
Christopher Lynch Operatic Bursary.
EMMETT O’HANLON
Simon
Highlights of Irish-American baritone
Emmett O’Hanlon’s career include his
role debuts as the title role in Mozart’s
Don Giovanni, Figaro in Rossini’s
Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Kaiser in
Ullmann’s Der Kaiser von Atlantic with
Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Malatesta
in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale with both
the Blackwater Valley Festival and
the Berkshire Opera Festival, Silvio in
Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci with Opera San
Jose, and Gaston in Disney’s Beauty
and the Beast with the Paramount
Theatre. Concert work includes his
debut with the New World Symphony
for Unanswered Questions: A Leonard
Bernstein Journey, conducted by Edwin
Outwater. Recital appearances include
being presented by Opera Birmingham
at Brock Recital Hall at Samford
University, and with Sun Valley Opera.
Emmett was part of the prestigious

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THE FIRST CHILD
CAIA LESEURE JOHN SHEEHY NIAMH O’SULLIVAN
Ryan Opera Center at Lyric Opera of
Chicago, and holds a Master of Music
degree from the Juilliard School of
Music and a Bachelor of Music degree
from University of Cincinnati College-
Conservatory of Music.
CAIA LESEURE
Dancer
Caia Leseure was born in Berlin in 2008
to an Irish mother and French father
so she has grown up speaking English,
German and French. She spent a few
years doing ballet classes and for the
last few years, attends Berlin’s Sasha
Waltz dance school. She has performed
in their shows in the Berliner Festspiele
and Radial V. She sings on two of Nina
Hynes’ albums, ZAP! and Dancing
Suns. She has a younger brother and
spends her time between her home
in Berlin and her father’s home in
Brussels.
JOAN SHEEHY
Older Woman
Joan Sheehy is from Granagh, Co.
Limerick and has performed with all
the leading Irish theatre companies
and toured extensively, both nationally
and internationally. Her most recent
appearances have been in The Mai for
Decadent Theatre Company, Wringer in
Bewley’s Cafe Theatre, Bailegangaire
for Livin’Dred Theatre Company,
Sacrifice at Easter for Corcadorca, Big
Maggie for Druid, John Gabriel Borkman
for the Abbey Theatre and Woman
and Scarecrow for Blood in the Alley
Theatre Company. She appeared in the
Abbey Theatre’s online initiatives, Dear
Ireland and Home. Joan has directed
some acclaimed productions, most
recently, In the Middle of the Fields
in Kilmallock, Co. Limerick , #Maura
Laverty-This Was Your Life with Viking
Theatre, Whitby in the Bram Stoker
Festival, The Match Box in Galway

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 17
International Arts Festival, The Colleen
Bawn Trials for Limerick City of Culture,
Anything But Love in Belltable Arts
Centre and Buck Jones and the Body
Snatchers in Georgian House, Limerick
and Dublin Theatre Festival. Recent
film and T.V appearances include As
Luck Would Have It, Fanacht, Harry
Wildand End of Sentence.
NIAMH O’SULLIVAN
Alva
26-year-old Irish mezzo-soprano
Niamh O’Sullivan, praised for her
“bewitchingly beautiful, dark vibrant
voice” (Süddeutsche Zeitung), studied
at the Royal Irish Academy of Music
in Dublin under Veronica Dunne.
She followed her studies by joining
the Opera Studio at the Bayerische
Staatsoper, Munich from 2016 to 2018.
Operatic engagements in Munich
include Hänsel in Humperdinck’s
Hänsel und Gretel, Kate Pinkerton
Madama Butterfly, the Secretary in
Menotti’s The Consul and Flora in
Verdi’s La Traviata and a concert
performance of Der Rosenkavalier by
Bayerische Staatsoper at Carnegie
Hall conducted by Kirill Petrenko.
Appearances for Irish National Opera
include Tisbe La Cenerentola [2019],
Third Maid Elektra [2021] and in
Cousser’s The Applause of Mount
Parnassus at the Wigmore Hall with
Ensemble Marsyas under the musical
direction of Peter Whelan. In concert,
Niamh has performed Elgar’s Sea
Pictures at the Prinzregententheater
as part of the Munich Festspiele in
July 2019 and has sang both Mozart’s
Requiem and Handel’s Messiah with
the Müncher Hofkantorei. She also
performed the main role of ‘Cain’ in
Scarlatti’s Oratorio Il Primo Omicidio
with The Jakobsplatz Orchester
conducted by Daniel Grossmann.
In the 2021-22 season, Niamh will
make her Zurich Opera debut as
Wellgunde Das Rheingold and for
INO will appear as Asteria Bajazet
at both the Linbury Theatre, Royal
Opera House, and across Ireland and
as Mercédès Carmen. She will also
make her Wexford Festival Opera
debut as Paulina Ein Wintermarchen
before making her debut with the RTÉ
National Symphony Orchestra as Ghiva
in Wallace’s Lurline.
DEAN POWER
Gary
Irish tenor Dean Power is currently
a member of the ensemble at the
Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich,
where he has been resident since
graduating from the company’s
Opera Studio at the end of the 2011-
12 season. After ten years as an
ensemble member, 20-21 will be his
final season as he begins to expand
upon his already growing career as
an international solo guest artist.
Dean is from Clarecastle, Ireland. He
studied in Dublin with Mary Brennan
and répétiteur Mairead Hurley at the

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THE FIRST CHILD
DEAN POWER RYAN McADAMS EMMA MARTIN
Royal Irish Academy of Music and D.I.T.
Conservatory of Music and Drama.
During his time at the Bayerische
Staatsoper his roles have included
Steuermann Der fliegende Holländer, in
a new production of Abrahamson’s The
Snow Queen, Edmondo Manon Lescaut,
Rustighello Lucrezia Borgia,Graf
Elemer Arabella, Scaramuccio Ariadne
auf Naxos, and Graf Albert Die tote
Stadt plus many more. Last season
he made two notable role debuts as
Rodrigo Otello and Spoletta Tosca as
part of the Munich Opera Festival.
Notable company debuts this season,
include the Salzburg Festival for
Puccini’s Il Trittico, and Opéra de
Lille as Snout A Midsummer Night’s
Dream. On the concert stage he will
join Prague Symphony Orchestra for a
performance of Ryba Stabat Mater.
RYAN McADAMS
Conductor
Equally at home in the world of
opera, symphonic repertoire and
contemporary music, American
conductor Ryan McAdams has
established a presence on both sides
of the Atlantic. Crash Ensemble named
Ryan their Principal Conductor in
2021. Their relationship began with
the premiere of Donnacha Dennehy’s
The Second Violinist in 2017 in Galway,
before taking the production to Dublin
and the Barbican in London. In the
2021/22 season he will return to
the I Pomeriggi Musicale in Milan,
Filarmonica del Teatro Comunale di
Bologna, the Orchestra della Toscana
in Florence, and the Orchestra
Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI. Ryan
debuts with the Orchestre National
d’Île de France at the Philharmonie in
Paris and returns to the US for a new
production of Tosca in Kansas City.

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 19
In 22/23, he will finally make his first
appearance at the Zürich Opera in a
revival of Faust following a pandemic
postponement of his 2020 debut.
EMMA MARTIN
Choreographer
Emma Martin is a dancer and
choreographer, establishing her
company United Fall in 2018. Previous
works include I AM IRELAND (RTÉ
Culture Night 2020), Birdboy (2019),
Orfeo ed Euridice (2018), Girl Song
(2017), Dancehall (2015), Tundra (2014),
Dogs (2012), Listowel Syndrome (2010).
Her work has been commissioned by
Dublin Dance Festival, Irish Arts Center
and created work in partnership with
Dublin Theatre Festival, Irish National
Opera, Noorderzon Performing Arts
Festival and Centre de Développement
Chorégraphique, Toulou se. She is an
associate artist at Visual Centre for
Contemporary Art. She previously
collaborated with Enda Walsh on
Arlington (2016).
JAMIE VARTAN
Set Designer
Jamie Vartan has worked extensively
as a designer in theatre and opera.
He studied Fine Art at Brighton
Polytechnic and Theatre Design at
Central St Martins.
Designs for opera include The First
Child, The Second Violinist and The
Last Hotel [Landmark Productions
and INO]; Bluebeard’s Castle, Hansel
and Gretel, and Il Barbiere di Siviglia
[INO]; Ariadne auf Naxos, The Queen of
Spades [La Scala]; La traviata [Malmö];
Eugene Onegin [Opéra du Rhin]; The
Life and Death of Alexander Litvinenko
[Grange Park Opera]; Carmen [Lisbon];
Ariadne auf Naxos [Salzburg]; Dead
Man Walking [Oldenburg]; A Village
Romeo and Juliet [Wexford; Best Set
Design, Irish Times Awards]; Manon
Lescaut [Bilbao and Valencia]; Falstaff
[Oman and Parma]; L’isola disabitata
[ROH]; productions in Cagliari,
Marseille, Turin, Florence, and Scottish
Opera. Film design includes The Last
Hotel [Sky Arts].
Designs for theatre include Medicine
[Landmark Productions and Galway
International Arts Festival]; Happy Days
[Olympia, Landmark Productions];
Woyzeck in Winter, Arlington, Ballyturk
and Misterman [Best Set Design, Irish
Times Theatre Awards – Landmark
Productions and GIAF]; Grief is the
Thing with Feathers [Complicite and
Wayward Productions in association
with Landmark Productions and
GIAF]; Bondagers [Edinburgh
Lyceum]; Ravens: Spassky vs Fischer
[Hampstead Theatre]; Knives in Hens
[Perth]; Have Your Circumstances
Changed? [Artangel]; The Lost Child
Trilogy [David Glass Ensemble], with
residencies in Vietnam, Indonesia,
China, Philippines and Colombia.

PAGE 20
THE FIRST CHILD
JAMIE VARTAN ADAM SILVERMAN JACK PHELAN
ADAM SILVERMAN
Lighting Designer
Adam Silverman works in opera,
theatre and dance. With Enda Walsh,
Adam has lit Medicine, The Second
Violinist, The Last Hotel, Grief is
the Thing with Feathers, Arlington,
Ballyturk and, Misterman. Recent
opera productions include La Calisto,
I mazzindiere for Teatro alla Scala;
La clemenza di Tito, Lohengrin
for the Royal Opera; and Adriana
Lecouvreur, Un ballo in maschera for
the Metropolitan Opera. For Michael
Keegan-Dolan Adam has lit Mám,
Swan Lake – Loch na hEala, Rian,
James Son of James, The Rite of Spring,
Petrouchka, The Bull and Giselle.
Additional credits include designs
on Broadway, the West End, Bregenz
Festival, English National Opera,
Toneelgroep Amsterdam, Théâtre du
Châtelet, Royal Ballet, Deutsche Oper
Berlin, Opéra Bastille, Teatro Real,
Bavarian State Opera, Festival d’Aixen-Provence
and PJ Harvey’s The
Hope Six Demolition Project. Upcoming
productions include The Ring Cycle for
the Metropolitan Opera and English
National Opera.
JACK PHELAN
Video Designer
Jack Phelan is a video artist and
technologist who specialises in
integrating new visual ideas and
technology into live performance.
Other theatrical credits include: To
Be A Machine (Dead Centre, Dublin
Theatre Festival and Burgtheater,
Vienna), L.O.L.A (feature film –
premiere 2021), Touch (RTÉ, 2020),
Gulliver’s Travels (Unicorn Theatre,
London), Incantata (GIAF and The Irish
Rep, New York), Ravens: Spassky vs
Fischer (Hampstead Theatre, London),
The Second Violinist (Landmark
Productions, INO Barbican Theatre,

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 21
London), Bluebeard’s Castle (Irish
National Opera), Arlington by Enda
Walsh (Landmark Productions/GIAF),
World to Come (Cryptic Theatre,
Glasgow); Man of Valour (The Corn
Exchange ), Alice in Funderland
(THISISPOPBABY/Abbey Theatre);
Dubliners (The Corn Exchange/Dublin
Theatre Festival); The Lulu House and
MacBeth (Siren Productions); Love and
Money (Hatch Theatre), and Woman
& Scarecrow (Siren/Abbey). Jack was
also a core member of the creative/
tech team behind Playhouse, a largescale
interactive lighting installation for
public expression. Produced for Dublin
Theatre Festival in 2009, Playhouse
turned Dublin’s Liberty Hall into an 11
storey, full-colour video display that
displayed animations submitted by
the public to music synchronised with
Dublin City FM. Awards include: Knight
of Illumination 2019, for Projection
Design for The Second Violinist.
JOAN O’CLERY
Costume Designer
Joan O’Clery is a costume designer
working in both stage and screen. Her
screen work includes the feature films
King of the Travellers, Swansong, (Both
IFTA nominated for Best Costume
Design), Out Of Innocence. The
Delinquent Season, Rose Plays Julie ,
Dating Amber. I, Dolores, The Trial Of
The Century and The Voting Age. Joan
costumed the RTÉ TV series Finding
Joy Seasons 1 and 2 and the current TV
drama KIN. She is three times winner of
the Irish Times Theatre Award, and her
designs for opera include The Second
Violinist, La Traviata (ENO) and Madama
Butterfly (INO). She has originated the
costumes for several world premieres
by major Irish writers including Seamus
Heaney, Brian Friel, Tom Murphy,
Marina Carr and Frank McGuinness.
Her costumes are regularly seen at
the Abbey Theatre, the Gate Theatre
and on many stages around Ireland.
Highlights of her stage costuming
include Macbeth at the Globe Theatre
and at the RSC, An Enemy of the People
for the Gate Theatre, DruidMurphy
Trilogy of Tom Murphy plays for
Druid Theatre Company, She Stoops
to Conquer at the Abbey Theatre,
Medicine, and Woyzeck in Winter for
Landmark Productions and Galway
International Arts Festival, and The
Approach for Landmark Productions.
DAVID SHEPPARD
Sound Designer
David Sheppard is a sound designer
who has collaborated on a diverse
range of projects across the world. He
works with many leading orchestras
and ensembles as well as rock and pop
musicians, visual artists, dance and
film creatives. He collaborates closely
with composers on helping them
realise their ideas but he is also known
as a sound installation artist and
electronics performer in his own right.
Last year saw design work with Music

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JOAN O’CLERY DAVID SHEPPARD ELAINE KELLY
Theatre Wales and Royal Opera House
before the pandemic turned his focus
on immersive online mixes for YouTube
and experiments in a new performance
format utilising d&b Audiotechnika’s
Soundscape. INO incorporates this in
its 2021 tour of Brian Irvine and Netia
Jones’ Least Like The Other, Searching
for Rosemary Kennedy. David often
works across art-forms including Mira
Calix’s Inside There Falls multimedia
work for Sydney Festival, Christian
Marclay at the White Cube, London,
and collaborations with artist Matthew
Ritchie and The National’s Bryce and
Aaron Dessner. He has consulted for
Anthony Gormley and devised and
led learning projects including work
with Björk on her Biophilia School. His
design for the Opera: Passion, Power
and Politics exhibition at the V&A
in London was considered a ‘gamechanger,’
with immersive and interactive
sound throughout the installation. He
often collaborates on new technologies
and performance methods including
the creation of an electro-magnetic
harp and paper-speakers
ELAINE KELLY
Assistant Conductor
Elaine Kelly is a multi-award- winning
choral and orchestral conductor based
in Ireland. She was the ABL Aviation
Opera Studio conductor for the 2019-20
season, during which she was assistant
conductor and chorus director for
INO productions. She is currently the
conductor of the University of Limerick
Orchestra, and musical director to the
highly-successful choir, Cantate. She
was musical director of the Dublin
Symphony Orchestra from 2017-19. In
2014 she won first prize in the inaugural
ESB Feis Ceoil Orchestral Conducting
Competition. In concert, she has
conducted the RTÉ Concert Orchestra,
Cork Concert Orchestra, CSM

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 23
Symphony Orchestra, Cork Fleischmann
Orchestra and the Fleischmann Choir.
She was also assistant conductor for
Opera Collective Ireland’s production
of Handel’s Agrippina with the Irish
Chamber Orchestra, in association
with Northern Ireland Opera. She is
a graduate of the CIT Cork School
of Music (CSM). She completed her
BMus Degree in 2011 and continued her
studies in CSM, achieving a First Class
Honours Masters Degree in Conducting.
EOGHAN CARRICK
Associate Director
Eoghan Carrick is a theatre and
opera maker working in Ireland and
internationally. He works on new
and established texts with a focus
on innovative interpretations and
interdisciplinary collaboration. He
is an associate artist with Once Off
Productions. Previous associate and
assisting credits for opera include
Donnacha Dennehy’s The Hunger
(Tom Creed/Abbey Theatre), Bartók’s
Bluebeard’s Castle (Enda Walsh/Irish
National Opera), Donnacha Dennehy
and Enda Walsh’s The Second Violinist
(Enda Walsh/Landmark Productions
and INO); Handel’s Acis and Galatea,
Wolf-Ferrari’s Susanna’s Secret and
Poulenc’s The Human Voice (Tom
Creed/Opera Theatre Company); and
Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Mozart’s
The Magic Flute (Tom Creed/Royal Irish
Academy of Music). He was dramaturg
on Opéra national de Paris Académie/
Opera Collective Ireland’s production
of Britten’s Owen Wingrave directed
by Tom Creed. Recent directing
credits include: Rescue Annie (Dublin
Fringe Festival, 2021), 14 Voices from
the Bloodied Field (Abbey Theatre,
2020), Bodies of Water (Dublin Fringe
Festival, 2019; DFF Best Design
Nomination), Midsummer (Project Arts
Centre, 2019), Theatre for One (Cork
Midsummer Festival, 2019; Irish Times
Theatre Nomination Best Ensemble);
INFINITY (Dublin Fringe Festival,
2018; First Fortnight Award, DFF Best
Design Award, DFF Best Performer
Nomination), and Nora (Dublin Theatre
Festival, 2017).
SINÉAD DISKIN
Associate Sound Designer
Sinéad Diskin is a sound designer
and composer based in Dublin,
Ireland. She is a graduate of the
SEEDS programme with Rough Magic
Theatre Company, Dublin, a recipient
of the Next Generation Artists Award
2019 from the Arts Council of Ireland
and a commission award from ANU
Productions and the Arts Council of
Ireland 2020. Recent theatre credits
include Minseach [Sibéal Davitt, Dublin
Fringe Festival]; Aftertaste [National
Youth Theatre]; Boland: Journey of
a Poet [Druid]; Medicine [associate
sound designer], Happy Days, Blood
in the Dirt [Landmark Productions];
Eclipsed, Serious Money, Love and
Information, Pornography [The Lir

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EOGHAN CARRICK SINÉAD DISKIN RICHARD MCGRATH
Academy]; Pale Sister, The Snapper,
The Glass Menagerie [Gate Theatre,
Dublin]; Faultline, The Anvil, Torch
[ANU Productions]; Incantata [Galway
International Arts Festival and The Irish
Rep, New York; Gate Theatre, Dublin
Galway International Arts Festival and
The Irish Rep, New York; Gate Theatre,
Dublin]; Ask Too Much of Me [Abbey
Theatre]; The Phlebotomist [Hampstead
Theatre, London]; Mr. Burns: A Post
Electric Play [Rough Magic SEEDS
Showcase]; and Rapids [Shaun Dunne
and Talking Shop Ensemble].
Film credits include Suited [Battersea
Arts Centre]; Canaries [ANU
Productions]; Torch [ANU Productions].
RICHARD MCGRATH
Répétiteur
Richard McGrath studied at NUI,
Maynooth, the Royal Irish Academy
of Music and the Guildhall School
of Music and Drama, London. He
was a trainee répétiteur at English
National Opera and since then he has
worked with companies including
Irish National Opera, Northern Ireland
Opera, Wide Open Opera, Opera
Theatre Company and Lyric Opera
Productions. Previous productions for
INO include Alice’s Adventures Under
Ground [2021], The Magic Flute [2019],
Bluebeard’s Castle [2018], The Second
Violinist [2018/19]. Other engagements
include Fidelio (Lyric Opera), The
Barber of Seville (Lyric Opera, WOO
and ENO), La Traviata (ENO and
Lyric Opera), Madama Butterfly (Lyric
Opera), Carmen (Lyric Opera), La
Bohème (OTC, ENO and Lyric Opera),
The Last Hotel (WOO), Rigoletto (OTC),
L’elisir d’amore (OTC and NI Opera) and
Nixon in China (WOO). He is currently
a répétiteur in the vocal department at
the TU Dublin Conservatory of Music
and Drama, formerly DIT and is a
coach for the INO studio programme.

THE FIRST CHILD PAGE 25

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CRASH ENSEMBLE
PAGE 27
CRASH ENSEMBLE
“Crash Ensemble, an Irish new-music collective with international
cachet and considerable chops.” The Washington Post
PHOTO: ROS KAVANAGH
Crash Ensemble is Ireland’s leading
new music ensemble; a group of
world-class musicians who play the
most adventurous, ground-breaking
music of today.
Founded in 1997 by composer
Donnacha Dennehy, some of the most
distinctive living composers have
written for the group, including Terry
Riley, David Lang, Michael Gordon,
Louis Andriessen, Arnold Dreyblatt,
Kevin Volans, Glenn Branca, Nico
Muhly and Gerald Barry.
Many well-known artists from diverse
musical backgrounds have performed
with the ensemble; Gavin Friday, Dawn
Upshaw, Lisa Hannigan, Íarla Ó Lionáird
(The Gloaming), Bryce Dessner (The
National), Richard Reed Parry (Arcade
Fire), Sam Amidon and Beth Orton.
Crash have recordings on NMC,
Cantaloupe, Nonesuch and the
Bedroom Community labels and have
their own label, Crash Records.
As well as performing throughout
Ireland, Crash regularly perform
internationally, with appearances in
the last few years at the Edinburgh
International Festival, The Royal
Opera House (London), The Barbican
(London), Carnegie Hall (NYC) The
John F. Kennedy Center for the
Performing Arts (Washington DC),
Virginia Tech (Virginia), GAIDA Festival
(Lithuania) and residencies at The
Huddersfield Contemporary Music
festival (UK), Princeton University (NJ)
and Musica Nova Helsinki.
Crash Ensemble are adventurous,
innovative and ambitious.
Crash Ensemble are supported by
The Arts Council of Ireland, Dublin City
Council and Culture Ireland
Contact: Siân Cunningham, CEO
E: sian@crashensemble.com
M:+353 87 8538194
Crash Ensemble,
National Concert Hall, Earlsfort
Terrace, Dublin 2, Ireland. D02N527.
www.crashensemble.com

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LANDMARK PRODUCTIONS
PAGE 29
LANDMARK
PRODUCTIONS
SIOBHÁN MCSWEENEY IN HAPPY DAYS | PHOTO: PAT REDMOND DOMHNALL GLEESON IN MEDICINE | PHOTO: JESS SHURTE / EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL
Landmark Productions is one of
Ireland’s leading theatre producers.
It produces wide–ranging work in
Ireland, and shares that work with
international audiences.
Led by Anne Clarke since the
company’s foundation in 2003,
Landmark’s productions have received
multiple awards and have been seen in
leading theatres in London, New York
and beyond. It produces a wide range
of ambitious work – plays, operas and
musicals – and co–produces regularly
with a number of partners, including,
most significantly, Galway International
Arts Festival and Irish National Opera.
Its 21 world premieres to date include
new plays by major Irish writers such as
Enda Walsh, Mark O’Rowe and Deirdre
Kinahan, featuring a roll-call of Ireland’s
finest actors, directors and designers.
Producer
Assistant Producer
Digital Producer
Marketing
Administrator
Numerous awards include the Judges’
Special Award at The Irish Times Irish
Theatre Awards, in recognition of
‘sustained excellence in programming
and for developing imaginative
partnerships to bring quality theatre to
the Irish and international stage’; and a
Special Tribute Award for Anne Clarke,
for her work as ‘a producer of worldclass
theatre in the independent sector
in Ireland’.
January 2021 saw the launch of
Landmark Live, a new online streaming
platform which enables the company
to bring the thrill of live theatre to
audiences around the world.
Landmark is supported by the Arts
Council of Ireland. Its international
touring is supported by Culture Ireland.
www.landmarkproductions.ie
Anne Clarke
Jack Farrell
Hugh Farrell
Sinead McPhillips
Catherine Finn

PAGE 30
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
Irish National Opera is Ireland’s newest
and most enterprising opera company.
It champions Irish creativity in its
casting, its choice of creative teams and
in its commitment to the presentation
of new operas. The company performs
large-scale productions of works from
the great operatic canon in Dublin,
Cork and Wexford and takes touring
production to venues of all sizes
throughout Ireland. To date INO has
performed in 26 venues in Ireland as
well as presented work in London and
Amsterdam.
Irish National Opera responded
creatively to the challenges posed
by a global pandemic. The company
produced a multitude of online
concerts and events, notably it adapted
Mozart’s The Abduction from the
Seraglio into an eight-part miniseries.
The company also commissioned and
produced 20 Shots of Opera, 20 new
short operas for film, a project that
garnered enthusiastic reviews from the
international press. INO has produced
a number of longer opera films,
amongst them The Lighthouse, was
screened in outdoor settings, including
at lighthouses, and Gerald Barry’s
Alice’s Adventures Under Ground which
will be streamed jointly by INO and
the Royal Opera House. Most recently
the company presented a spectacular
production of Strauss’ Elektra in the
outdoor setting of the Castle Yard in
Kilkenny.
www.irishnationalopera.ie
James Bingham
Sorcha Carroll
Aoife Daly
Diego Fasciati
Sarah Halpin
Cate Kelliher
Audrey Keogan
Ruth Kielty
Anne Kyle
Patricia Malpas
Muireann Ní Dhubhghaill
Gavin O’Sullivan
Fergus Sheil
Paula Tierney
Studio & Outreach Producer
Marketing Manager
Development Manager
Executive Director
Digital Communications Manager
Business & Finance Manager
Development Assistant
Marketing Assistant
Stage Manager
Project Administrator
Artistic Administrator
Head of Production
Artistic Director
Company Stage Manager

IRISH NATIONAL OPERA
PAGE 31
ARTISTIC
DIRECTOR’S CIRCLE
Henry Cox & Michael D. Kunkel
INO GUARDIANS
Anonymous (1)
Catherine & William Earley
Ian & Jean Flitcroft
Howard Gatiss
Genesis
Timothy King & Mary Canning
Gaby Smyth & Company
INO PATRONS
Anonymous (2)
Gianni & Michael Alen-Buckley
Mareta & Conor Doyle
Silvia & Jay Krehbiel
Karlin Lillington & Chris Horn
Rory & Mary O’Donnell
INO CHAMPIONS
Jennifer Caldwell
Noel Doyle & Brigid McManus
Florrie Draper
Anne Fogarty
Maire & Maurice Foley
Roy & Aisling Foster
Gerard Howlin
M Hely Hutchinson
Stella Litchfield
Stephen Loughman
Tony & Joan Manning
Jim McKiernan
Sara Moorhead
Joseph O’Dea
Dr Patricia O’Hara
Geraldine O’Sullivan
James & Marie Pike
Dermot & Sue Scott
Matthew Patrick Smyth
INO MEMBERS
INO ADVOCATES
Anonymous (1)
Maureen de Forge
Eric & Christina Haywood
Julian & Aoife Hubbard
John & Michéle Keogan
Catherine Kullmann
Lyndon MacCann
Kathleen MacMahon
R John McBratney
Joe & Mary Murphy
Ann Nolan & Paul Burns
Helen Nolan
FX & Pat O’Brien
James & Sylvia O’Connor
Paul & Veronica O’Hara
Peadar O’Mórdha
Frances Ruane
INO ASSOCIATES
Anonymous (6)
Lynn Anderson
Desmond Barry
Alastair Boles
Deirdre Collier
Una Corr & Elaine Noonan
Veronica Donoghue
Noel Drumgoole
Michael Duggan
Hugh & Mary Geoghegan
Emma Golden
Mary Holohan
Nuala Johnson
Paul Kennan & Louise Wilson
Michael Lloyd
Patricia McCullagh
Petria McDonnell
Dara McMahon
& Garrett Fennell
Katherine Meenan
Jean Moorhead
Jane Moynihan
John R Redmill
Catherine Santoro
Charlotte & Dennis Stevenson
J & B Sheehy
Judy Woodworth
INO COMPANIONS
Anonymous (3)
Aimee Banks
Karen Banks
Ann Barrett
Liam Clifford
Sarah Daniel
Matthew Dillon
Jack Doherty
Dr Beatrice Doran
Anne Drumm
Keena Duffy
Devidyal Givens
Matthew Harrison
B. Howard
Mr Trevor Hubbard
Kieron Lawlor
Bernadette Madden
Cróine Magan
Miriam McNally & Pat Dolan
Andrew McCroskery
Joseph Musgrave
Siobhan O’Beirne
Viola O’Connor
Prof Desmond O’Neill
Líosa O’Sullivan & Mandy
Fogarty
Marion Palmer
Lucy Pratt
Hilary Pyle
Philip Regan
Prof Sarah Rogers
Vivienne Sayers
Linda Scales
Olivia Sheehy
Liam Shorten
Jim Smith
Mary Spollen
Vivian Tannam
Philip Tilling
TU Dublin Operatic Society
Breda Whelan
Niall Williams

PAGE 32
DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL
DUBLIN
THEATRE FESTIVAL
Dublin Theatre Festival brings worldclass
theatre to Dublin, supports artists
in creating outstanding work and
provides a platform to showcase the
best of Irish theatre to the world.
At the heart of the festival is the city
of Dublin – its people and its stories –
and a commitment to contributing to
the vibrant social and cultural life of
our capital. Our mission is to present
a programme of exceptional theatrical
experiences that will appeal to the
diverse communities and visitors that
make up our city.
We have a rich history, with much to
celebrate, but we are most excited
about is what is yet to come. In the
future, we want to see more people
participating in culture and more
artists creating bold new work that
challenges and inspires.
Dublin Theatre Festival runs from
30 September – 17 October 2021
with a live programme of Irish and
international works that artists have
been waiting for so long to share with
you. The festival features 21 world
premieres from leading Irish theatre
artists, alongside exciting international
work, in a programme that asks
questions about our relationship with
the city and the environment.
Dublin Theatre Festival is principally
funded by the Arts Council and
funded by Dublin City Council and
Fáilte Ireland. Dublin Theatre Festival
is supported by RTÉ Supporting The
Arts, The Irish Times, Creative Ireland,
Trinity City Hotel, Blackwater Distillery
and Be SpectACTive! Co-funded by
the Creative Europe Programme of the
European Union.
www.dublintheatrefestival.ie

DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL
PAGE 33
Artistic Director and Chief Executive
Director of Programme and Production
General Manager
Head of Marketing and Development
Development Manager
Audience Development
and Sales Manager
Festival Administrator
Programme Assistant
Production Manager
Event Safety Manager
Box Office Assistant Manager
Marketing Assistant
Office Assistant
Box Office Administrators
Box Office Specialist
Public Relations
Willie White
Stephen McManus
Eve Lalor
Derval Mellett
Fiona Garvan
Sharon White
Mary Kilduff
Justin Murphy
David “Spud” Murphy
Tony Killeen
Lauren Colhoun
Kate Brady
Annachiara Vispi
Alice Quinn Banville
Matthew Tallon
Vanessa Byrne
O’Doherty Communications

PAGE 34
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