Peter founded Crooked House Theatre Company in 1993, and Kildare Youth Theatre in 1996. He is a writer, director and actor trainer. He lectures in Applied Theatre, in Theatre of the Oppressed, and in Directing for Maynooth University. In 2017 he was appointed Artist in Residence, an Arts Council funded position, with the Departments of Education and Froebel in the university. He is an arts consultant, and a trainer in education and youth arts, having worked in Ireland and abroad for over 20 years.
Peter has developed and delivered training programmes in theatre-based methods of development to a wide range of organisations and groups, and is responsible for the country’s first undergraduate programme in Directing for Theatre at Maynooth. He was producer of the annual Connections Festival in Ireland for the National Theatre in London, and is founder of the annual Human Rights Youth Theatre Festival held every year in Newbridge from 2003 to 2009. He is a board member of Youth Theatre Ireland.
Directing credits include the Irish premieres of work by over 20 internationally acclaimed writers, including plays by Mark Ravenhill, Jon Fosse, Laura Wade, Anthony Neilson and Kevin Elyot. He has created site-specific performances for international festivals and events, and has directed a number of world premieres in Ireland. His recent work has been developing projects of work with communities in Kildare and in Dublin that use theatre to generate positive mental health processes, especially with the 17 to 37 age group.
He is a PhD student with Maynooth university, examining the impact on young people of engaging in collaborative theatre-making.
Artistic Director
Peter Hussey
Vasiliki has been involved in the Crooked House Theatre Company since 2017. She is a Drama Facilitator and an Early Years Teacher. She first started her collaboration with Crooked House as an Erasmus+ student in placement as part of her Master's degree in Drama in Education, and she furthered her stay with a year of volunteering with an EVS project.
Vasiliki's work is inspired by the positive outcomes Drama and Theatre can have in young peoples' lives. Her main role in Kildare Youth Theatre has been designing and delivering drama workshops for young people and children at local orrganisations and around the county. She also has roles supporting Crooked House Theatres' productions, as well as administration work in our office.
Administrator & Drama Facilitator
Vasiliki Psarra
Shane has recently joined the team here at Crooked House and has already directed our recent 2019 production of Wuthering Heights and was the assistant director for our 2019 Shakespeare performance - Hamlet and the 2019 Connections play The Small Hours.
Shane holds a Certificate in Directing for Theatre (NUI Maynooth) as well as a M.A. in UL. He has participated in theatre development programmes including HatchLK, Belltable: Connect’s Fishamble Directing Mentorship, and Masterclasses with Dante or Die & The National Theatre. Alongside Kildare Youth Theatre, Shane is a member of a Limerick based theatre collective, 'Tiger's Eye Theatre', where he has also directed successful plays, including Play on Words (Limerick Fringe 2018, Edinburgh Fringe 2017, Scene & Heard Festival 2017: Winner of the Limerick Fringe Emerging Artist Award 2018).
He is currently directing our 2020 Connections play, Dungeness.
Director, Assistant Director & Exchange Facilitator
Shane Hickey-O'Mara
Mary is an Artist, Theatre-Maker, and Creative Producer originally from Dublin. She currently holds a 1st Class Honours in Directing for Theatre, NUI Maynooth (2018), which was under the tutorship of Peter Hussey. Mary established the 'IdoSpeechandDrama' group in 2013 which is a network aimed at Speech and Drama work in local schools and communities. As well as this, she is a qualified Drama Facilitator (NAYD Artstrain & Youth Theatre Ireland), and Speech and Drama Teacher (Irish Board).
She has been both behind and on the stage, and is thrilled to be the current Assistant Director of our upcoming 2020 Shakespeare Production - Romeo and Juliet.
Assistant Director
Mary Sheehan
Born in Latvia, Jenny is a Dublin-based artist and burlesque performer and producer, and she has trained in musical theatre from 2003-2014.Participating in The Civic Theatre's Tenderfoot programme in 2012-2013, Jenny discovered her love for directing and stage managing, writing her own play and stage managing the productions created in the programme. Since then, she decided to study English Literature in UCD and go on to complete the Certificate in Directing, run by our own Peter Hussey, and debut as a director in 2018.
After the course, she sought out experience in directing with Peter and that is how she found herself assistant directing, along side Shane Hickey-O'Mara, at Kildare Youth Theatre, working on their production of Wuthering Heights and currently, Dungeness. As a team, we see what is best to do. I have created the poster for the last production and take rehearsals when Shane cannot make it.
Assistant Director
Jenny Oleinik
Gonzalo, from Madrid, is one of our ESC (European Solidarity Corps) assistants working with us this year. He studied History at the Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid but has been involved in theatre and singing since a young age. The conservation of artistic heritage of his local community is a major focus of his.
Gonzalo helps with general office work, such as accounting and managing European grants, but he also co-facilitates two weekly workshops. He is also a member of our Outreach Programme.
Administration & Facilitator
Gonzalo Martinez
A proud native of Kildare Town, Cian attended both Gaelscoil Chill Dara and Gaelcholáiste Chill Dara, and is currently a student of English and Irish at NUI Maynooth. Cian joined Kildare Youth Theare in 2014. Across the years since, he has been involved in various productions from Shakespeare such as King Lear and Merchant of Venice, contemporary plays such as Citizenship and Extremism, to playing roles in work devised by KYT's senior ensemble, such as playing his self-titled character in Act of Oblivion: Surrender and Regrant and in Act of Oblivion: The Penal Laws.
Cian now facilitates Touchstone, working with young people between the ages of 14 and 16, passing on any knowledge he has gained from his time in Kildare Youth Theatre. He hopes to encourage young people in the same way that Kildare Youth Theatre encouraged him as he grew up. Cian is also a part of KYT's senior ensemble.
Drama Facilitator
Cian Ó Náraigh
Doug has been with Kildare Youth Theatre for over five years, making an appearance in a number of productions including King Lear, Want and our current The Act of Oblivion series. His passion for acting has evolved into an interest for directing and facilitation, which will be evident this Summer in his production of DNA by Dennis Kelly.
Alongside Cian, Doug is a facilitator of Touchstone, a foundation workshop for teens interested in exploring and devising pieces of theatre. Doug is also one of our videographers and editors for Kildare Youth Theatre, creating teasers for upcoming projects, documenting shows, and creating projection art, all of which can be seen on our YouTube page.
Drama Facilitator, Director & Videographer
Doug Morrison
George Parashkevov has been a member of Crooked House since 2016. Since then he has been involved in both productions and workshops as a participant and as a facilitator. George is part of the Crooked House Senior Ensemble and appeared in this year's production Act of Oblivion: Queen's County. Additionally, he has been involved in the Connections 2020 play Dungeness as a Stage Manager. He is also assistant directing the play The Spidermen. George is also a member of the administrative team here at Kildare Youth Theatre.
Assistant Director & Facilitator
George Parashkevov
Colin, a Newbridge local, is one of two Creative Assistants at Kildare Youth Theatre. He has been a member of Crooked House for the past four years, and has performed in a number of their productions including Macbeth, Hamlet, and our current series, The Act of Oblivion. Colin studies Applied Maths in UCD and has done some work with UCD Dramsoc, including acting, directing, sound design and working on the committee.
Colin, alongside Lauren Kelly, are our unique Creative Assistants, who aim to provide a safe and welcoming atmosphere in the Crooked House Space. Colin is a person who younger members can come to if need be. Colin and Lauren are also involved in the organisation of social events in Crooked House, such as Open Mic nights.
He is here to have fun, and to make sure others are having fun :)
Creative Assistant
Colin Smyth
Lauren Kelly is a Kildare actor who has been a member of Kildare Youth Theatre since 2013. She has performed in many plays over the years including Hospital Food which was selected to be performed in The National Theatre London as part of Connections 2015. Lauren has also played Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Goneril in King Lear and is currently working on the Nurse in the 2020 production of Romeo and Juliet.
Lauren has a QQI Level 5 distinction in Theatre Performance from Inchicore College of Further Education which she received in September 2019. Over the last couple of years Lauren has been apart of our Senior Ensemble, Bachram, which devise a new play every year to be performed locally, and abroad at youth exchanges.
Lauren’s current role as a part of Crooked House’ admin team, alongside Colin Smyth is to arrange social events for all of the members such as Open Mic Nights. Lauren and Colin also hope to be seen as older members of Kildare Youth Theatre that the younger members can feel comfortable and safe to come to with any issues or queries. Lauren has also recently joined the admin team to help with general administration to keep Crooked House running sufficiently and smoothly.
Creative Assistant
Lauren Kelly
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Anne Doyle has been working with Crooked House and Kildare Youth Theatre for many years. In 2012 she graduated from two years of full-time professional training at the Gaiety School of Acting. In 2014 she graduated from the more advanced Michael Chekhov training. She has also done voice workshops with Sarah Kane. Since the establishment of Kildare Youth Theatre, Anne does regular voice work and voice coaching, particularly with our more senior members and those who wish to study acting professionally.
Voice Coach
Anne Doyle
Charlie has been with Kildare Youth Theatre since he was 11, participating in our junior programme, Crooked Mice. He has been involved in a host of Kildare Youth Theatre plays, most noticeably the 2015 Connections play Hospital Food which was selected to be performed on the Dorfman Stage in the National Theatre of London that summer. Charlie has traveled across Europe with Kildare Youth Theatre, working in international festivals in countries such as Greece, France and Spain.
Charlie is now our dedicated Website Technician and is now in charge of this (hopefully) pretty little website! Should you have any suggestions, questions or complaints regarding the website, he can be contacted by email here:
Website Technician