CREATIVES

Author

Stephen King

Writers

Owen O'Neill and Dave Johns

Director

Peter Sheridan

Set & Costume Designer

Ferdia Murphy

Lighting Designer

Kevin Treacy

Composer & Sound Designer

Denis Clohessy

Production Manager

Patrick Molony

Costume Supervisor

Tracy Stiles

Associate Director

Beth Eden

Fight Director

Karl Magee

STEPHEN KING

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine, in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. He made his first professional short story sale in 1967 to Startling Mystery Stories. In the fall of 1973, he began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels. In the spring of 1973, Doubleday & Co accepted the novel Carrie for publication, providing him the means to leave teaching and write full-time. He has since published over 40 books and has become one of the world's most successful writers.

Stephen lives in Maine and Florida with his wife, novelist Tabitha King. They are regular contributors to a number of charities, including many libraries, and have been honoured locally for their philanthropic activities.

OWEN O'NEILL

Owen has written and performed seven one-man plays and has won a string of awards including three Fringe Firsts at the Edinburgh Festival. The Herald Angel award for best play and the LWT writers award for best comedy.

He has toured his plays in Ireland, America, Canada and Australia to critical acclaim performing at the West Beth theatre, New York, Andrews Lane theatre Dublin. The Hudson back-stage theatre, Los Angeles. The Harbour front theatre, Toronto, the Wellington Opera House and the Town Hall theatre Melbourne. He has written and starred in three other plays, Dead Meat, Travelling Light and Patrick's Day with his former writing partner Sean Hughes. Winning a Fringe first and the Edinburgh Festival critics award for best comedy.

His debut feature film ARISE AND GO NOW a dark comedy about priests, pigeons and the IRA was adapted from his short story WB YEATS AND ME and was directed by Danny Boyle (Trainspotting.) (Slumdog millionaire) It was screened as part of the BBC Film on 2 series. ‘O'Neill has scored a fine debut. His writing is reminiscent of the plays of Sean O'Casey and the films of John Ford.' Sheridan Morley. The Times.

His short film Shooting to Stardom, which was adapted from his short story The Night Bus and directed by Kieron J Walsh won the best Irish short at the Cork film festival in 1999. In 2006 five of his seven one-man plays were adapted by him and aired on BBC Radio Four's ‘Late night theatre' slot.

He has currently written and directed another short film The Basket Case which was adapted from his short story of the same name published in 2004 by Random House. It won Best Short Film at the 2008 Boston Film Festival.

Owen also co-produced and had the original idea of staging the classic American play Twelve Angry Men using twelve stand-up comedians. The play received rave reviews and holds the record for the fastest sell out in the history of the Edinburgh Festival it went on to tour Australia and New Zealand and due to its success was followed the next year by One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Christian Slater. This later transferred to the West End and ran for six months.

His book of Poetry Volcano Dancing was published in 2006. ‘He has the turn of phrase of Roddy Doyle and the darkness of Patrick McCabe.' The Independent. ‘O'Neill is never anything less than an excellent intelligent writer.' The Stage.

Acting roles in theatre, film and television include: Nathan in Absolution directed by Rachel O'Riordan (2008), Dale Harding in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest directed by Tamara Harvey (2006), Roy in The Odd Couple directed by Guy Masterson, Dale Harding in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest directed by Terry Johnson and George Rayburn in The Bill directed by Ashley Pharoah (2005), Juror No 8 in Twelve Angry Men directed by Guy Masterson and The Dad in Jonjo Mickeybo directed by Terry Loan (2004), The Tax Man in The General directed by John Boorman (2003), Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing directed by John O'Hare (1999) and Rory O'Connor in Michael Collins directed by Neil Jordan (1998).

DAVE JOHNS

Dave was born in the North East of England. He is a stand-up comedian, writer and actor who has performed at all the major comedy clubs and theatres in the UK, and at comedy festivals around the world: Glastonbury, Montreal Just for Laughs, Kilkenny Cat Laughs, Melbourne Comedy Festival, Adelaide and Edinburgh Fringe, and in comedy clubs from London to New York, Hong, Kong, the Middle East and the Arctic Circle.

Theatre includes: the critically acclaimed Twelve Angry Men (Edinburgh Fringe 2003, Australian and New Zealand tour), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring Christian Slater (West End 2004), The Odd Couple (Assembly Theatre, Edinburgh, 2005) and True West (Assembly Theatre, Edinburgh, 2006).

Television includes: Spender (BBC), Mud Children's (BBC), Harry (BBC), The Rag Nymph (ITV) and the sitcom Dog Town (BBC3). He has been a guest on comedy panel shows Never Mind the Buzzcocks and 8 Out of 10 Cats and is a talented improviser who is a regular guest with the world famous Comedy Store Players. Dave has written sketches for radio and television and the stage play Dark Night in Reykjavik, a fi ctional account of the missing 24 hours of Bobby Fischer on the eve of his 1972 world chess championship match with Boris Spassky. Dave lives in Whitley Bay with his daughter Macey. www.davejohns.net

PETER SHERIDAN

Peter is the recipient of the Rooney Prize for Literature (1977), two Arts Council Bursaries (1982 and 1986) and was writer in residence at the Abbey Theatre in 1980. With his brother Jim he founded the Project Theatre Company and his writing credits there include: The Liberty Suit (in collaboration with Gerard Mannix Flynn), which later transferred to the Royal Court, London; Emigrants and No Entry opened at the Project and also transferred to the Royal Court and the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), respectively.

Among his directorial credits are A Child's Christmas in Wales (Abbey), The Plough and the Stars (Second Age Theatre Company), Brighton Beach Memoirs and Children of Eve (Andrews Lane), The Risen People (Gaiety), Hatchet (Olympia Theatre), The Kips, The Digs, The Village (Project Arts Centre), I Keano (world premiere, Olympia Theatre) and, most recently, The Nativity: What the Donkey Saw (Mill Theatre).

He also directed the world premiere of Somewhere Over the Balcony (Charabanc Theatre Company at the Drill Hall, London) and for the same company directed The Blind Fiddler by Marie Jones and The Stick Wife by Dara Cloud.

Other directorial credits include the American premiere of his play Diary of a Hunger Strike (Los Angeles Theatre Centre), Shades of the Jelly Woman (Irish Arts Centre, New York), the premiere of his play Mother of All the Behans with Rosaleen Linehan (Off- Broadway) and the regional premiere of Brian Friel's Translations and Arthur Miller's The Crucible (Live Oak Theatre, Austin). Film includes: the award-winning short The Breakfast (Prix Arte Europe at the Brest Festival, 1998, and a Canadian Rocky at Banff, 1999) and the feature Borstal Boy (2000).

Books include two based on his family, 44: A Dublin Memoir (Irish Times Literary Award nomination 2000) and Forty-Seven Roses. His first novel Big Fat Love was published in 2003.

FERDIA MURPHY

Born in Dublin, Ferdia trained at Central Saint Martin's College of Art and Design in London. Recent work includes: The Home Place (An Grianan, Letterkenny/Lyric, Belfast), Lay Me Down Softly (Abbey, Best Set Design nomination, Irish Theatre Awards 2008) and Macbecks (Olympia, Dublin). He was nominated for Best Design at the Theatre Management Association (UK) Awards 2007 for Dancing at Lughnasa (Lyric, Belfast) and, more recently, was made an Honorary Scenographer by OISTAT (International Organisation of Scenographers, Theatre Architects and Technicians).

Other stage designs include: The Burial at Thebes, The Recruiting Offi cer, The School for Scandal, True West,Henry IV Part I, Ensuite and A Quiet Life (Abbey), Don Gregorio (Wexford Festival Opera), Blown (Theatre Royal, Plymouth), Knots (CoisCéim), Amadeus, Making History (Ouroboros), Sweeney Todd (Bridewell), True West, The Blind Fiddler (Lyric, Belfast), Shooting Gallery, Blasted (Bedrock), Dinner with Friends (Gúna Nua/Lane Productions), Macbeth, Tales from Ovid, Richard III, Mutabilitie (Theatreworks), Magick Macabre (Riverdream Productions), Passades (Operating Theatre), The Chance, Dealer's Choice (Prime Cut), In the Dark Air of a Closed Room (Loose Canon), Playing from the Heart, Rudolf the Red (The Ark), Devotion, Bumbógs and Bees (TEAM), Top Girls, Dolly West's Kitchen, Interludes, The Triumph of Love, The Dispute, Camino Royale (Samuel Beckett Centre) and Alternative Miss Ireland VI-IX (Olympia). Recent production design includes the feature film Porcelain and television pilot Radio Garda (Purple TV). Ferdia's next project is Verdi's Macbeth for Opera Ireland (2009).

KEVIN TREACY

Designs include The Shawshank Redemption (Lane Productions at the Gaiety, Dublin), The Nose (The Performance Corporation, Best Lighting Design, Irish Times Theatre Awards 2008), Dr Ledbetter's Experiment (Edinburgh Fringe and Kilkenny Festival, Best Production nomination, Irish Times Theatre Awards 2004), The Yokohama Delegation (Kilkenny Festival), Drive-By (Dublin Fringe and Canterbury Festival), Play About My Dad (Project Arts Centre), Beware of the Storybook Wolves (The Ark), This Is Our Youth (Bedrock Productions), Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Don Giovanni, Rigoletto, Hansel und Gretel, Les Contes d'Hoffmann, Il Viaggio a Reims, Pagliacci, The Medium and Suor Angelica (Wexford Festival Opera 2002-08), La Tragédie de Carmen (Wexford Festival Opera and English Touring, Best Opera nomination, Irish Times Theatre Awards 2007), The Little Magic Flute (English Touring Opera and Opera Theatre Company), The Kiss, Hansel and Gretel, The Barber of Seville, Bastien and Bastienne and Xerxes (Opera Theatre Company).

Kevin's work on The Yokohama Delegation represented Ireland at the Prague Quadrennial in 2007.

DENIS CLOHESSY

Theatre includes: The Rivals, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, An Ideal Husband, Big Love, Three Sisters, The Seafarer, Burial at Thebes, Fool for Love, Romeo and Juliet, Woman and Scarecrow, The Crucible and Julius Caesar (Abbey and Peacock Theatres), All My Sons, The Real Thing, The Yalta Game, Hedda Gabbler and Festen (Gate), Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, Life Is a Dream, Is This About Sex?, Attempts on Her Life, Don Carlos and Dream of Autumn (Rough Magic), Hysteria, Family Stories, Tejas Verdes (b*spoke), The Pride of Parnell Street (Fishamble), Macbeth and Titus Andronicus (Siren Productions), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Corn Exchange), Magick Macabre (Riverdream), Alice in Wonderland (Landmark), Rashomon and The Dream of a Summer Day (Storytellers), Talking to Terrorists and Operation Easter (Calypso), Splendour, Winter and The System (RAW).

Film includes music for the documentary feature films His and Hers (Venom Films), Babyface Goes to Hollywood and A Bloody Canvas (Fastnet Films). Denis has also composed for short films including the European Academy Award winning Undressing My Mother and Useless Dog (Venom Films, Best Achievement in Film Music, 2005 European Short Film Biennale).

DENIS CLOHESSY

Theatre includes: The Rivals, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, An Ideal Husband, Big Love, Three Sisters, The Seafarer, Burial at Thebes, Fool for Love, Romeo and Juliet, Woman and Scarecrow, The Crucible and Julius Caesar (Abbey and Peacock Theatres), All My Sons, The Real Thing, The Yalta Game, Hedda Gabbler and Festen (Gate), Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, Life Is a Dream, Is This About Sex?, Attempts on Her Life, Don Carlos and Dream of Autumn (Rough Magic), Hysteria, Family Stories, Tejas Verdes (b*spoke), The Pride of Parnell Street (Fishamble), Macbeth and Titus Andronicus (Siren Productions), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Corn Exchange), Magick Macabre (Riverdream), Alice in Wonderland (Landmark), Rashomon and The Dream of a Summer Day (Storytellers), Talking to Terrorists and Operation Easter (Calypso), Splendour, Winter and The System (RAW).

Film includes music for the documentary feature films His and Hers (Venom Films), Babyface Goes to Hollywood and A Bloody Canvas (Fastnet Films). Denis has also composed for short films including the European Academy Award winning Undressing My Mother and Useless Dog (Venom Films, Best Achievement in Film Music, 2005 European Short Film Biennale).

PATRICK MOLONY

Theatre includes: Spring Awakening (Lyric, Hammersmith and Novello), Waiting for Godot (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), Entertaining Mr Sloane (Trafalgar Studios), The Witches of Eastwick (UK tour), Quadrophenia (UK tour), Hamlet, Madame de Sade, Twelfth Night, Ivanov (Donmar at Wyndham's), Zorro (Garrick), Boeing-Boeing (Comedy), The Lover and The Collection (Comedy), Othello (Donmar), Nicholas Nickleby (Gielgud and Toronto), The Last Confession (Theatre Royal, Haymarket), Absurdia (Donmar Warehouse), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Roundhouse, RSC, world tour), Betrayal (Donmar Warehouse), Frost/Nixon (Donmar Warehouse, Gielgud, Broadway), Don Juan in Soho (Donmar Warehouse), Bent (Trafalgar Studios), Donkeys' Years (Comedy), The Cut (Donmar Warehouse), The Play's the Thing (Ambassadors), Mack and Mabel (Criterion), Blackbird (Albery, UK tour), As You Desire Me (Playhouse), The Far Pavilions (Shaftesbury), George Dillon (Comedy), Mary Stuart (Donmar Warehouse and Apollo), Don Carlos (Gielgud), The Philanthropist (Donmar Warehouse), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Shaftesbury), Saturday Night Fever (Apollo Victoria, UK tour), Grand Hotel (Donmar Warehouse), Suddenly Last Summer (Albery, UK tour), The Master Builder (Albery), The Tempest (Old Vic), Private Lives (Albery), Stones in his Pockets (West End, Broadway), Annie (Victoria Palace, UK tour), Kat and the Kings (Vaudeville, Broadway), Jolson (Victoria Palace, Toronto) and Buddy (Victoria Palace, Toronto, Broadway).

BETH EDEN

Beth directed the UK tour of Thoroughly Modern Millie and was resident director on the West End production at the Shaftesbury. Other directing include Cinderella starring Britt Ekland and Dominic Littlewood (Shaw) and Eurovision and Crazy Songs and Crazy Tunes for the Cruising Musicals Consortium theatre companies on board P&O cruise ships Oriana and Aurora (for whom she has also co-written shows and cast several teams of artistes).

Recent casting credits include Hot Flush, an outrageous new musical starring Lesley Joseph and Sam Kane, and Jolson and Company starring Allan Stewart.

KARL MAGEE

Established as one of the UK's top stage stunt/fight directors and acrobatic coordinators, Karl has directed fight sequences for numerous stage shows including Graham Vick's Mastersingers of Nuremberg for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and also English National Opera and Sir Peter Hall's Falstaff at Glyndebourne. Karl was the assistant choreographer for Tom Stoppard's Jumpers at the NT and Piccadilly, directed by David Leveaux. Other credits include Happy Days (UK tour), Macbeth (UK tour) and Peter Pan the Musical (UK tour). Karl has set the fight sequences for over 100 major pantomimes throughout the UK and Ireland. He also coordinated five BBC Children's Royal Variety Performances at the Dominion and the London Palladium. Karl is also recognised as one of the world's leading live action stunt show directors, working with companies such as Marvel and DC Comics.