Pádraig Cusack

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Pádraig Cusack
File:Photo Padraig Cusack Aug 2019.jpg
Cusack in 2018
Born (1962-03-16) 16 March 1962 (age 62)
Alma materTrinity College, Dublin
Royal Northern College of Music
University College, Cork
OccupationTheatre producer
Years active1992–present
Children2
Parent(s)Cyril Cusack
Maureen Kiely
RelativesSinéad Cusack (sister)
Sorcha Cusack (sister)
Niamh Cusack (sister)
Catherine Cusack (paternal half-sister)
Richard Boyd Barrett (nephew)
Max Irons (nephew)

Pádraig Cusack (/Irish: [ˈpˠaːd̪ˠɾˠəɟ])/; born 16 March 1962[1]) is an international theatre producer. The youngest son of the Irish actor Cyril Cusack and actress Maureen Cusack, he is the brother of actresses Niamh Cusack,[2] Sinéad Cusack and Sorcha Cusack, and half-brother of Catherine Cusack. He has one brother, Paul Cusack, a television producer.

Education

Cusack was educated bi-lingually in Irish and English, initially at Scoil Lorcáin in Monkstown, Co. Dublin, and subsequently at Coláiste Eoin, Booterstown, Co. Dublin. Pádraig was a Taylor Exhibition music scholar at Trinity College, Dublin, before winning a scholarship to train at the Royal Northern College of Music to be a professional cellist. In 1995, he returned to education to take a post-graduate degree in Business at University College, Cork.

Career

Having begun his career as a freelance musician, playing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and English National Opera North, an accident ended his career as a musician, resulting in him pursuing a career in arts administration. Initially he focused on the classical music sector, working at two leading concert venues in London, the Wigmore Hall and the Southbank Centre. In 1992 he made his first move into theatre following his appointment as Administrative Director of West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, alongside Jude Kelly where he produced a number of plays including the touring production of Five Guys Named Moe for Cameron Mackintosh Limited. In 1996, he was appointed Head of Planning of the Royal National Theatre under the outgoing artistic director, Sir Richard Eyre and subsequently with Sir Trevor Nunn, Sir Nicholas Hytner and Rufus Norris. In 2009 in became the National Theatre's Associate Producer. During this period he produced numerous productions for tour both in the UK and internationally, taking the work of the National Theatre to five continents. Alongside this, he has worked as a touring consultant for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, the Royal Court Theatre in London, Canadian Stage in Toronto, TheEmergencyRoom and Corn Exchange in Dublin and Galway International Arts Festival. In June 2016, he was appointed Executive Producer of Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, working alongside Artistic Director, Graeme Farrow. In addition to this, he is Consultant Producer to the National Centre for the Performing Arts (India) in Mumbai.[3]

In addition to his theatre producing work, Cusack offers representation to a number of Irish artists including the director Annie Ryan, the composer Mel Mercier and the British playwright, Matt Wilkinson.

Selected playography - international touring

Productions
Year Play Director Leading Actors Notes
1995 The Servant of Two Masters by Carlo Goldoni adapted by Improbable Theatre Phelim McDermott Toby Jones Leeds & Venice
2002 The PowerBook by Jeanette Winterson Deborah Warner Fiona Shaw, Saffron Burrows London, Paris, Rome
2005 Primo by Primo Levi Richard Wilson Antony Sher London, Cape Town, New York
2005-2007 Happy Days by Samuel Beckett Deborah Warner Fiona Shaw London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Epidaurus, Washington DC & New York
2006-2008 The History Boys by Alan Bennett Nicholas Hytner Richard Griffiths, Dominic Cooper. Frances de la Tour London, UK Tour, Dublin, Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington & New York
2007 Waves - a work devised by Katie Mitchell and the company from the text of Virginia Woolf's novel, The Waves Katie Mitchell Anastasia Hille, Kate Duchêne London, UK Tour, Amsterdam, Luxembourg & New York
2009 Phèdre by Jean Racine in a translation by Ted Hughes Nicholas Hytner Helen Mirren London, Epidaurus & Washington DC
2011 John Gabriel Borkman by Henrik Ibsen in a new version by Frank McGuinness James MacDonald Alan Rickman, Fiona Shaw, Lindsay Duncan Dublin & New York
2012-2013 One Man, Two Guvnors by Carlo Goldoni adapted by Richard Bean Nicholas Hytner James Corden/Owain Arthur London, UK Tour, Hong Kong, Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne & Auckland
2014-2015 Not I, Footfalls & Rockaby by Samuel Beckett Walter Asmus Lisa Dwan London, Galway, UK Tour, Hong Kong, Perth & New York[4]
2014-2016 riverun adapted by Olwen Fouéré from Finnegans Wake by James Joyce Olwen Fouéré Olwen Fouéré Galway, Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Adelaide, Sydney, Princeton, New York & Washington DC
2015-2016 A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride adapted by Annie Ryan Annie Ryan Aoife Duffin Dublin, Edinburgh, London, UK Tour & New York[5]
2017 Tiger Bay the Musical by Daf James and Michael Williams Melly Still John Owen-Jones & Noel Sullivan Cardiff, Wales & Cape Town, South Africa
2018 Long Day's Journey into Night by Eugene O'Neill Richard Eyre Jeremy Irons & Lesley Manville New York & Los Angeles
2020 The Mirror Crack'd by Agatha Christie, adapted for the stage by Rachel Wagstaff, reimagined by Ayeesha Menon Melly Still Sonali Kulkarni, Shernaz Patel & Denzil Smith Mumbai, India

References

  1. ^ IMDB.com Pádraig Cusack https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1761216/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm#trivia
  2. ^ Edworthy, Sarah (15 May 2009). "My Perfect Weekend: Niamh Cusack". The Telegraph. Retrieved 2 October 2009
  3. ^ https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/things-to-do/for-the-thrill-of-theatre/articleshow/72321190.cms
  4. ^ Harvey Theater, BAM, New York, Next Wave Festival 2014 http://www.bam.org/theater/2014/not-i-footfalls-rockaby
  5. ^ Baryshnikov Arts Centre, April, 2015 http://bacnyc.org/performances/performance/the-corn-exchange