Marie Kelly is the Programme Director of the MA in Arts Management & Creative Producing at the Department of Theatre (School of Music and Theatre) UCC where she was Head of Department from July 2015 to July 2016. She has an MA in Modern Drama and Performance (2005) and a PhD in Drama Studies (2011), both from the School of English, Drama, and Film at University College Dublin. Marie worked at the Abbey Theatre for several years, firstly in general management and subsequently as part of the creative team in the role of assistant to the Artistic Director (1993-2001). In 2001 she set up the Abbey’s Casting Department and was Head of Casting until 2006. Over the course of her career Marie worked on close to 200 productions for the Abbey and Peacock Theatres as well as productions on tour. She is interested in dramaturgy and contemporary Irish theatre as well as theatre producing, casting, and arts management. Her PhD explored theatre experimentation and the performance of the plays of Irish playwright,Tom Mac Intyre. Marie has published on this and other related topics, and she is former Co-President of the Irish Society for Theatre Research and current member of the Board of Everyman Theatre Cork (Ireland). Recent publication: Katie Roche by Teresa Deevy (Research Pack) Abbey Theatre 2017. See ow.ly/C5TA30fRcJX

I have interests in dramaturgy and contemporary Irish theatre and ways in which European and American theatre experimentation have influenced the contemporary dramatic canon. I also have interests in theatre casting, producing and arts management. I am uniquely positioned in this research through my professional background in casting, producing and management at the Abbey Theatre 1993 - 2006. This background gives me a distinct perspective, which arises from hands-on experience and collaboration with a wide range of creative artists at the centre of the Abbey and the contemporary theatre scene in Ireland. My research is both scholarly (applying theoretical frameworks to the analysis of performance) and practice-based (generating scholarly enquiry through casting, theatre production and dramaturgy). My doctoral dissertation focused on the experimental plays of Irish playwright and author Tom Mac Intyre, whose work broke new ground in Irish theatre in the 1980s by adopting practices from European and American Theatre of the Image and Dance Theatre. Frameworks applied to my research include Performance Analysis and Performance Studies (semiotics, phenomenology, subjectivity, gender and identity, theories of play and ritual). I also enjoy exploring and applying innovative theoretical approaches to theatre performance, specifically theories from Cognitive Science.

I have a wide array of professional skills and connections which underpin my scholarly exploration, creative practice, and teaching portfolio as a Lecturer in Theatre. My research interests spring from my professional experience of working at the Abbey Theatre (1993-2006), firstly as an assistant to the Abbey’s Artistic Director (with duties that spanned theatre production) and subsequently as Casting Director. In this regard I have extensive knowledge of theatre production in contemporary Irish theatre and have collaborated with a wide range of leading national and international practitioners (writers, directors, actors, designers, stage managers and other theatre specialists). I am also proficient in the creative act of analysing performance as well as analysing the composition of texts for performances (dramaturgy). This unique combination of knowledge and skill allows me to teach and research drama and theatre with bilateral vision which balances scholarly enquiry and critical thinking with practice-based research. Additionally, this background allows me to draw on my own actual experience and connections in the profession to develop innovative ways of teaching and inspiring students’ interest in this subject area. In the course of my doctoral studies at University College Dublin I taught courses on: Introduction to Drama and Performance; Performance Studies; Stage Crafts; Textual Analysis; Research Methodologies in Drama and Performance Studies. In the Department of Theatre, UCC, I designed and now act as Programme Director of the MA in Arts Management & Creative Producing which was inaugurated in 2019/2020. On this programme I teaching modules DR6049 and DR6050 on Creative Producing & Curating, DR6047 Arts Placement and DR6048 Dissertation. I also coordinate DR6045 Artistic Leadership and Strategies in Arts Management as well as DR604