Who's Who Profiles

Cian is Associate Producer of Rough Magic Theatre Company. Credits as producer with Rough Magic include Solemn Mass for a Full Moon in Summer, Improbable Frequency (New York and National Tour), The Parker Project, Life is a Dream, The Taming of the Shrew (National Tour). Cian also works as a freelance producer. His credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Making Strange and Project Arts Centre), All Dolled Up (thisispopbaby, Brighton Fringe Festival 2007), La Marea (Bedrock Productions and Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival) Roberto Zucco (Bedrock Productions) Danny and Chantelle (Still Here) (thisispopbaby); How Many Miles to Babylon (Second Age Theatre Company); The Friends of Jack Kairo (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Prague Fringe Festival 2007); Mother Teresa is Dead (Focus Theatre); Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Making Strange Theatre Company) H-BAM (How Babies are Made) Comedy troupe (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2002,2003). Cian took part in the Rough Magic AIB SEEDS3 programme as producer. As part of the AIB SEEDS 3 Showcase he produced Caligula (Nominated Best Production, Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards 2007). Cian is also a board member of Project Arts Centre.

Fiach Mac Conghail has been Director/CEO of the Abbey Theatre since May 2005. The Abbey Theatre is Ireland’s National Theatre and he is responsible for the artistic programming and strategic management of the organisation. He has produced many productions at the Abbey, including plays by Brian Friel, Tom Murphy, Marina Carr, Paul Mercier, Mark O’Rowe, Billy Roche, Sebastian Barry and Sam Shepard. Prior to his appointment, Fiach was Arts Adviser to John O’Donoghue, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism (2002-2005). He was Commissioner of the Cultural Programme for Ireland’s Presidency of the EU in 2004. He worked on the establishment of the Centre Culturel Irlandais, Paris (2001-2003) for the Department of Foreign Affairs. He was appointed Cultural Commissioner for EXPO in Hanover (2000) and Commissioner of the Venice and Sao Paulo Biennales of Visual Arts (1996-7). He was Artistic Director of Project Arts Centre from 1992 - 1999, and was one of the founders and, subsequently, Chairman of the International Dance Festival of Ireland.

In television and film, Fiach has produced several award winning dramas for RTE and TG4 with Brothers Films. He produced the feature film ’Studs’ (1996) by Paul Mercier and starring Brendan Gleeson.

He was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship in 2004 and currently sits on the board of Theatre Forum Ireland and is a member of the University of Limerick’s Governing Authority.

Loughlin Deegan is Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the Dublin International Theatre Festival, one of the oldest dedicated theatre festivals in Europe. The festival runs for 2 weeks every October and presents the work of many of the world’s leading companies and artists.

Loughlin was Executive Producer of Rough Magic Theatre Company from 2003-2006. He was previously Literary Manager with Rough Magic when his responsibilities included developing the work of commissioned writers and co-ordinating the SEEDS project, a structured new-writing initiative for emerging Irish playwrights.

For the Irish Theatre Institute (formerly Theatre Shop), Loughlin edited the first two editions of the Irish Theatre Handbook, a comprehensive guide to drama and dance in Ireland, and he compiled and edited the launch phase of the Irish Playography Database (www.irishplayography.com), a comprehensive, on-line searchable database of all new Irish plays produced professionally between 1975 and the present.

Tania Banotti joined Theatre Forum in September 2003. She previously ran Screen Producers Ireland, the trade association for independent film and TV production companies. She worked as a public affairs consultant in Brussels for 4 years and her clients included the Euopean Commercial Television Association (ACT), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the UK TV station ITV. She also worked for a number of years with the United National Special Coordinators Office for the Occupied Territories (UNSCO) in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

Johnny Hanrahan is a writer and director. He is Artistic Director of Meridian Theatre Company which specialises in new work, frequently incorporating music and multi-media elements. Johnny has written many plays for the company, including Crystal, Craving, The Mistress of Silence, Madam T, The White Lady, Castle Rackrent, Volpone, etc. Johnny has also worked with Operating Theatre, The Ark, Passion Machine, Cork 2005, the Everyman Palace, Macra. He is a former chair of Theatre Forum, a founder of Cork Arts Development Committee and The National Sculpture Factory and was a board member of Cork 2005.

Eina McHugh is Director of The Ark, a Cultural Centre for Children. Before taking up her current post in 2005, she worked as a specialist consultant in children and young people's culture with clients such as Channel 4, The Paul Hamlyn Foundation, The Nursery Channel, The British Film Institute, the Arts Council of England and the Welsh broadcaster S4C. In 1998 she directed the Second World Summit on Television for Children in London and in 2001 became Head of Development for S4C Commercial. Her love of children's cultural work began in 1990 when she became involved in Northern Ireland's inaugural children's film festival, Cinemagic, eventually going on to direct the award winning festival and become Deputy Director of the Northern Ireland Film Council.

She has worked on several committees and boards including the National Arts and Business Sponsorship Association Arts Development Forum, the European Children’s Film Association, the E.U. Media Education and Children’s Film Production Working Party, the National Century of Cinema Committee, and Young People's Committee of The Edinburgh International Television Festival. She has served on numerous children's juries for BAFTA, Royal Television Society, International children's film festivals and the Irish Film and Television awards.