Caitriona McLaughlin

Director Caitríona is from Donegal and divides her time between London, Dublin and Derry. She is an Associate Director at The Abbey Theatre, Dublin. This year she won the Best Director Irish Theatre Award for Marina Carr’s On Raftery’s Hill at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin. She was awarded a Clore Fellowship in 2007 and spent time on secondment to the Royal Court Theatre in 2008/09. During her time there Caitriona developed her dramaturgical skills through artistic script meetings. Having a particular interest in new writing and development she facilitated the inauguration of the Royal Court’s Theatre Local project. Caitriona is Co-Artistic Director of the Playground Studio London and has taught at a number of drama schools including East 15 and The Lir, Dublin. She has been invited several times as director / dramaturge to LAByrinth Theatre Company's Summer Intensive in New York. Credits include: THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO - Mozart 2020 Irish National Opera CITY SONG - Dylan Coburn Gray Current Abbey Theatre & Soho Theatre London

★★★★ 'fluid and finely tuned production' The Sunday Business Post

★★★★ 'Dublin shimmers in poetic celebration of the cycle of life' The Guardian

★★★★ 'cleverly and smoothly staged and acted' Irish Mail on Sunday

★★★★ 'poetic masterpiece …' The Arts Review

★★★★ 'through the intimacy of poetry… lives are both warmly witnessed and changed forever.' The Irish Times

PAMPLEMOUSSE Current NI Opera ON RAFTERY’S HILL – Marina Carr 2018 Abbey Theatre, Dublin Irish Theatre Award Best Director – 2019

★★★★ '…a striking and pummelling production' - The Irish Times

★★★★ 'an unmissable tour de force' - The Arts Review 'The play needs towering performances; and under McLaughlin's direction it gets them' - The Sunday Independent

★★★★ The Sunday Times, ★★★★ The Mail on Sunday, ★★★★ The Sunday Business Post

JOSEPHINE K & THE ALGORITHMS – Stacey Gregg 2017 Abbey Theatre, Dublin

RIDERS TO THE SEA 2017 Wexford Opera Festival THE CRUCIBLE – Arthur Miller 2016 Mountview at The Arcola Theatre SHE KNIT THE ROOF 2015 Earagail Arts Festival MONSTERS DINOSAURS GHOSTS – By Jimmy McAleavey 2015 The Abbey Theatre, Dublin

‘blistering and hilariously black’ Irish Mail on Sunday

‘…an explosive drama’ The Irish Times

‘…hilarious and touching’ The Irish Independent

LUCK JUST KISSED YOU HELLO – By Amy Conroy 2015 Galway International Arts Festival and the Dublin Theatre Festival

★ ★ ★ ★ - ‘a blistering exploration of masculinity’ The Guardian

★ ★ ★ ★ - ‘something other than a statement on transgender politics.’ The Irish Times

CROWS ON THE WIRE – By Jonathan Burgess 2014 Verbal Arts Centre, Londonderry BUNNY’S VENDETTA - By Darren Murphy 2013 Blue Eagle Productions George Farquhar Theatre Festival KILLERS & OTHER FAMILY – By Lucy Thurber 2013 Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, New York Obie award winner 2014 WANT BEEF? – By Sean McLoughlin 2013 Abbey Theatre, Dublin ON THE SUBJECT OF LOVE – By Ken McCormack 2013 Playhouse Theatre, Derry Part of the UK City of Culture celebrations THE FACTORY GIRLS – By Frank McGuiness 2013 Millenium Forum Theatre Part of the UK City of Culture celebrations UK & Irish Tour

‘…one of the most professional & poignant plays I have seen. A must see…’ Culture Northern Ireland

‘In a play largely character driven, pacing is paramount and McLaughlin has perfected it.’ Irish Theatre Magazine

THE RECRUITING OFFICER – By George Farquar 2012

Blue Eagle Productions George Farquhar Theatre Festival, Ireland A DINNER ENGAGEMENT 2012 Wexford Opera Festival IRISH BLOOD, ENGLISH HEART - By Darren Murphy 2011 Trafalgar Studios, London Transfer from the Union Theatre THE WILD DUCK – By Henrik Ibsen 2011 Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Part of Bard Summerscape 2011, New York BOTTOM OF THE WORLD – By Lucy Thurber 2010 Atlantic Theater Company, New York JUDGEMENT DAY – By Ödön von Horváth 2010 Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Part of Bard Summerscape 2010, New York

‘Caitriona McLaughlin has devised a visually striking production’ The New York Post

‘A gifted and talented young director….’ Hudson Valley News

‘McLaughlin has managed to make this small story epic…’ Rural Intelligence

STILL, THE BLACKBIRD SINGS – By David Duggan 2010 The Project Dublin & Irish Tour THE SHADOW BOX – By Michael Cristofer 2006 Southwark Playhouse, London MASKS & FACES 2006 Finborough Theatre, London PETE ‘N ME – By Tim Marriott 2005 New End Theatre, Hampstead

CITY SONG By Dylan Coburn Gray

Abbey Theatre, Dublin & The Soho Theatre, London

ON RAFTERY’S HILL By Marina Carr

Abbey Theatre, Dublin

MONSTERS DINOSAURS GHOSTS By Jimmy McAleavey

Thursday, 4 June to Saturday, 27 June 2015 - The Abbey Theatre, Dublin

We wanted to be someone. Some… I dunno… thing.

Nig and Wee Joe used to be soldiers. Now nobody is listening and nobody gives a fuck either way. Their lives are full of cognitive behavioural therapy, valium and guilt. One last operation offers the chance to

bring meaning to their actions. This tense and darkly funny new play from Jimmy McAleavey takes a fearless look at why men go to war.

LUCK JUST KISSED YOU HELLO By Amy Conroy

Thursday 9 – Saturday 25 July – Galway Int. Arts Festival

Laura returns home for the death of her father, but Laura is now Mark.

How do you say goodbye to your nemesis, your genesis? He, along with Gary and Sullivan, must decide on how their father is remembered. They must find a way to forgive, find a way to each other and find a way

to recognise themselves again.

KILLERS & OTHER FAMILY By Lucy Thurber

From 14th Aug to 28th September 2013 – Rattlestick Theatre, New York

Just when Elizabeth thinks she has finally escaped her previous life, that life comes crashing back in when her brother and his best friend show up, on the run, demanding she hide them. Their arrival forces

Elizabeth to truly confront her past, pushing her into a walking nightmare in which fears and memories become all too real.

THE FACTORY GIRLS By Frank McGuiness

Produced by Millennium Forum Productions – Derry & UK Tour In City Factory, Derry & on tour – 24th April to 4th June 2013

Tells the story of five women who, faced with the threat of redundancy, stage a lock-in, hoping to reclaim power from the men “upstairs”.

IRISH BLOOD, ENGLISH HEART by Darren Murphy

2nd to 21st May 2011 – Trafalgar Studios, West End London

‘Con, we all live in the gap between who we are and who we dream ourselves to be...'

In a mysterious lock up in south London two sons divvy up the emotional legacy of their estranged father. An unsettling tale of brothers, bloodties, nationhood, and a dead London cabby, that plays out like a taut

thriller.

THE WILD DUCK by Henrik Ibsen

2nd to 21st May 2011 – Bard Summerscape, New York

Hjalmar lives in a flat with his wife, senile father, visually impaired daughter and a duck. Still he’s

reasonably content, until his old friend Gregers returns to town, armed with disturbing revelations that threaten to blow their lives apart.

JUDGEMENT DAY By Ödön von Horváth

Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts,

Bard Summerscape 2010, New York

Hudetz, a super-efficient German stationmaster, is responsible for a fatal train crash when he is diverted

from duty by a kiss from Anna, the innkeeper's daughter. At the investigation, Anna perjures herself and is believed; Hudetz's embittered wife, who saw the whole incident, tells the truth and is reviled. But actions have consequences; when Hudetz returns home to a hero's welcome, he and Anna are tormented by their

shared past and, in a fateful encounter under the railway viaduct, by the need for judgment..