Drama Instructors
Kathleen Warner Yeates is the director of the "Acting/Drama" portion of the Abbey School of Music & Drama, and the Director of Flying Turtle Productions. She was trained in the MA program at Villanova University for Acting and Directing and has worked in the U.S. as a professional actor and director in theatre and film for over 30 years, working in New York City and throughout the U.S. She and has been an acting instructor for over 25 years teaching acting at Penn State University, Villanova University, and other professional training programs. She has directed, acted, and written for off-broadway and has had the lead role acting in several independent films and commercials.
CURRENT INSTRUCTORS / GUEST ARTISTS :
Dr. Julie Shearer trained as an actor at the Queensland University of Technology. As a professional theatre actor and director in Australia, she has worked with the State Theatre Companies, with Queensland's Shakespearean repertory company Grin and Tonic, and then touring the country with Australia's finest-the Bell Shakespeare Company. She also directed and devised work for Grin and Tonic and other small companies, taught youth theatre for many years, and worked as a Voice and Acting tutor with the drama school at QUT. In addition, she has worked in Australian film, television and radio. Presently, she has just completed her Ph.D. at Trinity College Dublin, where she worked as a part time lecturer in Acting.
Ann Russell trained as an actor with the late Deirdre O’Connell at the Focus Stanislavski Studio. She has worked as an actor and director in the Focus Theatre and with other professional theatre companies in Ireland and the UK. Ann completed her MA at University College Dublin in 2002 and has Associate and Licentiate Diplomas from the London College of Music and Drama. A former teacher and Senior Examiner with the Royal Irish Academy of Music she formed her own school in 2004. Since then she has developed a highly successful Effective Public speaking programme and has an outstanding record in training drama teachers.
Kasia Lech trained as an actress and completed her MA at the Ludwik Solski State Drama School in Poland. She started her professional carrier in theatres in Poland (Szczecin, Wroclaw, and Legnica) and she has been continuing it Ireland. In Poland she worked for local radio station and she was a host of a children show “Cybermysz” in Polish Public TV (TVP1). For three years she was an assistant of verse-speaking lecturers at the Ludwik Solski State Drama School. In Ireland she has been teaching drama and acting. She is currently commencing her M.Litt. at University College Dublin and she plans to transfer to the Ph.D.
Stephanie Courtney is a professional director with an MFA from Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island. She was the artistic director of the award winning Wilde Irish Productions in San Francisco and has worked with the American Conservatory Theatre, Los Angeles Women Shakespeare Company and was co-founder of Shakespeare by the Sea. She was a resident director, casting director and professor for PCPA in California. She was judge for the 2010 Dublin Fringe Festival and is currently directing 'Racoon,' by Thomas Hall at the Matchbox Theatre in Dublin.
Dr. Margot Jones (NicEoghain) trained in the theory and practice of theatre in Ireland, the USA and Vietnam. She has performed in a wide variety of professional contexts including theatre, television and film, and she maintains a vibrant performance and workshop practice. Recent facilitation work with young people includes puppet-making and performance, story-building and voice and movement skills. She has also a special interest in therapeutic theatre. Margot continues to update her professional skills and is currently researching in the area of the traditional arts and devised performance. She has lectured at the University of Hawai’i and at Trinity College, Dublin, and she holds an MA in Theatre (Villanova), a PhD in Asian Theatre (Hawai’i)and an MA in Dramatherapy (Roehampton).
AnnMarie O'Donovan (Youth Drama): AnnMarie O'Donovan is a trained Speech and Drama teacher from the Russell Academy and holds an Associate Teaching Diploma from the Royal Irish Academy of Music and Drama. A former student of both the Gaiety and Abbey acting schools, AnnMarie is passionate about enabling children and teenagers explore the world of drama and acting in a fun and creative environment. She herself is an actress having performed in various theatres around Dublin including the Pearse Institute and the New Theatre and also in many short movies.
Sue Mythen (Actor's Movement) worked as an actor for over fifteen years prior to completing and MA in Actor Movement at Central School of Speech & Drama, London. Since then she works as a freelance Movement Director for several companies in Europe, Canada and UK including: Opera Ireland, The Abbey Theatre, Canadian Opera Company. On film, Sue choreographed the ballroom scenes for Northanger Abbey as part of the Jane Austen Season for ITV Drama. Sue has taught movement in a number of drama schools including The Gaiety School of Acting, Trinity College Dublin, The Abbey Theatre, DIT, RIAM, and Central School of Speech & Drama. She is currently co-writing a book on the subject of movement training for actors.
Dr. Holly Maples trained as an actress at Central School of Speech and Drama. She has worked professionally in theatre and film in both the UK and the United States. In New York City she worked with the Wooster Group and Shakespeare & Company. In Chicago she has worked with Victory Gardens, the Goodman, and the Court Theatre. In New York City she trained with Anne Bogart and SITI Company in Viewpoints and Suzuki. She has just completed her Ph.D. at Trinity College Dublin, where she worked as a part time lecturer in Acting. Currently she is a Lecturer in Drama at the University of East Anglia in the U.K.
Leona Nally (Youth Drama): (Details being added)