Donal O'Kelly (born 1958) is an Irish

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and actor.

Early life

O'Kelly was born in

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

in 1958. He worked in the Irish Civil Service as a computer programmer, before quitting to become active in theatre and politics.

Career

O'Kelly's first play was ''Silicon Sweethearts'' (1984). In 1993, he co-founded Calypso Productions, dedicated to staging work that deals with

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. He is a longtime activist and an associate director of Afri. O'Kelly was elected to

Aosdána Aosdána ( , ; from , 'people of the arts') is an Irish association or academy of artists, each of whom must have produced a distinguished body of work of genuine originality. It was created in 1981 by the country's Arts Council on the initiati ...

in 2007; he resigned in 2011 after Dunamaise Arts Centre refused to hang one of Mannix Flynn's works and was accused of

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

by Aosdána; O'Kelly did not agree. Donal O'Kelly's 1995 play ''Catalpa'' won a ''Scotsman'' Fringe First Award at the 1996

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

and the Critics' Prize at the 1997 Melbourne International Festival in 1997. In 1999 he won the Irish American Cultural Institute Butler Literary Award. In 2014 his music-drama serial ''Francisco'' won the gold medal for Best Drama Special at the New York Festivals Radio Awards. O'Kelly's film appearances include '' Jimmy's Hall'', '' The Van'' and '' Kings'', for which he was nominated for an

IFTA Ifta is a former municipality in the Wartburgkreis district of Thuringia, Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Al ...

. On TV, he has appeared on '' Paths to Freedom'', '' Ballykissangel'' and '' The Clinic''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:OKelly, Donal 1958 births Living people Irish male dramatists and playwrights Aosdána members People from Dublin (city) 21st-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish actors 21st-century Irish actors Actors from Dublin (city) Irish stage actors Irish film actors Irish television actors