The Focus Theatre ( ga, An Amharclann Fócais) in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...
, Ireland, was a small theatre which, for more than fifty years, offered a variety of plays from new and established writers, from its foundation in 1967 until its closure in 2012.
History
In April 1963, the Irish American actor
Deirdre O'Connell
Eleanore Deirdre O'Connell (16 June 1939 – 9 June 2001) was an Irish American actress, singer, and theatre director who founded the Focus Theatre in Dublin, Ireland.
Biography
O'Connell was born in the South Bronx district of New York City, o ...
founded the Stanislavski Acting Studio - "the first actor-training studio of its kind in Ireland" - at the Pocket Theatre, in Dublin's Ely Place. The premises were soon sold, leading to several years where O'Connell temporarily housed the studio in a variety of city-center locations, including Westland Row, Kildare Street, the Pike Theatre (until it closed in 1964), and Fitzwilliam Square. In 1967, O'Connell's husband,
Luke Kelly
Luke Kelly (17 November 1940 – 30 January 1984) was an Irish singer, folk musician and actor from Dublin, Ireland. Born into a working-class household in Dublin city, Kelly moved to England in his late teens and by his early 20s had become i ...
of
The Dubliners
The Dubliners were an Irish folk band founded in Dublin in 1962 as The Ronnie Drew Ballad Group, named after its founding member; they subsequently renamed themselves The Dubliners. The line-up saw many changes in personnel over their fifty-ye ...
, put up most of the capital to purchase and renovate a disused factory at 6 Pembroke Place. The site had been found by Declan Burke-Kennedy, a journalist and dramatist, who became a co-founder of the Focus Theatre, together with his wife, Mary Elizabeth. The theatre aspired to present the best of contemporary and classic world drama, and to develop new plays, and used
Stanislavski's system "to explore the human condition through the craft of the actor". It opened on 29 September 1967, with a production of
Doris Lessing's ''Play With a Tiger''.
More than two hundred and fifty productions were staged at the theatre. Several notable actors were associated with the Focus, including
Gabriel Byrne
Gabriel James Byrne (born 12 May 1950) is an Irish actor, film director, film producer, screenwriter, audiobook narrator, and author. His acting career began in the Focus Theatre before he joined London's Royal Court Theatre in 1979. Byrne's s ...
,
Brendan Coyle
David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for ''The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert T ...
,
Sabina Higgins (wife of the
President of Ireland
The president of Ireland ( ga, Uachtarán na hÉireann) is the head of state of Ireland and the supreme commander of the Irish Defence Forces.
The president holds office for seven years, and can be elected for a maximum of two terms.Constitu ...
),
Olwen Fouéré
Olwen Fouéré (born March 2, 1954) is an Irish actress and writer/director in theatre, film and visual arts. She was born in Galway, Ireland to Breton parents Yann Fouéré and Marie-Magdeleine Mauger. In 2020, she was listed at number 22 on ...
,
Tom Hickey and
Bosco Hogan
John Bosco Hogan (born March 1949) is an Irish stage, film, and television actor.
He is well known as the character Dr. Michael Ryan on the television programme ''Ballykissangel''. He appeared in a minor role as convicted felon George Saden in J ...
. When Deirdre O'Connell died in 2001, Joe Devlin took over as artistic director.
The Focus Theatre closed in April 2012 due to funding issues. The building at Pembroke Place, now Mutiny Theatre, operates as a 39-seat theatre and screening room.
[ ]
References
External links
History of Focus TheatreFocus Theatre in Google MapsFive Decades in Focus - A photographic history of the Focus TheatreDon’t put your feet on the stage - An Irishman’s Diary: Fifty years of the Focus Theatre - The Irish Times, 7 October 2013(obituary of Deirdre O'Connell)
{{Authority control
Theatres in Dublin (city)
Performing groups established in 1967