Lisa Dwan is an
Irish stage,
film
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
and
television
Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...
actress, director, and writer. She is best known for her performances and adaptations of the work of
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
and other theatre.
Early life
Dwan was born in
Coosan
Coosan () is a townland and suburb just north of Athlone, County Westmeath in Ireland. The suburb is surrounded on three sides by Lough Ree and on one side by Athlone.
Coosan attracts tourists over the summer months due to its location on the ...
,
Athlone
Athlone (; ) is a town on the border of County Roscommon and County Westmeath, Ireland. It is located on the River Shannon near the southern shore of Lough Ree. It is the second most populous town in the Midlands Region with a population of ...
,
County Westmeath
"Noble above nobility"
, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Westmeath.svg
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state, Country
, subdivision_name = Republic of Ireland, Ireland
, subdivision_type1 = Provinces o ...
,
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
, and originally trained as a
ballet
Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
dancer. She was chosen to dance with
Rudolf Nureyev
Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev ( ; Tatar/ Bashkir: Рудольф Хәмит улы Нуриев; rus, Рудо́льф Хаме́тович Нуре́ев, p=rʊˈdolʲf xɐˈmʲetəvʲɪtɕ nʊˈrʲejɪf; 17 March 19386 January 1993) was a Soviet ...
in the
Ballet San Jose
Ballet San Jose was a ballet company based in San Jose, California, US, operating from 1985 to 2016.
History
The company was founded in 1985 as the "San Jose Cleveland Ballet," a co-venture with the ten-year-old Cleveland Ballet which offered to ...
's production of "
Coppélia
''Coppélia'' (sometimes subtitled: ''La Fille aux Yeux d'Émail'' (The Girl with the Enamel Eyes)) is a comic ballet from 1870 originally choreographed by Arthur Saint-Léon to the music of Léo Delibes, with libretto by Charles-Louis-Éti ...
" in Dublin when she was 12 years old. She left school at 14 after winning a scholarship to attend the Dorothy Stevens School of Ballet in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
, and also danced with the London Lewis Ballet Company. Dwan began acting professionally as a teenager.
Career
Dwan's first movie was playing the role of Agnes in an adaptation of ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
,'' co-starring
Elijah Wood and
Richard Dreyfuss
Richard Stephen Dreyfuss (; born Dreyfus; October 29, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for starring in popular films during the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, including ''American Graffiti'' (1973), ''Jaws'' (1975), ''Close Encounters of the T ...
.
Dwan's first regular series role was as Princess Deirdre, the Mystic Knight of Air, on
Saban Saban or Šaban may refer to:
People
* Saban (name), for people with the name
* Sabans, a small indigenous ethnic group of Sarawak, Malaysia
* Şaban, a Turkish film character
Other uses
*Saban Capital Group, a private investment firm investing i ...
's ''
Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog
''Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog'' is a fantasy-adventure television series set in a fantasy version of ancient Ireland, created by Saban Entertainment. It was loosely based on actual Irish mythology. The name is derived from Tír na nÓg, one of ...
''. She played the role of Orla in eight episodes of
RTÉ
(RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...
's "The Big Bow Wow" in 2004, the role of Zoe Burke in 28 episodes of the Irish soap opera ''
Fair City'' from 2006 to 2007, and the role of Angel Islington on ''
Rock Rivals''.
In January 2009 she starred opposite
Martin Sheen as "Marika" in ''
Bhopal: Prayer for Rain''.
Dwan is most well known internationally for her performances and adaptations of
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
's works;
Kate Kellaway
Kate Kellaway (born 15 July 1957) is an English journalist and literary critic who writes for ''The Observer''.
Early life
The daughter of the Australians Bill and Deborah Kellaway, she is the older sister of the journalist Lucy Kellaway. B ...
has called her an "Irish actor and Beckett interpreter of the first rank". She performed in Beckett's ''
Not I'' in London's
Battersea Arts Centre
The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a Grade ...
in 2005, and was interviewed with
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw (6 June 1932 – 21 December 2014) was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was al ...
, whom Beckett called the "perfect actress", as part of the Beckett celebrations on
BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
.
Beginning in 2006,
Whitelaw mentored Dwan on her work on Beckett. Dwan performed the piece again in July 2009 at the
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
in London in a time of nine minutes and fifty seconds, and again at the International Beckett Festival in 2012.
The event was repeated at
Reading University in May 2013.
Beginning in 2013, Dwan toured with "The Beckett Trilogy", consisting of ''Not I'' alongside two of Beckett's other short plays, ''
Footfalls
''Footfalls'' is a play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English, between 2 March and December 1975 and was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre as part of the Samuel Beckett Festival, on May 20, 1976 directed by Beckett himself. Bil ...
'' and ''
Rockaby
''Rockaby'' is a short one-woman play by Samuel Beckett. It was written in English in 1980, at the request of Daniel Labeille, who produced it on behalf of ''Programs in the Arts'', State University of New York, for a festival and symposium in ...
'', under the direction of
Walter Asmus
Walter D. Asmus (born 1941 in Lübeck) is a German theatre director.
Career
Asmus studied German and English Literature, Philosophy and Theatre Sciences in Hamburg, Vienna and Freiburg and spent a year in London in the late sixties where he live ...
at the
Royal Court Theatre,
West End,
The Barbican Centre, and the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
, and performed sold-out shows at various international locations. In a review of her performance at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
,
Ben Brantley wrote that Dwan "is an instrument of Beckett, in that way saints and martyrs are said to be instruments of God".
In October 2016, Dwan adapted and starred in
No's Knife', a one-woman production adapted from Beckett's
Stories and Texts for Nothing
''Stories and Texts for Nothing'' is a collection of stories by Samuel Beckett. It gathers three of Beckett's short stories ("The Expelled," "The Calmative," and "The End", all written in 1946) and the thirteen short prose pieces he named "Texts ...
at London's
Old Vic and
Abbey Theatre Dublin. Dwan is the first woman to perform Beckett's
Stories and Texts for Nothing
''Stories and Texts for Nothing'' is a collection of stories by Samuel Beckett. It gathers three of Beckett's short stories ("The Expelled," "The Calmative," and "The End", all written in 1946) and the thirteen short prose pieces he named "Texts ...
.
In 2017, Dwan starred in
Harold Pinter
Harold Pinter (; 10 October 1930 – 24 December 2008) was a British playwright, screenwriter, director and actor. A Nobel Prize winner, Pinter was one of the most influential modern British dramatists with a writing career that spanne ...
's "The Lover" and "The Collection" at the
Shakespeare Theatre Company in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, for which she won
Shakespeare Theatre Company's
Emery Battis Award
The Shakespeare Theatre Company is a regional theatre company located in Washington, D.C. The theatre company focuses primarily on plays from the Shakespeare canon, but its seasons include works by other classic playwrights such as Euripides, ...
for Acting Excellence. In 2016, Dwan starred in
Marina Carr
Marina Carr is an Irish playwright who has written almost thirty plays, including '' By the Bog of Cats'' (1998).
Early life and education
Carr was born in Dublin, Ireland, but spent the majority of her childhood in Pallas Lake, County O ...
's stage adaptation of ''
Anna Karenina'' for the
Abbey Theatre
The Abbey Theatre ( ga, Amharclann na Mainistreach), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland ( ga, Amharclann Náisiúnta na hÉireann), in Dublin, Ireland, is one of the country's leading cultural institutions. First opening to the pu ...
in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
. Other recent theatre appearances include ''Shining City'' off-Broadway and at the
Irish Repertory Theatre
The Irish Repertory Theatre is an Off Broadway theatre founded in 1988.
History
The Irish Repertory Theatre was founded by Ciarán O'Reilly and Charlotte Moore, which opened its doors in September 1988,http://www.nyc-arts.org/organizations/ ...
in 2016, ''Beside the Sea'' at the
Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is a complex of artistic venues in London, England, on the South Bank of the River Thames (between Hungerford Bridge and Waterloo Bridge).
It comprises three main performance venues (the Royal Festival Hall including the Nat ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 2012, ''Margot, Diary of an Unhappy Queen'' in at the
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...
in London in 2012, ''The Journey Between Us'' at
Southbank Theatre
Southbank Theatre is a performing arts venue located in the Southbank region of Melbourne, Victoria. It is the principal home of the Melbourne Theatre Company. The theatre was designed by ARM Architecture (Ashton Raggatt McDougall), and opened ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
in 2016, ''Illusions'' by Ivan Viripaev at the
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is located in the Passmore Edwards Public Library, Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 as a showcase for the work of new writers. The Bush Theatre strives to create a spa ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, ''The Soldier's Tale'' at the
Hay Festival in 2013, ''
The Importance of Being Earnest
''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...
'' on tour in
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
in 1999, and ''The History of the World at 3am'' at Andrews Lane Theatre in
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in 1996, among others.
In 2021, Dwan played Tori Matthews opposite James Nesbitt in Bloodlands, an acclaimed four-part BBC drama.
Dwan regularly writes, lectures, and teaches on theatre, gender, and Beckett. Recent speaking engagements include appearances on
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...
radio and television and
WNYC
WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that di ...
. Dwan also writes about Beckett and the arts, including an in
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
. She has lectured at the
École Normale Supérieure
École may refer to:
* an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée)
* École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France
* École, Savoi ...
,
University of Reading and
the University of Oxford, and recently completed a residency at
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...
's Lewis Center for the Arts, where she taught a class on adapting Beckett's prose work. Dwan was also a 2017–2018 artist in residence at
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where she worked with Irish writer
Colm Toibin
Colm is a male given name of Irish origin. Colm can be pronounced "Collum" or "Kullum". It is not an Irish version of Colin, but like Callum and Malcolm derives from a Gaelic variation on ''columba'', the Latin word for 'dove'.
People
*Colm Bro ...
on ''Pale Sister'', a play derived from the class they taught called "The Antigone Project". Dwan was a resident fellow at the School of Art and Ballet at
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, the ...
from 2017 to 2018.
Dwan is an artist in residence at
MIT.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
Lisa Dwan on the Lewis Center for the ArtsLisa Dwan on the Festival of Writing and Ideas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwan, Lisa
20th-century Irish actresses
21st-century Irish actresses
Irish expatriates in the United Kingdom
Irish stage actresses
Irish television actresses
Living people
People from Athlone
Year of birth missing (living people)