Tomás Mac Anna (born Thomas Francis McCann; 5 March 1924 – 17 May 2011) was an Irish theatre director and playwright. He was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot for Frosted Flakes cereal * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * ...

in 1970 for ''

Borstal Boy ''Borstal Boy'' is a 1958 autobiography, autobiographical book by Brendan Behan. The story depicts a young, fervently idealistic Behan, who loses his naïveté over the three years of his sentence to a juvenile borstal, softening his radical Ir ...

''. Born in

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

, he was educated at the College of Art in Dublin, worked as a customs officer 1945–47, and then at the Damer Theatre and the

Abbey Theatre The Abbey Theatre (), also known as the National Theatre of Ireland () is a theatre in Dublin, Ireland. First opening to the public on 27 December 1904, and moved from its original building after a fire in 1951, it has remained active to the p ...

as a producer of Irish language plays, subsequently becoming Artistic Adviser to the Abbey Board in 1966, then Artistic Director 1972–79 and 1984–85. His work as an innovative stage director was crucial in modernizing the Abbey style after its re-opening in 1966. He directed ''

'', which after its transfer to New York, won the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, an Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

and earned him a nomination for Best Direction of a Play at the

24th Tony Awards The 24th Annual Tony Awards was broadcast by NBC television on April 19, 1970, from the Mark Hellinger Theatre in New York City. Hosts were Julie Andrews, Shirley MacLaine and Walter Matthau. The ceremony Presenters: Clive Barnes, Mia Farrow, El ...

in 1970. He co-wrote the Irish pantomimes for years. Amongst his original plays are ''Winter Wedding (1956)'', ''Dear Edward (1973)'', ''Scéal Scéalaí (1977)'', and ''Glittering Spears (1983)'', a drama-documentary on O'Casey's '' The Silver Tassie''. He died in Bray, County Wicklow, aged 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mac Anna, Tomás 1924 births 2011 deaths People from Dundalk Theatre people from Dublin (city) Abbey Theatre Irish male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Irish male writers Writers from County Louth