Siamsa - Padraig Cusack

Siamsa Tire recently announced the appointment of Padraig Cusack to the position of Chief Executive Officer of the organisation. Padraig, who was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College, Dublin, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and University College Cork, will take over the reins of Siamsa on the 3rd of September.

Padraig has a sparkling C.V. that includes stints as Head of Planning and subsequently Associate Producer of the English National Theatre in London, where he worked along such luminaries as Sir Richard Eyre, Sir Trevor Nunn and Nicholas Hytner.

On behalf of the National he produced the premiere of the Tony Award-winning production of Tennessee Willliams' recently discovered play, Not About Nightingales on Broadway, The PowerBook by Jeanette Winterson directed by Deborah Warner in London, Paris and Rome, Primo by Antony Sher in London, Cape Town and New York, and Play Without Words by Matthew Bourne, a co-production with New Adventures, in Moscow, Tokyo, Los Angeles and New York. For the National he has produced several co-productions including Shakespeare's Measure for Measure with Complicite, Emma Rice's Tristan and Yseult with Kneehigh, David Hare's The Permanent Way and Sebastian Barry's Our Lady of Sligo, both with Out of Joint. He has also produced tours of Martin McDonagh's The Pillowman and Mike Leigh's Two Thousand Years.

Most recently, Padraig completed an international tour and Broadway season of the multi award-winning play, The History Boys by Alan Bennett, and a national tour of the highly acclaimed The Seafarer by Conor McPherson, which opens on Broadway later this year. His professional career has included work for the London's South Bank Centre and Wigmore Hall, West Yorkshire Playhouse and Opera North in Leeds, Vesuvius Theatre, Dublin and West Yorkshire Marketing Consortium.

"The appointment of Padraig Cusack is a significant step forward for Siamsa Tire in terms of our ambitions," said Lisbeth Mulcahy, Chairwoman of Siamsa. "As a musician, a fluent Irish speaker and with a strong career in producing, programming and touring theatre in Ireland and internationally, he has the experience, vision and knowledge base to turn Siamsa into a truly world class organisation."

Padraig began his career as a cellist, playing with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the Kreisler String Orchestra, but his musical aspirations were ended prematurely following an accident. From there he moved to Arts Administration, initially at London's premier recital venue, the Wigmore Hall and subsequently at the South Bank Centre's Royal Festival Hall. In 1992, he was appointed Administrative Director of West Yorkshire Playhouse. In association with Cameron Mackintosh, he produced the touring production of the musical Five Guys Named Moe for the Playhouse, touring the UK, Ireland and mainland Europe. His freelance work has included work for Opera North, Bantry International Chamber Music Festival, Vesuvius Theatre and West Yorkshire Marketing Consortium.

For more information on Siamsa and its full summer programme please contact Catríona Fallon, Acting Chief Executive Officer, on 066 712 3055 by e-mail at siamsamarketing@eircom.net or log onto www.siamsatire.com