When she finished school, she pursued her interest in theatre studying first at Erwin Piscator's Dramatic Workshop, New York, and later at the Actors Studio run by Lee Strasberg. . An artist of the highest calibre, O'Connell was mourned and missed by many friends and associates both personally and professionally. Margaret Skinnider: from maths teacher to 1916 sharpshooter, How Waking the Feminists set an equality agenda for Irish theatre, Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality. But Devlin and collaborators have stayed with Focus as volunteers. Eleanore Deirdre O'Connell. Her maid of honor was Sabina Coyne, an actress in Deirdre’s company and the future wife of Ireland’s current president, Michael D. Higgins. Deaths from cancer in the Republic of Ireland. As a "noted ballad and folk singer", she sang in various clubs in England. O'Connell continued singing, returning to New York on several occasions to raise money for the new Focus Theatre. Deirdre established an actor-training school in Dublin’s Pocket Theatre, teaching her students improvisational work, effective memories, and later directing them in small productions. Geni requires JavaScript! Bankers, a political allegory by Brian McAvera, opened this week in the New Theatre. This piece has been adapted from Powerful Women in the Arts blog published on the Smashing Times International Centre for the Arts and Equality website, The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ. The Stanislavski system refers to a system of training created by the Russian Theatre practitioner, actor and director Konstantin Stanislavski, co-founder of the Moscow Art Theatre and creator of the Stanislavski system of actor training, the most influential system of acting in the western world. Eleanora Deirdre O'Connell was born to Irish immigrant parents on June 16th 1939 in the South Bronx district of New York City. We need your consent to load this YouTube content. She put the great writers of the world on that tiny beloved stage with little or no money. Before the opening of a new play called Bankers, the Focus's artistic director Joe Devlin took me through some of its captivating past. She was a serious student, grounded in her craft and committed to opening her own Stanislavski school in Dublin. A young woman’s career choices were narrow – nursing school, “going to business” (prefaced by a stint at secretarial school), or, if she was blessed with a vocation, the convent. In June of 1965 she married Irish singer Luke Kelly, a founding member of the band The Dubliners. In 1986, she received the Harvey’s Theatre Award for Outstanding Contribution to Irish Theatre. Many of Ireland’s leading theatre and film artists started their careers at Focus under the direction of Deirdre including Gabriel Byrne, Olwen Fouéré, Margaret Toomey, Tom Hickey, Oscar-winner Joan Bergin and Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy. She had a beautiful singing voice. 1967. “An original and free thinking producer, director, and actress, she was before her time and way ahead of it. Her introduction to Ireland of the Stanislavski system, the first actor-training studio of its kind in Ireland, was seen as a radical style of training, emphasising the creative role of the actor and insisting on group or ensemble teamwork as the essence of good theatre.This emphasis on ensemble became the hallmark of many Focus productions as observed in a 1992 review The Irish Times of Jean Genet's The Balcony: "superb acting, a strong sense of ensemble playing’’. O'Connell worked as artistic director of the Focus Theatre and Stanislavski Studio from 1967 until her death in 2001, as well as acting in most of the major productions presented. Baptized Eleanor, she was Ellie as a child, a little beauty with a bounty of red-gold hair. By 1963, the 23 year old had completed her education in theatre and had a great career ahead, when she had a calling to go to Ireland. But Luke, said, ‘I’m going to marry her now.’ I think he was afraid she would go back to America, where she had been working with a theater in Greenwich village. Luke, the card-carrying communist from the Dublin docks and Deirdre, the otherworldly creature from the South Bronx, came together and married in 1965. "She was a fully formed creative genius, a young lightbulb who arrived in patriarchal, repressed Ireland", says Devlin, who took over in 2002. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences, Footage from Hold the Passion, Rory O'Leary's 2008 documentary about Deirdre O'Connell. In 1988, the play transferred to the Peacock Theatre, Dublin and then to the Irish Arts Center, New York, where it received excellent reviews and McDonnell won a Best Actor Obie award. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. The itinerant theatre lives! That your... Deirdre’s wedding to singer Luke Kelly. Emmett was in Sweden at university. The Stanislavski Studio made a significant contribution to Irish theatre by providing a unique training to a large number of actors and directors. Money came from donations and subscriptions and a grant from The Arts Council. She finished her training in the Stanislavski 'Method' at the fashionable Actor's Studio in Manhattan. “Deirdre and Luke are buried in Glasnevin Cemetery but their legacy and their spirits are alive and well, and there is no doubt, will continue to inspire us.”. The balladeering politico had just formed The Dubliners with Ronnie Drew. source: Irish Echo - February 11, 1984 We need your consent to load this Vimeo contentWe use Vimeo to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Classes were £1 and involved the deep introspection and body work of the hallowed 'Method'. Actress Sabina Coyne, later the wife of President Michael D. Higgins, is the bridesmaid. It was a community of working-class Irish immigrants bound by a set of strict rules, especially when it came to their daughters. It reopened in 2010 and the Focus was awarded a €1.3m grant to build a bigger theatre, but could not raise the full amount needed, so gave the money back. Giusseppe Ungaretti, the great Italian poet who died a few years ago, lived for a while in Paris — there one of his friends was an exiled Arab. But he says, “She carried the load mostly herself. Her gifts – singing, dancing, and especially acting – were supported by her parents who encouraged creativity in each of their five children. RTÉ.ie is the website of Raidió Teilifís Éireann, Ireland's National Public Service Media. Her teachers included Erwin Piscator, Saul Colin and Allan Miller. Actor Gabriel Byrne who studied with Deirdre remembers his time with her at the Focus Theatre. O'Connell was born in the South Bronx district of New York, one of five children whose parents were Irish immigrants. In a forthcoming book, Stanislavski in Ireland: 50 Years of Focus Theatre, he describes what it was like stepping into Deirdre's dainty black pumps: "The general feeling in Dublin at the time was that the venue had become a museum and was raiding the successes from its own past.". O'Connell was born in the South Bronx district of New York City, one of five children whose parents were Irish immigrants. She arrived in Dublin in 1962 and again changed her name, this time forever. Unfortunately, Luke’s benevolence extended to total strangers as well, inviting them to live in the home he shared with Deirdre. ℘℘℘ trends.embed.renderExploreWidget("TIMESERIES", {"comparisonItem":[{"keyword":" Deirdre O'Connell ","geo":"","time":"today 12-m"}],"category":0,"property":""}, {"exploreQuery":"q=Deirdre O'Connell&date=today 12-m","guestPath":"https://trends.google.com:443/trends/embed/"}); Deirdre O'Connell was born on June 16, 1939, is Actress. When Deirdre O'Connell die, Deirdre O'Connell was 61 years old. Invariably dressed in black, she became a familiar sight in 1960s Dublin, walking quickly through the streets near the Pocket Theatre, and later the Focus Theatre, her flaming red hair piled high on her head. Konstantin Stanislavski, founder of the Moscow Art Theatre, demanded his actors have a knowledge of their authentic self and bring personal traumas to their roles. Funeral arrangements were not in place last night. In her spare time, she performed in coffee houses and even sang at the Newport Folk Festival, sharing a stage with Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. I’m going to change my flower on the hour.’”. The Dublin Focus Theatre incorporating the Stanislavski Studio was officially opened on September 29th 1967 at 6 Pembroke Place with a production of Play with a Tiger by Doris Lessing, which ran for four weeks. Luke is married to Deirdre O'Connell, ... Luke Kelly - 1939-1984 The Song of & Bird Alone. Ms. O'Connell died of cancer at age 61 at her home in Dublin and was buried at Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin. Over time, both Luke and Deirdre became active in political causes like Amnesty International and Ireland’s Anti-Apartheid Movement, and later supported the H-Block hunger strikers in Northern Ireland. He preceded her in death in 1984. This suited Luke Kelly who by this time was in a relationship with Irish-American actress Deirdre O’Connell, a pioneering figure in proliferating the Stanislavski method of acting in western Europe. People tried to detour her off to concentrate on the singing side, but acting was what she wanted.”, Emmett, who became a successful businessman in the mining and oil exploration business, supported his sister when he could. It was always a hand to mouth experience and she was too proud and too earnest to take advantage of anyone’s generosity. ... She married the Irish singer Luke Kelly in June 1965, but they separated in the early 1970s. Reviewing the production in The Irish Times, Gerry Colgan said O’Connell gave "a towering performance" as Bernarda. Her funeral service was held in Whitehall Church where she had married Luke Kelly. He wrote a little poem in his memory. “I loved Deirdre. Now alone, Deirdre spent most of her time at the theatre, calling the troupe her “family.” She was a frequent sight on Dublin Streets, moving from home to work, known as the “Woman in Black,” a Kathleen ni Houlihan wearing layers of black shawls and skirts carrying a clipboard overflowing with scripts, notes, and snippets of poetry. an accident about to happen.” They separated but their bond remained, and when Luke Kelly died in 1984, she called herself his widow even though they had been apart for years and there had been another woman in his life. Irish American Actress, Singer, And Theatre Director, June 16 1939 - South Bronx, United States, The Bronx, Bronx County, New York, United States, South Bronx, The Bronx, Bronx County, New York, United States. Deidre O'Connell was also a folk-singer and performed at the Newport Folk Festival. It's now homeless, but Dublin's 'itinerant' stage has had quite a journey. How Deirdre O'Connell changed Irish culture Updated / Wednesday, 19 Feb 2020 16:06 Deirdre O'Connell, pictured at the funeral of her husband Luke Kelly in 1984. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Irish American actress, singer, and theatre director who founded the Focus Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. Yet she was an inspiration to so many. source: Irish Echo - February 11, 1984 In 1967, she founded the Focus Theatre, becoming its manager, artistic director, and fundraiser—as well as acting in many of its productions.