Board of Directors

Julie is Artistic Director/CEO at Mermaid County Wicklow Arts Centre. Her background is in performance, directing and producing. She holds a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies and English, and an MA in Drama and Theatre Studies from UCC.

Julie joined the board of Theatre Forum Ireland in September 2016 and joined the board of Graffiti Theatre Company in September 2017. She also sits on the Irish Playography Panel at Irish Theatre Institute.

She was Artistic Director of The Everyman, Cork from 2014 to 2020. She has worked as an actor, director & producer with numerous Irish arts organisations and companies, including Painted Bird, Conflicted, BrokenCrow, Kinsale Arts Week, Cork Midsummer Festival, Hammergrin, Corcadorca, Meridian, Dublin Theatre Festival, Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre, The Performance Corporation, Gare St. Lazare, Once Off Productions, Landmark Productions, and Siren Productions.

Recent directing credits include: The Lonesome West by Martin McDonagh (2018), Bluetooth by Rachel Thornton (2018), Autumn Royal by Kevin Barry (2018 remount, associate director), Dancing At Lughnasa by Brian Friel (2017), The Factory Girls by Frank McGuinness (2016), The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart by David Greig (2015), Lovers by Brian Friel (2015), all for The Everyman.

Recent producing credits include the world premiere of Mick Flannery’s Evening Train musical (2019), the Landmark/Everyman co-produced world premiere of Asking for It by Louise O’Neill (2018), the world premiere of Autumn Royal by Kevin Barry (2017) and the Irish premiere of Futureproof by Lynda Radley (2017), all for The Everyman.

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Tom Creed is a theatre and opera director, festival director and independent producer, originally from Cork and now based in Dublin. He has been a member of the voluntary steering committee of the National Campaign for the Arts since 2016, who have worked to ensure the survival and recovery of the arts sector during the pandemic.

He has directed with the Abbey, Gate, Irish National Opera, Thisispopbaby, Rough Magic, his own company Playgroup, and many other Irish companies and performers. His work has been seen at the Paris Opera, the Barbican in London, the Edinburgh, Perth and Melbourne International Festivals, and BAM and the Public Theatre in New York.

He has been Festival Director of Cork Midsummer Festival, Theatre and Dance Curator of Kilkenny Arts Festival and Associate Director of Rough Magic. He is on the board of GAZE Film Festival, and was previously on the board of Macnas and Dublin Fringe Festival.

Sara is a Dublin based producer. She has also been Associate Producer with Landmark Productions since 2011.

Recent productions include Thirst (and other bits of Flann) at The Peacock, nominated for Best Ensemble, Irish Theatre Awards 2018, and To Hell in a Handbag for Jonathan White & Helen Norton at Bewleys, Edinburgh Fringe and Irish/UK tour. Recent credits with Landmark include Asking For It (Everyman), The Approach (Project) and Ross O’Carroll Kelly’s Postcards from the Ledge (Gaiety).

Marketa has over 20 years of arts management experience in film, dance, theatre and venue management. Currently she is Programme Manager in Belltable, Limerick. As well as programming, she set up and runs the theatre development programme Belltable:Connect. As theatre producer, Marketa has toured extensively in Ireland and internationally to Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand. She was General Manager and Producer for The Performance Corporation and Fishamble: The New Play Company, for which she produced Silent by Pat Kinevane, winner of the Olivier Award 2016.

Paul Johnson is an arts manager, curator, mentor and dramaturge. He is the former Chief Executive of Dance Ireland. Paul’s background is in dance, theatre, film and multi-media, working as a performer, choreographer and collaborator for a range of companies including Dublin Contemporary Dance Theatre, IMDT, Scottish Ballet Steps Out, TAG Theatre Company and Brother Films. He ran his own company MaNDaNCE (1991-2001) and was Choreographer in Residence with Project Arts Centre, documented in Fine Lines on Shifting Ground: Reflections on a Choreographic Process (Project Press, 2000).

A creative and strategic thinker with extensive experience in management, leadership, strategy development, governance and relationship building. He was Artists Services Manager with the Arts Council (2003-2006).  He led on the successful opening of DanceHouse in 2006, and over a 14year period grew the programme and reach to create a public-facing flagship home for dance. His previous board experience includes serving on the Arts Council (2009 to 2013), and for Dance Resource Base NI and Ballet Ireland. He is currently a director trustee of IMDT and Create.

A graduate of DCU, Johnson has earned a BA and MA in Communications & Cultural Studies and is currently undertaking a Professional Certificate in Governance (IPA, Dublin), in addition to working on a range of mentorship and consultancy projects.

Patricia is Director of An Grianán Theatre, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal.  She is a theatre producer and venue manager with over 25 years’ experience. She holds a BA (Hons) Degree in Performing Arts from De Montford University and a Masters in Cultural Management from University of Ulster. In the UK she worked in various roles in organisations such as The Royal Academy of Arts, the Haymarket Theatre, and Proteus Theatre Company.

Returning to Ireland she was Manager of Charabanc Theatre Company and General Manager of the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.  Since moving to Donegal she has been an active member of the arts and cultural sector serving on the management committees of Earagail Arts Festival and the Donegal County Cultural Forum. She also sits on the boards of the Lyric Theatre, Belfast and Highland Radio, Letterkenny.

Aaron Monaghan, co-founder and now the Artistic Director of Livin’ Dred Theatre Company, is a director as well as a multi-awarding winning actor with numerous theatre, film and TV appearances. He trained at The Samuel Beckett Centre, Trinity College Dublin. Aaron has worked extensively with the Abbey Theatre, and with Druid Theatre Company, of which he is an ensemble member and with which he has toured. He has also worked with companies such as Fishamble, Bedrock, Yew Tree and Livin’ Dred, which he co-founded in 2004. Aaron is a recipient of a Lucille Lortel Award, Manchester Evening News Award, an Irish Times Irish Theatre Award and an OBIE Award for Outstanding Performance.

Elizabeth is the Executive Director of Wexford Arts Centre and has over 20 years experience working in theatre in a variety of roles including producer, company manager, actor, director and stage manager.  Elizabeth has produced productions which have toured nationally and internationally including London, Paris and New York.  Elizabeth worked prior as company manager with Rough Magic Theatre Company and as actor with Irish Repertory Theatre, New York and Irish Arts Center New York as well as Súgan Theatre Boston and Raven Theatre Dublin and founded wrote and directed for Theatre Nua, New York.  Elizabeth also serves on the committee of the Wexford Literary Festival.  She studied arts and literature at Harvard Extension, MA and film at School of Visual Arts, New York and holds an MBA in Professional Arts Management from IT Carlow.