Judges for 2001 theatre awards announced

Karen Fricker

Karen Fricker is editor-in-chief of Irish Theatre Magazine, Irish entertainment correspondent for Variety (US), and theatre critic for Rattlebag (RTE Radio One). She has written about theatre for numerous publications. She is an assistant lecturer at the Drama Studies Centre, University College Dublin, and is studying for a doctorate at the School of Drama, Trinity College. Her professional work in theatre includes two years as director of publications at the Joseph Papp Public Theatre/ New York Shakespeare Festival. Originally from Los Angeles, she holds a BA and MA in English from Stanford University.

Fergus Linehan

Fergus Linehan, who remains on the judging panel for a second year, has written plays, musicals and revues for virtually every theatre in Dublin, including the Abbey, Gate, Gaiety, Olympia and Tivoli. Highlights include the musicals Mary Makebelieve and Speak of the Devil, and the plays Frauds and The Streets of Dublin (adapted from Boucicault). Revues include Black Rosie and the two-handers starring his wife, Rosaleen Linehan, and Des Keogh. The team was reunited last year for Des and Rosie Ride Again. He has written two novels, Under the Durian Tree and The Safest Place, and is a former arts editor and film critic of The Irish Times.

Fiach MacConghail

Fiach MacConghail was assistant to Noel Pearson for three years at the Abbey Theatre (1989-1991) and worked on Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa on Broadway in 1991. He was appointed artistic director of Project Arts Centre, Dublin, in 1992, and remained there for seven years. He was Irish commissioner for the Venice Biennale (1997) and Sao Paulo Bienal (1998), and was Ireland's cultural director for the World Exposition of 2000 in Hanover, Germany. He was a member of the programming committee for the Irish Arts Festival in the Kennedy Center, Washington, DC, in May 2000. He has co-produced two short films, Before I Sleep (RTE/Irish Film Board) and Lipservice (TG4/Irish Film Board), both written and directed by Paul Mercier, and is currently producing a third Mercier-scripted film.