Phyllis Ryan:PHYLLIS RYAN, who has died aged 90, was Ireland's best-known independent theatrical producer, presenting more than 100 plays and revues throughout Ireland.
Several of her productions successfully transferred to the London stage and her company brought the best of contemporary Irish theatre to the United States.
She championed the work of playwrights Hugh Leonard and John B Keane and provided an outlet for the talents of hundreds of actors. Small in stature, she had a big heart and, in the words of a colleague, “a will like spun steel”.
Phyllis Carmel Ryan was born in Dublin in 1920, one of the two children of Thomas and May Ryan. She had no memory of her father and, her parents having separated, she and her sister were reared by their mother. The family lived at several addresses in southeast Dublin before finally settling in Palmerston Road, Rathmines.
Educated at Alexandra School and College, she was at first drawn to music but was advised that her future lay elsewhere. Later, she developed an interest in theatre and at the age of 13, five years under the age limit, was accepted into the Abbey Theatre School of Acting. At 14 she was cast in Denis Johnston's The Moon in the Yellow Riverat the Abbey. When she was 16 the Abbey directors recommended her for membership of the company. In the meantime, she played the leading female role in Paul Vincent Carroll's Shadow and Substance.
She grew in confidence, performing with such actors as Cyril Cusack, Denis O’Dea and Shelagh Richards. But the appointment in 1941 of Ernest Blythe as managing director of the Abbey led to her departure from the company. She did not fit in with his plans for an Irish-speaking company, he told her; she could come back when she became fluent in Irish. She replied that she did not want to fit in and became a freelance actor.
In 1943 she married Seán Colleary, stage manager at the Gate Theatre. He later moved to England, and while they remained married until his death in 1965, they led separate lives. In the 1960s she formed a relationship with the poet and journalist, Liam Mac Gabhann, which continued until his death in 1978.
Tired of being typecast and playing "those awful dewy-eyed innocents", she decided to go into theatrical management, launching Orion Productions in 1956 with a Christmas revue Guided Mistletoe. There then followed the first of many plays by Tennessee Williams that Ryan presented, A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by Jim Fitzgerald, played to packed houses.
This set Orion on the road that led to the formation in 1958 of Gemini Productions, based for many years in the Eblana Theatre at Busáras, Dublin. Donagh MacDonagh's Lady Spiderand John B Keane's The Highest House on the Mountainwere early Dublin Theatre Festival successes for Gemini.
In 1962 she persuaded Alan Simpson and Carolyn Swift to revive the Pike Theatre production of The Rose Tattoothat the government had notoriously sought to shut down in 1957. Despite the cramped conditions in the Eblana, Gemini's primary base, Simpson insisted that a goat be found to appear in the play as specified in the script. However, in the middle of the play's three-month run, the goat's owner declared himself no longer willing to walk it to Busáras and back every night. Gemini advertised on radio for someone to do the job and a taxi firm offered its services for a small consideration. For the remainder of the run, the goat was ferried back and forth.
Gemini's production of Hugh Leonard's Stephen Dwas one of the hits of the 1962 Dublin Theatre Festival. It had an extended run at the Gate, transferring in the spring of 1963 to St Martin's Theatre, London, where Norman Rodway and TP McKenna were acclaimed by the critics and the whole ensemble "praised to the skies".
John B Keane's The Fieldwas another Gemini success. Ray McAnally gave a powerful performance as the "Bull" McCabe at the Olympia Theatre in 1965. Four years later, Keane's Big Maggie, with Marie Kean in the title role, was awarded a tumultuous reception at its Cork premiere. Siobhán McKenna, told Ryan she wanted to understand the "Kerry Amazons" Keane wrote about. "I want to be sure they exist."
In the 1960s Gemini began touring Ireland and Cork became a second home for the company, which staged three premieres at the opera house. Gemini was the mainstay of the Limerick Theatre Festival which was held annually from 1970 to 1975.
However, financial pressures mounted. The Eblana was too small for most shows to cover production costs and provincial returns were small. Accordingly, Ryan joined the consortium of managements that with Irish Actors Equity was to bring the Irish Theatre Company, the state-subsidised touring company, into existence. Despite a promising start, it folded, “killed off quite ruthlessly by the Arts Council” in Ryan’s opinion.
Leonard's Dawas given its Irish premiere at the 1973 Dublin Theatre Festival and was a huge success as it was later on Broadway. In 1974 a £5,000 grant from the Irish-American Cultural Institute enabled Gemini to support a unique exchange between Belfast, Derry and Dublin, a project that was close to Ryan's heart
In 1981 she was honoured by a gala tribute to mark Gemini's 21st anniversary at which she was awarded honorary life membership of Irish Actors Equity. At the Irish Times/ESB Theatre Awards in 2002 she was the recipient of the Special Tribute award.
She is survived by her son, the Rev Graham (Gregg), and daughter, Jacqui.
Phyllis Ryan: born, July 28th 1920; died, June 6th 2011
* This article was amended on June 14th, 2011