DUBLIN, 27 October 2021 – We are delighted to announce Caroline Byrne as Associate Director of the Abbey Theatre for 2022. As Associate Director, Caroline will engage with the programming process, support theatre artists as they develop, work closely with the team on the development of new work and direct work on our stages. 

Commenting on the appointment, Caroline Byrne said: “I am excited to the take up the role of Associate Director at the national theatre of Ireland. I am very inspired by the spirit and stewardship of the new directors, Caitríona McLaughlin and Mark O’Brien. I hope, in this role, to help realise their ambitions for the building and contribute to the art made on its’ stages. I thank them for their support and encouragement as an Irish artist and look forward to beginning at the Abbey Theatre.”

Caroline Byrne announced as Associate Director

Caroline, a native of Kilkenny, previously directed a major new production of Teresa Deevy’s Katie Roche on the Abbey stage in 2017. Caroline‘s other directing credits include Suited (Battersea Arts Centre), Spring Awakening (Young Vic Theatre), Faustus: That Damned Woman (Headlong, Lyric Hammersmith) Woman and Scarecrow (Royal Academy of Dramatic Art), All’s Well That Ends Well (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse), Oliver Twist (Regents Park Open Air Theatre), The Wheel (Milton Court Theatre) The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare’s Globe) Parallel Macbeth (Clare Theatre, Young Vic) Eclipsed (Gate Theatre, London) and Shakespeare in a Suitcase (co-directed with Tim Crouch for Royal Shakespeare Company). She has also had productions at Bush Theatre, Bristol Old Vic and Birmingham Rep. She was previously Associate Director at the Gate Theatre, Notting Hill and an Education Associate at the Royal Shakespeare Company.  

Caroline’s appointment marks the first of a number of artistic opportunities and associates that the Abbey will be announcing in the coming months.