Deirdre Mulrooney is a writer/journalist, a lecturer in drama, a developer of ideas, and producer of cultural events (eg The Handel Hunt, 2008). She has also directed theatre.
Deirdre recently produced, wrote, and narrated “Ogoki: Call of the Wild”, a BCI-funded radio documentary first broadcast on Newstalk on December 21st, 22nd, and 25th, 2008. It tells the story of a return journey to Ogoki Post, the isolated Ojibway reservation in North Ontario where the Mulrooney family, from Limerick lived for seven years in the 1970’s and ‘80’s. In the documentary, Deirdre and her mother, Mary, return to the reservation over two decades on, and hear the Ojibway people share their shocking and moving history.
In 06/07 Deirdre returned to Canada, from her home in Dublin to do a stint as Artistic Talent Scout with Cirque du Soleil, one of the world’s top entertainment companies, in their Montreal HQ. A regular contributor of interviews and features to many publications, including Ireland’s The Sunday Tribune, Irish Director, and IMAGE Magazine, in 2008 Deirdre’s talent-spotting habit kick-started IMAGE’s monthly Culture pages. Her work has been syndicated. An innovator in cross-media, Deirdre was RTE Dance on the Box correspondent for the 2008 Dublin Dance Festival. Having developed her expertise in Contemporary Dance over many years, after working as a Consultant for The Touring Experiment/ The Arts Council in 2007, in 2008 Deirdre was a panelist on Arts Council New Work Awards. She was also delighted to contribute a programme note for CoisCeim Dance Theatre’s 2008 Dublin Theatre Festival opening show, “Dodgems”.
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Previously, Deirdre’s five-part documentary RTE radio series ”Nice Moves” (broadcast again in December ’08 on RTE Choice), on the history of dance and physical theatre in Ireland, was the basis for her “ground-breaking and provocative” (Hot Press) book “Irish Moves”, published by The Liffey Press in 2006 (Special Offer! Buy a copy here). Following on from “Irish Moves”, in 2008 Deirdre contributed the foreword to Percy Lovegrove’s fascinating memoir “An Auld Cockle Picker”, and spoke about Percy’s wife, Doreen Cuthbert, Abbey School of Ballet original (1927 – 1933) at its launch in the Howth Yacht Club on December 2nd. You can read Doreen’s amazing and historic story in “Irish Moves”.
It was this love of storytelling that got Deirdre selected to participate in the NYU/UCD Scriptwriting summer school, and then in the 1998 Lincoln Center Theatre’s ‘Director’s Lab’ (NYC). Among other shows, Deirdre has co-directed “ShesaWhore”, based on an idea by Angela Carter at Project Cube in 2001,and co-curated South Africa Week at the Helix in 2002. In November 2006 she was Curator of Events for CoisCeim Dance Theatre’s “Threads” series of events, exploring the dance connections between Germany and Ireland (a largely unknown subject she brought to public attention in “Irish Moves”, and “Nice Moves”). In 2007 Deirdre wrote the programme note for Fabulous Beast Dance Theatre’s award-winning production “The Story of the Bull” at London’s Barbican Theatre.
Deirdre has lectured extensively in Drama at UCD Drama Studies Centre, IES Dublin, Trinity’s Samuel Beckett Centre, and at NUI Cork. Supported by an annual scholarship from the German Academic Exchange (DAAD), and a publications award from the National University of Ireland, Deirdre’s first book (her PhD), “Orientalism, Orientation and the Nomadic Work of Pina Bausch”, was published by Peter Lang in 2002. While reading for her PhD Deirdre lived in Wuppertal for one year, where she attended Tanztheater Wuppertal rehearsals and company class, and for another year in Cologne, where she attended Cologne University, working with Tanztheater expert Dr. Hedwig Muller.
As a travel-journalist and photographer, Deirdre has visited and reported on many countries, including Ethiopia (with Irish Aid), Rwanda (with NGO Christian Blind Mission), South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, India, Vietnam, Singapore, Mauritius, North America, and throughout Europe. Deirdre has also contributed to RTE Radio’s Today PK, Sunday Miscellany, The Eleventh Hour, and Rattlebag; Lyric FM’s Artszone; The Sunday Tribune; Irish Director Magazine; The Irish Times; The Sunday Business Post; Magill Magazine; IT Magazine; Dance Magazine (USA); Abroad Magazine, and more.
After the launch of “Irish Moves” at Dublin’s Abbey Theatre in April 2006 (by Fintan O’Toole), Deirdre received the Department of Foreign Affairs Simon Cumbers Media Challenge Award to travel to Ethiopia, and write about Irish Aid there (for the Sunday Tribune). “Everything Happens for a Reason”, her latest contribution to RTE Radio One’s Sunday Miscellany, is included in their 2008 anthology, published by New Island Press, Dublin.
Deirdre is developing ideas for many projects, and lives in Dublin, Ireland.
