The Black Wolfe Tone

Cast – 
Kwaku Fortune
Voice of Nurse Clare Barrett

Creative Team – 
Playwright: Kwaku Fortune
Director: Nicola Murphy Dubey
Set & Costume Designer: Maree Kearns
Lighting Designer: Adam Honoré
Music & Sound Designer: Denis Clohessy
Artistic Director (Fishamble): Jim Culleton
Artistic Director (Irish Rep): Charlotte Moore

Production Team – 
Producer: Laura MacNaughton
Production Manager: Eoin Kilkenny
Assistant Producer: Evie McGuinness
Stage Manager (Rehearsals): Sophie Flynn
Stage Manager (Irish Tour): Steph Ryan
Marketing (Fishamble): Allie Whelan
Trailer: Jeda de Brí
Artwork: Leo Byrne & Publicis
PR: O’Doherty Communications
Executive Director: Eva Scanlan
Producing Director (Irish Rep): Ciarán O’Reilly

Kwaku Fortune – Actor and Playwright
Kwaku will play the role of Kwaku in THE HAIRCUT, written and directed by Wayne Jordan for The Ark. He played the role of Vet in AMELIA, directed by Claire O’Reilly, for the Dublin Theatre Festival. He has most recently filmed the role of Dec for season 2 of THE DRY for Element Pictures; and the Narrator in ANNIVERSARY, directed by Jan Komasa. He appeared on our screens as Josh Ola alongside Angeline Ball, Peter Coonan and Simone Kirby in HIDDEN ASSETS directed by Thaddeus O’Sullivan and Kadir Balci. Kwaku reprised this role in the second season. On stage Kwaku recently played Gary in YOU BELONG TO ME, directed by Lynne Parker; he appeared alongside Camille O’Sullivan in PIAF directed by Des Kennedy for the Gate Theatre, Dublin; and as Ray in THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE directed by Rachel O’Riordan for the Lyric Hammersmith & Chichester Festival Theatre. Further screen credits include LINE OF DUTY for the BBC; REDEMPTION directed by John Hayes for ITV; BURN IT ALL opposite Toni O’Rourke, directed by Jack Hickey; NORMAL PEOPLE directed by Lenny Abrahamson and Hettie Macdonald for BBC 1, BBC 3 and HULU; and ANIMALS alongside Holliday Grainger and Alia Shawkat, directed by Sophie Hyde. Kwaku is also the voice of GAEL in the Skydance Animation / Apple+ animated feature LUCK. Further stage credits include ABSENT THE WRONG by Carys D. Coburn; Eli in ASKING FOR IT at Birmingham Repertory Theatre; PEAT directed by Tim Crouch; and the role of Dara Mood Caitríona McLaughlin’s acclaimed production of Marina Carr’s ON RAFTERY’S HILL directed for the main stage at the Abbey Theatre, Ireland’s National Theatre. Kwaku has recently been nominated for the 2024 Screen Ireland – IFTA Rising Star Award.

Nicola Murphy – Director
New York directing credits: A Girl is a Half-formed thing (NY Times Critic’s Pick), Pumpgirl (NY Times Critic’s Pick), Belfast Girls, The O’Casey Cycle reading series, The Transatlantic Commissions Program, The Transatlantic Residency, Not Beckett Festival, New Works Summer and Fall Festivals, and Féile Bród at Irish Rep. International directing credits: Stop/Over by Gary Duggan as part of Dublin FRINGE, the premiere production of RENT at Cas Di Cultura, Aruba’s National Theatre (also performed a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe), the world premiere of Beef by Michael Musi at The Box Theatre in Toronto.

Director of Audience and New Play Development at Irish Repertory Theatre. Co-Founder and Artistic Director of On The Quays Productions. Selected participant in the Origin Theatre Company’s inaugural Scéal Nua Program (2024-2025) at the Irish Arts Center. Graduate of The American Academy of Dramatic Arts conservatory acting program, and MFA in Directing from The Lir, National Academy of Dramatic Art, Trinity College Dublin. Www.nicolacmurphy.com

Maree Kearns – Set & Costume Designer
Maree’s career in set and costume design has led to her being a regular creative collaborator with many of Ireland’s leading companies and directors in theatre, dance, opera, and musicals. She has created worlds for performance on stages big and small across Ireland and internationally, in site-specific locations, immersive experiences and outdoor productions.

​Maree’s design work counts set and costume designs for The Abbey & Peacock Theatres, Anu Productions, The Ark, CoisCeim Dance Theatre Company, Bord Gais Energy Theatre, Everyman Theatre, Fishamble Theatre Company, Cork Opera House, An Grianann Theatre, The Corn Exchange, Landmark Productions, The Lyric Theatre, and many more. Maree has also worked extensively in television and film and is the course director for the Masters of Fine Art in Stage Design at the Lir Academy, Trinity College in Dublin. She is the recipient of the Tanya Moiseiwitsch design award at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in 2024, and a winner of the Irish Times theatre award for set design. For more information see www.mareekearns.com

Adam Honoré – Lighting Designer
Adam Honoré is a Harlem based designer for the stage. Recent designs include Purlie Victorious (Broadway), Ain’t No Mo’ (Broadway), Ragtime (City Center), Cats: The Jellicle Ball (PAC NYC), The Lonely Few (MCC), Jelly’s Last Jam (Encores!), I Can Get It For You Wholesale (Classic Stage Co), Empire Records (McCarter), Gun & Powder (Papermill), and Trading Places (Alliance). Adam is a Drama Desk Nominee and recent recipient of the Obie Award for Sustained Excellence. @itsadamhonore

Denis Clohessy – Music & Sound Designer
Denis has previously worked with The Abbey Theatre, The Gate Theatre, Fishamble, Rough Magic, CoisCéim, Junk Ensemble, Corn Exchange, Northlight Theatre, Chicago and Beijing Children’s Art Theatre. He won the Irish Times theatre award for Best Soundscape in 2011 and 2019. He was also a nominee in 2015 for Junk Ensemble and Brokentalker’s ‘It Folds’. Denis was an associate artist with the Abbey in 2008 and was a participant on Rough Magic’s ADVANCE programme in 2012.
Composition for Film and Television includes the feature films One Night In Millstreet (Fastnet Films) Older than Ireland (Snack box Films), His and Hers (Venom Film), The Irish Pub (Atom Films) and the animation series Will Sliney’s Storytellers (Fastnet Films).

Laura MacNaughton – Producer
Laura MacNaughton has worked in the professional arts sector for over twenty years in Theatre, Film and Dance. She has worked primarily as a General Manager, Producer and Programmer. Laura has worked at a Senior Level in multiple arts organisations in Dublin, these include The Gate Theatre, The Dublin Dance Festival and The O’Reilly Theatre. Most recently she was Chief Operating Officer for First Fortnight, the mental health arts festival. She is Co-founder and Creative Producer for Exit Pursued by a Bear, a theatre company for Young Audiences. Their first work Our Little World by Owen Roe and Michele Forbes directed by Louise Lowe (2022) was commissioned in response to the impact of Covid on primary school children. Laura is a classically trained musician and also works with the Drama Department of Belvedere College. Current producing work for Fishamble includes In Two Minds by Joanne Ryan directed by Sarah Jane Scaife, Breaking by Amy Kidd, and the work of Pat Kinevane on tour in Ireland and internationally.