Bridget O'Leary

Bridget Kathleen O’Leary (Associate Artistic Director) joined New Rep as Artistic and Education Associate in 2008. Most recently, she has directed New Rep’s productions of Blackberry Winter, Scenes from and Adultery, Muckrakers, Pattern of Life, Lungs, Fully Committed, Collected Stories (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best Production 2012), DollHouse (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best Production, 2011), boom, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Fool for Love. Other directing credits include: Grand Concourse, for Speakeasy Stage Company; Mud Blue Sky, for Bridge Rep; Othello, for Actors Shakespeare Project; The Flick, for Gloucester Stage Company;Reconsidering Hanna(h) , for Boston Playwrights Theatre; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, for Summer Festival Theatre, Roxbury Latin; Aunt Dan...

Bridget Kathleen O’Leary (Associate Artistic Director) joined New Rep as Artistic and Education Associate in 2008. Most recently, she has directed New Rep’s productions of Blackberry Winter, Scenes from and Adultery, Muckrakers, Pattern of Life, Lungs, Fully Committed, Collected Stories (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best Production 2012), DollHouse (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best Production, 2011), boom, Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and Fool for Love. Other directing credits include: Grand Concourse, for Speakeasy Stage Company; Mud Blue Sky, for Bridge Rep; Othello, for Actors Shakespeare Project; The Flick, for Gloucester Stage Company;Reconsidering Hanna(h) , for Boston Playwrights Theatre; Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, for Summer Festival Theatre, Roxbury Latin; Aunt Dan and Lemon, for Whistler in the Dark; The Boys of Winter (IRNE Nomination, Best New Play, 2008) for BKS productions; The Devil’s Teacup (IRNE Nomination, Best New Play, 2007) at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre; and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, The American Clock, Much Ado About Nothing, Curse of the Starving Class, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Sarah Kane’sCrave and 4.48 Psychosis, all at Boston University. In 2007, she assisted Artistic Director Wendy C. Goldberg at the National Playwrights’ Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and worked as an assistant on new plays by Rebecca Gilman and Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa. Before moving to Boston, Bridget worked in Washington, D.C. with the Olney Theatre Center, Theater Alliance, Cherry Red Productions, Charter Theater, Studio Theatre Second Stage, and Phoenix Theatre DC, of which she was a founding member. Selected D.C. directing credits include: Independence, Parallel Lives, and the creations of Unwrapped and Lulu Fabulous by area playwrights. Bridget serves as the Chair of the Literary Committee for the National New Play Network. She received her MFA in directing at Boston University.

read more
Recommended by

  • This is a reclamation of mythology that empowers its heroines. The play asks a question of fate vs. choice – are we doomed to repeat patterns and story tropes regardless of time period? Or is there something we can do to reclaim our narratives and take control of our voices? There is an infuriating “nowness” to this play that makes it potent. The lens that Brandii tells this story has mythological, almost cautionary fairy-tale quality about it that makes it feel playful, but it is still puts forth a difficult examination of what it means to be a woman.

    This is a reclamation of mythology that empowers its heroines. The play asks a question of fate vs. choice – are we doomed to repeat patterns and story tropes regardless of time period? Or is there something we can do to reclaim our narratives and take control of our voices? There is an infuriating “nowness” to this play that makes it potent. The lens that Brandii tells this story has mythological, almost cautionary fairy-tale quality about it that makes it feel playful, but it is still puts forth a difficult examination of what it means to be a woman.

  •

    This play is a stunning investigation of the sacrifices that we made to start a life in this country and the impossibility of ever really leaving your old life behind. It is funny, witty, clever and at times heart breaking. The set-up of putting this play inside of Long Day's Journey Into Night works extremely well. This is very easily producible 3-hander. I have seen it 2 times now - once over-the-top realistic and the other stripped down, both work for the piece.

    This play is a stunning investigation of the sacrifices that we made to start a life in this country and the impossibility of ever really leaving your old life behind. It is funny, witty, clever and at times heart breaking. The set-up of putting this play inside of Long Day's Journey Into Night works extremely well. This is very easily producible 3-hander. I have seen it 2 times now - once over-the-top realistic and the other stripped down, both work for the piece.

  •

    This play was developed through the Next Voices Fellowship program at New Repertory Theatre. It is a very hard hitting look at how we shape our own narratives and what drives us to do the unthinkable. The play is fast moving and hard hitting. Deirdre does an excellent job of allowing the story to unfold without the audience getting ahead of it. It is highly theatrical in how it weaves the past and the present. It has incredibly strong roles for women.

    This play was developed through the Next Voices Fellowship program at New Repertory Theatre. It is a very hard hitting look at how we shape our own narratives and what drives us to do the unthinkable. The play is fast moving and hard hitting. Deirdre does an excellent job of allowing the story to unfold without the audience getting ahead of it. It is highly theatrical in how it weaves the past and the present. It has incredibly strong roles for women.

  •

    This is such a lovely play about strong women bonding together to find themselves in a new phase in their lives. The relationships are strong. The play moves effortlessly forward. I also think it is a great piece for any company that has connections to talented actresses over the age of 50, a demographic we don't often see represented. The play is complex and doesn't shy away from some of the darker truths the women face, but at its heart, it is funny and touching.

    This is such a lovely play about strong women bonding together to find themselves in a new phase in their lives. The relationships are strong. The play moves effortlessly forward. I also think it is a great piece for any company that has connections to talented actresses over the age of 50, a demographic we don't often see represented. The play is complex and doesn't shy away from some of the darker truths the women face, but at its heart, it is funny and touching.

  •

    This play was developed as part of New Repertory Theatre's Next Voices program. It is a beautiful, complex look at the pursuit of happiness and the things that get in the way from us being who we want to be. The play is both heart breaking and very funny. I love the use of the "greek chorus" throughout the play. Cassie is a terrific writer who investigates inner demons, fear and identity. This play encompasses all of those things.

    This play was developed as part of New Repertory Theatre's Next Voices program. It is a beautiful, complex look at the pursuit of happiness and the things that get in the way from us being who we want to be. The play is both heart breaking and very funny. I love the use of the "greek chorus" throughout the play. Cassie is a terrific writer who investigates inner demons, fear and identity. This play encompasses all of those things.

View all 16 recommendations