Bob Kelly – Writer

Bob Kelly is an actor & theatre maker from the west of Ireland. Trained in Paris’ renowned Lecoq school, he has performed in notable European venues including The Louvre, The Royal Ballet School, Theatre13 Paris and Theatro Massimo in Cagliari, as well as throughout Ireland. In recent years he has twice worked with the acclaimed director John Tiffany (Once: The Musical & Let the Right One In). He has played the mythical Irish hero Cuchulainn in Coney Island, New York and Coney Island, Sligo (On Baile’s Strand, Blue Raincoat). In Paris he received critical acclaim for his work in l’Ecrivain Public (Plateforme), and in 2012 he was nominated for an Irish Times Theatre Award for The Poor Mouth (Blue Raincoat). He speaks several languages and has performed lead roles in French (l’Ecrivain Public) and in Italian (Cabaret Emotivo). Other recent projects include Nivelli’s War (Cahoots, New Victory NY) and Samuel Beckett’s Play (Blue Raincoat).

He has written and directed for Blue Raincoat (The Rallying Call, Footfalls) and for the Hawk’s Well Theatre (The Big Wall). From 2016-18 he was Artist in Residence at the Hawk’s Well. In 2013 he staged an adaptation of Dradin, in Love by the acclaimed fantasy author Jeff Vandermeer (Annihilation). His award-winning short film Foxglove is currently in development as a feature with TW Films. His theatre work has been featured in the US publication The Steampunk User’s Manual: An Illustrated Practical and Whimsical Guide to Creating Retro-Futurist Dreams.

Current writing projects include Tintown, which was staged by Blue Raincoat in May 2019, and Breakfast on Pluto for Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival.

In addition to his actor training, Bob has a Higher Degree in Social Care from IT Sligo/FH Joanneum, Graz: studies which focused on ethics, psychology, gender studies and equality.