Angela Ryan Whyte
Angela Ryan Whyte has worked in theatre for many years as an actor, playwright, director, producer, and drama facilitator. Angela graduated from N.U.I. Galway with an Honours M.A. in Drama and Theatre Studies and completed further training in various acting, directing and writing disciplines. Angela began acting professionally in 2001 touring nationally before making her playwriting debut in 2008 with her play ‘Til Kingdom Come, produced by Selkie Theatre in association with Age Action Ireland to highlight Positive Ageing Week 2008. In 2009 she founded Jasango Theatre and was producer, actor and tour managerfor Bombshells which toured Ireland for two years before embarking on a US tour and My Brilliant Divorce (national tour 2011/2012) She co-produced Bo Leictreach Green Play Festival. Other plays include For Penguin’s Sake(Galway Fringe Festival/Offaly Culture
Night) and Old Habits (Bo Leictreach) She devised and directed Craic On The Canal; a sitespecific youth theatre show. She co-produced and co-directed Siobhan Donnellan’s The Mire and Bo Leictreach 2012, at which the play premiered
Angea was also a founding facilitator with Offaly Youth Theatre, and devised and directed several youth theatre productions. With Jigsaw, The National Centre for Youth Mental Health, Angela produced and directed Write Your Mind staged in 2015/2016 and in 2017 adapted it for radio with RTE Drama on One. It went on to win an award for Best Drama at The New York Festival of Radio in 2019. In 2013, Angela co-founded the national playwriting festival Scripts - Ireland’s Playwriting Festival. A festival dedicated to new Irish plays—the writing, development and nurturing of new works, Angela has produced 7 festivals to date.
Selected playwrights benefit from a professional development process where they are mentored by professional playwright Eugene O’ Brien in an exciting workshopping process which culminates in a live performance of new works at the end of the festival week. Scripts has collaborated with The Abbey Theatre since 2013, with a judging panel led by the Abbey’s literary department travelling to the festival to pick a winning play annually.
