The Everyman Theatre in Cork has announced the appointments of Anna Marie Coughlan as Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer and Des Kennedy as Artistic Director.
Built in 1897 as the Everyman Palace Theatre, Cork’s oldest purpose-built theatre served as a Palace of Varieties and a cinema before being redeveloped in the 1990s as a modern, 650-seat theatre space. Its broad programming remit includes visiting companies, in-house productions and hosting the annual Guinness Jazz Festival.
Belfast-born Kennedy recently played an instrumental role as Creative Director in bringing the globally acclaimed Little Amal, a 12 foot-high puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian girl, to Northern Ireland for the first time.
His production of punk rock musical Good Vibrations was first seen at Belfast’s Lyric Theatre in 2018 and revived in 2023 before transferring to acclaim in New York.
He is also the international Associate Director on Harry Potter & The Cursed Child, having worked on the production from its earliest development stages through to its West End opening, subsequently directing the show for Broadway, Melbourne, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto and Hamburg.
Anna Marie Coughlan was previously Development and Partnerships Manager at the Everyman, having worked as a freelance in marketing, event management and as director of the Lavit Gallery in Cork.
Announcing the appointments, the venue said, “these are exciting times ahead for The Everyman!”