Bridget Kathleen O’Leary

Director of New Play Development

Bridget Kathleen O’Leary (she/her/hers) is a freelance director, dramaturg and theater educator. From 2008-2018 she served as the Associate artistic director at New Repertory Theatre. Select directing credits include: Heartland, Ripe Frenzy (IRNE Award winner for Best New Play), Blackberry Winter (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best New Play), Pattern of Life (IRNE Award winner for Best New Play), Lungs, Collected Stories (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best Production 2012), Doll House (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best Production, 2011), and Fool for Love. Other directing credits include: Grand Concourse, for Speakeasy Stage Company; Othello, for Actor’s Shakespeare Project; The Flick, for Gloucester Stage Company; The Other Place, for The Nora Theatre Company and Underground Railway Theater; Recent Tragic Events and Aunt Dan and Lemon, for Whistler in the Dark; Reconsidering Hanna(h)and The Devil’s Teacup (IRNE Nomination, Best New Play, 2007) at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Bridget served on the Executive Committee for the National New Play Network (NNPN) as the Chair of the Literary Committee from 2012-2020 where she over saw the selection process for both the NNPN Showcase of new works and the Kennedy Center’s MFA Playwrights’ Workshop. She was the production dramaturg on the premiere of Finish Line: A documentary play about the 2013 Boston Marathon (Elliot Norton Nomination, Best New Play) at the Boch Center and has worked as a dramaturg with the Kennedy Center and Washington University’s Hotch Fest. From 2012-2017, Bridget was the creator and curator for the Next Voices reading series at New Repertory Theatre. 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. Bridget received her MFA in directing at Boston University and her Certificate in Arts and Culture Strategy from National Arts Strategies and the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice.

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