Olwen Fouéré

Olwen Fouéré, born in Ireland of Breton parents, is an Irish/French actress and theatre artist whose work occupies a central position in contemporary Irish theatre and crosses the boundaries of many art forms. She has performed with most major theatre companies in Ireland and the United Kingdom. Her father is the Breton nationalist and Celtic League founder Yann Fouéré.

Career

She is an Artistic Director of Operating Theatre (with composer Roger Doyle). Her work with Operating Theatre work includes her ground-breaking solo performances of The Diamond Body ( 1984–89) written by Aidan Mathews and The Pentagonal Dream (1987) written by Sebastian Barry. She appears in the performance installation Here Lies, created in collaboration with director Selina Cartmell and presented in Galway, Dublin and Paris, which maps Antonin Artaud's 1937 journey through Ireland.

Fouéré has also performed extensively at the Abbey Theatre and at the Gate Theatre, Dublin, where she created the role of Salome in Steven Berkoff's production of Oscar Wilde's Salome, which toured internationally. She has played several major theatre roles in the UK with the Royal National Theatre, the RSC, ESC and the role of Rosaura in Life is a Dream directed by Calixto Bieito at the Edinburgh Royal Lyceum Theatre, Barbican and BAM ('98-'99).

Her many stage performances include roles in Peep Gynt, Six Characters in Search of an Author, Antigone, A Cry from Heaven, and the central roles of Hester Swane and the Mai in the world premieres of By the Bog of Cats and The Mai which were written for her by playwright Marina Carr.

Her film appearances are few and include the 1986 film Time after Time with John Gielgud and Googie Withers, Harden Shoulder and Saltwater by Conor Mc Pherson and Space Truckers with Dennis Hopper and Charles Dance.

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