Yvonne Coughlan

Director Yvonne Coughlan, MA Theatre and Drama studies, UCC, from Kinsale, Co. Cork, Ireland, founded RSVP (Red Sandstone Varied Productions) in 2006, and has co-created arts participatory projects in short film and theatre, site specific theatre projects, inter-disciplinary performances, festival arts installations and community arts events, musical theatre and music videos in Ireland and internationally. Yvonne has had the pleasure of writing, directing and producing live performances, short film, art film, documentaries and radio podcasts, in Ireland, England, Scotland, Greece, Norway, Poland and Australia, and had the honour of working with creatives worldwide. Though her heart lies with the artistic direction of the actor on screen or stage, she is also a producer and casting director for both film and stage; with highlights such as casting director and line producer for award winning short film '3 Friends', an adaptation of the work of Colm Toibín by screenwriter/ director Michael Culpepper; and writer/director/producer for award winning short silent film, An Étude in Art. Further positions held by Yvonne are production manager and casting director for promotional film company VisitorFlix International Ltd; Chairperson of the board of directors for Firkin Crane, the home of dance theatre in Cork; coordinator in the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) for Cork-South-West; and Creative Producer with InFlightflix, the Aer Lingus Inflight destination video guide. Yvonne's company, RSVP, extols the virtues of creative expression through its community work, and produces everything from musical theatre and seasonal family experiences, to annual awards ceremonies, offering creative performance opportunities to the talented people of all ages. Prominent Cork heritage locations have provided memorable settings for Yvonne's writing and directing in theatre, such as Blackrock Castle Observatory, Fota House and Gardens, The Old Cork Waterworks and Cork City Gaol where the first production of Yvonne's writing 'The Haunted History Tour' began in 2007. Since her Masters thesis project involving the politically and logistically challenging theatre production of Information for Foreigners by Griselda Gambaro, with 40 actors and 20 crew on 13 stages for 4 concurrent audience groups over 5 nights in 2003, Yvonne has enjoyed the adventure of many ground breaking projects: directing a cast of 20 women for The Vagina Monologues in 2009; creating the Make a Film in 4 Days project in Ireland in 2011, and taking it to Greece in 2017; in 2012, co-creating the film and theatre inter-disciplinary performance 'No matter where you go there you are' with Jennifer Williams and Cathie Clinton, which premiered in the 2012 Melbourne Fringe Festival, Australia; and 2013 was the year Yvonne responded to the national tourism initiative with The Gathering-RSVP; this involved a multi-disciplinary performance in film, theatre, poetry, visual art, dance and song entitled Irish HeArts in collaboration with writer/ director/ choreographer Martin A. David, poet Adam Wyatt, choir leader Caz Jeffries., artist Elaine Garde, director Stephen Broekhuizen, playwright Mark Harvey Levine, artisans Levi & Atilla Magyar and Director of Photography Maurice Supple. Yvonne's award winning short film screenplay REGRET, is on its international film festival journey, but she is looking forward to production of this film. Her favourite productions forever, are her son and grandson.