Hello
I’m Eileen Connolly — a writer, artist, and maker of theater.
SOME BIOGRAPHICAL SNAPSHOTS:
1) I’m 9 years old. I tell my mom I want to be an artist. She signs me up for a class with a room full of adults.
2) I’m in high school, taking the train into Philadelphia for art classes at Moore College of Art. My mom: “Don’t talk to anyone on the train, and no cutting through alleys.” Of course I cut through alleys. Those art supplies are heavy.
3) In college, I meet The Bard of all bards (by whom I mean Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, of course): “Being your slave what should I do but tend upon the hours and times of your desire?” Seriously. The boy can write. I fall madly in love. Words, words, words.
4) 21st century. New York City. I start up a non-profit theater and hoodwink actors into performing my plays at New York Musical Theater Festival, Theatre for a New City/Dream Up Festival, HERE Arts Center, New York International Fringe Festival, Connelly Theater, Hudson Guild Theater, and The American Theatre of Actors. Lessons Learned: New York City is fun. People are easy to hoodwink.
5) I stumble upon teaching and dupe a generation of young actors to breathe and speak pretty while doing Shakespeare. On the side, I sing at a country western bar in midtown Manhattan. Life requires variety.
6) Flashback: I’m 9 again. For my birthday, my parents allow me three purchases at the bookstore. Here’s my haul: Little Women, Charlotte’s Web, Walden Pond. Books are amazing.
SOME ACTUAL SNAPSHOTS:
That tender age when you ask your father to draw you a bear so you can learn how to draw a bear. He draws you a stick figure. Just what are these adults up to? You attempt to swing it off.
A gal needs a good cub reporter look if she’s going to be a writer and director. (Snappy hat, and confidence that goes with it, courtesy of Kevin & Howlin, Dublin.)
Traveling the world in search of a story, and a good risotto al nero di seppia. How did I ever leave this paradise? More importantly, when can I return?
I’m teaching acting at Ball State University, and planning a movement-voice workshop for this winter in NYC (more info on that soon).
Biography
Eileen Connolly is a former actress turned playwright, director and designer. She holds an M.F.A. in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Theater & Dance from DeSales University.
As a member of Actors Equity, Eileen performed regionally in everything from Shakespeare to Agatha Christie to understudying Charles Busch in a musical. In NYC she founded Wallis Knot Theater in 2003 and directed and designed all of their productions which premiered at: New York Musical Theater Festival, Theater for the New City, Dream Up Festival, HERE Art Center, The New York International Fringe Festival, The Connelly Theatre, Hudson Guild Theatre, New Actors Workshop and the American Theatre of Actors. She choreographed Beowulf at Irish Repertory Theater, and for Wallis Knot Theatre productions.
COSTUME DESIGN/CONSTRUCTION: Wallis Knot Theater, Fallen Angel Theater, NYCDA, The Wilma Theater, Theater Caravan, Painted Bride Art Center, Roschman Dance, and others.
TEACHING: Acting/Scene Study with Amy Marcs; Voice and Shakespeare at Mike Nichols/George Morrison’s New Actors Workshop, and the New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts; Audition Technique; Theatre History/Literary Analysis; Movement and Dance.
ART EXHIBITS: Brooklyn Waterfront Arts Coalition, Rockefeller Plaza/New York Cow Parade, Currican.
BOOK COVER ART: Samuel French, Perfect Crime Books, and Greenpoint Press.
Self Portrait, Spring 2021. Gazing Out at the World.
Self Portrait, Spring 2020. Alone in the Studio.
Back to plunking those keys. The new novel ain’t gonna write itself, missy. So let the fun begin — I mean, continue!