Niall Rea’s model box for The Belfast Tempest is immediately inviting. It draws the viewer in to a world in miniature where every small detail appears to open into another, like an Escher design. The perfection of the world he creates showcases his attention to detail and the virtuosity of his craft.
Niall lectures in Theatre Design and Performing Arts at Institute of Technology Sligo. He received his AHRC funded doctorate from the Brian Friel Centre for Theatre Research Queen’s University in Belfast.
As a designer, Niall has worked extensively all over the UK and Ireland, as well as in the rest of Europe and the USA. He has designed over one hundred productions in Belfast for companies such as Tinderbox, Lyric Theatre, G.B.L. Productions, Replay, Greenshoot, Aisling Ghear, Theatre at the Mill, Brassneck. Some of his other favourite credits include Ghosts (Fru Emilia Theatre, Iceland), La Dispute and Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield), and Sweet Charity (B.A.C., London). He is associate designer of Rawlife Theatre company having designed all their productions since 2006. The European companies he has worked with include Michel Laub/Remote Control Productions and Company RAZ; designing for Planet Lulu, Daniel and the Dancers, Frankula, and Angelo senza Angelo, often collaborating with Marina Abramovic, the renowned international performance artist.
Niall also works with choreographers to stage experimental dance pieces; including the Puerto Rican National Ballet, Melanie Stewart Dance, Philadelphia and Theatre Encorps in London.
His practice-based academic research explores the performance of queer identities in Northern Ireland through the conflict and post-conflict periods. He is artistic director and designer of TheatreofplucK, Northern Ireland’s first publicly funded gay theatre company. TheatreofplucK were in residence at the MAC, Belfast’s modern contemporary arts centre, when it opened in 2012/13, preparing four productions all of which examine LGBT people in society, and all either world or Irish Premieres.
PQ2019 Productions
The Belfast Tempest
Creative Producer/Director Andrea Montgomery
Creative Producer/Associate Director (Masque & Storm) Tom Finlay
Composer/ Musical Director Nick Boyle
Sound Designer Augustine Leudar
Choreographer/ Movement Director Gary Rowntree
Choreographer/ Movement Director Bridget Madden
Lighting Designer Conleth White
Set and Costume Designer Niall Rea
Costume Design Ciana Mc Donald
Choir Master Keith Acheson
Cast
Prospero James Doran
Ariel Patrick McBrearty
Caliban Gary Crossan
Miranda Debra Hill
Prince Ferdinand Parys Jordon
Queen Alonsa Nicola Gardner
Antonia Jo Donnelly
Gonzala Moninne Dargan
Sebastian Ashley Alymann
Trincalo Robert Kane
Stephana Nuala McKeever
Production Manager Ashley Smyth
Stage Manager Cassie Gallagher
Assistant Stage Managers Seana Green, Monica McNally, Sarah Robb, Aaron Cathcart, Bridget Madden
Sound Operator Conor Ó Gallachóir
Set Design Consultant T13 Liam Lynch
Set Building Paul McCrory, Joey Lynch, Dennis Lynn, Tony Strain
Costume Assistant Roision McName
Costume Assistant & Maker Grace Awo-abosi