Biography

Phyllis Ryan (27 July 1920 – 6 June 2011) was an Irish actress, founder, producer, dramaturg and artistic director. During 1936–1944 and 2000 she was involved with the Abbey Theatre where she appeared in many productions. In 1939 she toured with the Abbey Theatre and appeared in a production by Irish playwright Teresa Deevy called The King of Spain's Daughter; there were 16 performances in all from September to November.

She launched Orion Productions in 1956. In 1958 came Gemini Productions, based for many years in Dublin's Eblana Theatre in Busáras.

In the 1960s and 1970s Ryan was the major producer of new plays in Ireland outside of the Abbey Theatre. Phyllis Ryan and her Gemini Productions kept independent theatre alive in Dublin and premièred most of the work of playwright John B. Keane. The playwrights – Brian Friel, Joe O'Donnell, Tom Murphy and others – that Gemini nurtured were later adopted by the Abbey and other theatres.She wrote and published her memoirs, The Company I Kept, in 1996.