STAFF

Holly Griffith

Artistic Director

Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Holly Griffith (she/her) has worked as an actor, director, writer, producer, and theatre educator for over a decade. Her career began in Tucson Arizona where she was a resident actor at The Rogue Theatre and an Artistic Associate at Scoundrel & Scamp Theatre. Holly earned an MFA in Theatre Directing from The Lir Academy at Trinity College in Dublin Ireland. During her time there, she collaborated with artists from all over Ireland and Europe. Holly has particular artistic interests in folklore, live sound and foley, literary adaptation, magical realism, and clown.

In her role as Artistic Director of Corrib Theatre, Holly hopes to represent the intersectionality and diversity of Irish identity while honoring Ireland’s rich heritage and traditions.

Daye Thomas

Engagement Director

Daye Thomas (they/them) is a theatre artist, cultural organizer, and planning analyst whose work centers on storytelling, equity, and connection. Over the past eight years, they have worked across sound design, devising, directing, and stage management, with a passion for accessible theatre and for amplifying voices often left unheard. Beyond the stage, Daye helps out in community with Concerned Artists of the Philippines (Portland), coordinating arts-based workshops, kultural performances, grassroots fundraising, and cross-cultural partnerships. They also bring an engineering background and a love of data to all their practices, believing in the power of both numbers and stories to shape change. Outside of work, Daye enjoys writing music, playing video games indoors and gay baseball outdoors, and planning delightfully specific themed parties with friends. As Engagement Director at Corrib Theatre, Daye looks forward to collaborating with Holly and Corrib to imagine new ways to invite diverse audiences into theatre, while connecting with intersections of their own Irish and Filipino heritage.

Resident Artists

  • Kyra Sanford

    RESIDENT SCENIC DESIGNER

    Kyra Sanford is a freelance scenic designer, painter, technical director, and props designer, working for companies such as Bag&Baggage, Experience Theatre, Lakewood, Broadway Rose, Coho, and various others. Additionally, she is the technical director and resident scenic designer at Clark College. She received her BFA in Scenic Design from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. Instagram: @sanfordscenic

  • Kelly Terry

    RESIDENT LIGHTING DESIGNER

    Kelly Terry is a Portland-based lighting designer for theatre and events. After graduating from Florida State University, she launched a career that has included designing everything from modern and original theatre (Samsara, From A Hole in the Ground, Jesus Hopped the A-Train) to innovative classics (The Oldest Profession, Much Ado About Nothing, Waiting for Godot). Her designs could be seen most recently in Corrib Theatre’s production of Pass Over under the direction of Vin Shambry; and PUSH, a devised piece co-created by Beirut Wedding’s Jamie Rea and Bobby Bermea and Dr. Roberta Suzette Hunte. Most days she works with Greenlight Creative, lighting up everything from small weddings to massive corporate events. She would like to thank her ever-patient partner for their support, genius, and tech week snack runs.

  • Ken Yoshikawa

    2025-2026 RESIDENT PLAYWRIGHT

    Ken is an actor, poet, and playwright based in Portland, Oregon. He is a resident artist at The Historic Alberta House and an alumnus of the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble’s (PETE) Institute of Contemporary Performance (ICP) program. He has completed two playwriting commissions: We Wrote This With You In Mind for Shaking the Tree Theatre and From a Hole in the Ground for Corrib Theatre, the latter of which earned him a finalist nomination for the Oregon Book Awards. Ken is also the author of Monster Colored Glasses, a full-length poetry collection published by Lightship Press, available for purchase on his website, yoshikawaken.com. Beyond his artistic pursuits, Ken loves to watch anime, practice astrology, take walks in the trees, and be with friends.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Pancho Savery, Chair

Pancho Savery is Professor of English, Humanities, and American Studies at Reed College, where he teaches courses on modern and contemporary drama, African-American literature, American literature and culture, and American Indian fiction. He has published essays on Ralph Ellison, Saunders Redding, James Baldwin, Adrienne Rich, Robert Creeley, Ezra Pound, and others. He serves on the Board of Directors of Artists Repertory Theatre (vice chair), Boom Arts (chair), Coho Repertory Theatre, Confrontation Theatre, Corrib Theatre, Original Practice Shakespeare, P.E.T.E. (chair), Phame (chair), Portland Playhouse, The Red Door Project, Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and Our Children Oregon. He has worked as dramaturg at Artists Repertory Theatre, Clackamas Repertory Theatre, Corrib Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Profile Theatre, Shaking the Tree Theatre, and Third Rail Repertory Theatre. Additionally, he is Literary Dramaturg at Artists Repertory Theatre, and Literary Manager at Corrib, Shaking the Tree, and Third Rail. He is a member of the Mercury and DNA:Oxygen theatre companies, and is a member of The Modern Language Association, LMDA, and the Jazz Journalists Association.

Molly McGuire, Treasurer

Molly fell in love with Oregon on her first visit from the eastern part of the country and has made Portland her home for a little over fifty years. As a member of The All Ireland Cultural Society for almost that long, she has held many positions, including treasurer, on their Board of Directors. She also served as an officer and grievance chairperson in the staff union of The Oregon Education Association before retiring from their accounting department. An appreciation of her Irish heritage introduced her to Corrib Theatre and she is delighted to further her education in Irish theatre by serving on the Corrib Board.

Kathy Heininge, Secretary

Kathy Heininge is Emeritus Professor from George Fox University in Oregon, where she taught English literature, drama, and women's studies. Irish theater is her field of expertise; her first book was Buffoonery in Irish Drama: Staging Twentieth-Century Post-Colonial Stereotypes. She has also published on Frank McGuinness, James Joyce, Stephen King, Virginia Woolf, Eavan Boland, and Sebastian Barry, among others. Her most recent publication is her memoir, Working in Mysterious Ways: My Life Through the Rosary. She is a past-president of the American Conference for Irish Studies, and leads trips to Ireland and Scotland frequently. She has worked as dramaturg for Corrib Theatre on Hurl, and, now that she has retired, has recently begun trying her hand at acting, which she adores.

Kira Johnston, Operations Chair

Kira Johnston is passionate about helping build and develop marketing strategies for brands of all sizes across different industries by leveraging her brand strategy, marketing, UX, project management, and content creation expertise. As a Creative Strategist, she enjoys conducting audience research, competitive audits, developing brand frameworks, guidelines, and narratives, and creating and executing content strategies designed to nurture audiences and communities to aid in the organization's growth.

She is a staunch believer in studying the past in order to understand the present and predict the future. Her passion for language and the arts began was nurtured by a desire to understand why we, as humans, do what we do. She has always had an intense passion to educate and inform people and believes this objective is best achieved through diverse and inclusive experiences, storytelling, and sharing meals.

Brian Ó hAirt, Board Member

Brian is deeply invested in Irish cultural practice and works closely with several local and regional non-profits to promote traditional music, singing, and dancing, as well as the Irish language. He joined Corrib Theatre’s board to help promote and expand the theatre’s reach in Portland; inspired by its diverse programming often focused on issues of social justice. Brian holds advanced degrees from the Universities of Galway and Limerick and has worked as a dramaturg on past Corrib productions.

Parag Shah, Board Member

Parag Shah holds a MS degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and earned double BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, all at Oregon State University. Parag has worked for Intel as a microchip circuit design engineer for the past 22 years. He grew up in Portland and graduated from Beaverton High School. In his spare time, he loves to read, run, travel, enjoy local theater, and attend rock shows with his wife, Carmel.

RESOURCE COUNCIL

Sharon & Bill Bourque

Charlotte Headrick

Vin Shambry and the Historic Alberta House

George Thorn

Founders

Gemma Whelan, founding Artistic Director

Gemma has extensive experience working on both classical and contemporary works, ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Hellman, and Coward, to Arrabal, Mrozek, Sam Shephard, Nilo Cruz, and David Ives, and has directed and assisted in the development of numerous world premieres. Other theatres in Portland where she has directed include Artists Repertory Theatre, Profile Theatre, Milagro Theatre, CoHo, Boom Arts, and JAW.  

She was the founding Artistic Director of Wilde Irish Productions in the Bay Area. Educational credits include Mills College (Chair, Drama Dept), UC Berkeley, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Portland Actors Conservatory, Portland State University, Literary Arts (Delve), Pacific University, Willamette University, and Ngee Ann Polytechnic (Singapore). She is an award winning filmmaker and a published novelist.  

She received her BA from Trinity College Dublin, her MA in Theatre from UC Berkeley, and her MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. She is a member of SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society). 

Adam Liberman, founding Managing Director

Adam was a sound designer in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he designed over 40 shows and was a resident designer for many years at Berkeley Jewish Theatre and Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. He also studied acting at the Jean Shelton Acting School (aka Shelton Studios). Adam has worked in audio test and measurement for many years as a technical support engineer, technical writer, and test automation programmer. At Liberman Sound, which he has operated for over thirty years, he has designed, maintained, and modified audio equipment for many major motion pictures and TV shows. He also worked for many years as a production sound mixer for feature films, commercials, and documentaries, and in post-production sound as a mix engineer. Adam worked in radio at KPFA for over 15 years, as a news reporter, maintenance engineer, instructor, and on-air board-op. He has co-led musical tours to Cuba, Chile, and Mexico, and theatre tours for Corrib to Ireland. He has also registered students to attend an intensive Spanish school in Guatemala for the last 25 years. Other areas of expertise include programming, database design, web design, and photography. Adam is a member of AES and IEEE. BA drama, University of Washington; TESOL graduate certificate, UC Berkeley. 

In Memoriam

Mary Hansen

Mary served on Corrib Theatre’s board of directors for many years, and was a fierce supporter when it came to networking, promoting our work, and organizing concessions and opening night hospitality efforts. Still in Corrib’s stock is a shiny set of place settings that Mary donated for Corrib's first fundraiser gala, which was set to happen in March 2020 but was interrupted by the pandemic. Her generosity and giving spirit were truly unmatched. Mary was not only an unwavering friend to Corrib, but also to Portland. Mary was involved in a number of charitable and community organizations, took excellent care of her husband Larry and her many biological and 'adopted' children, and was a fiery and vivacious spirit. We miss her so much.

Ellen Pullen

Lake Oswego resident Ellen Pullen attended many Corrib Theatre productions in the last years of her life. Her grandfather emigrated from Ireland to the USA in the 19th century. When Ellen was in her nineties, she reconnected with her Irish relatives, traveling to Ireland and touring the USA with her Irish cousins. She passed away in June 2024 at 97.

“Our mother loved Corrib Theatre’s intimate performances of plays related to Irish culture,” said her son Mike Pullen of Portland. “Our family is thrilled to sponsor this residency so that a local playwright can create a new play that Corrib Theatre can present. Supporting the arts was important to our mother. We are happy to continue that tradition in her memory.”

Pullen family members contributing to the sponsorship include Ellen’s children Mike, Liz and Bonnie Pullen, and Mike’s wife Saundra Stevens.

“Make me human, and then divine.”

— from Woman and Scarecrow by Marina Carr