Adjunct Assistant Professor
M.F.A. Temple University,
Professional Actor Training Program.
B.A. Dramatic Arts, Cleveland State University

 

 

A life long student of movement for the actor, Allan holds a second degree red belt in Tang Soo Do, and a first gup ranking in Aikido. He has studied Suzuki actor training with some of the top practioners of this art in the United States. He spent two years studying Shakespeare with a senior tutor from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Areas of Emphasis:
Acting, directing, voice and movement, Shakespearean performance, plays on film.

Related Experience:
Allan Byrne has been an actor, director, and dramatic arts teacher for twenty-five years. He has performed in fifty professional productions, including starring roles at The Yale Repertory Theatre, The Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Stage West, The Cleveland Play House, and The Great Lakes Theatre Festival. Some of his favorite performances are Lee in Sam Shepard’s True West, Aston in Harold Pinter’s The Caretaker, Teddy in Pinter’s The Homecoming, Charlie in The Foreigner and Doc in The Laramie Project. Major Shakespeare roles include Plonius in Hamlet, Aguecheek in Twelfth Night, dogberry in Much Ado, Angelo in Measure for Measure and Edward in Richard III. He appeared in the film Teachers with Nick Nolte and has been featured in television commercials, nationally-televised voice overs, and industrial films for McDonalds, Ohio Lottery, American Greetings, Goodyear and Sherwin Williams, to name a few.

Numerous directing credits include Macbeth (three times), Hamlet (twice), Richard III (twice), King Lear, Equus, Fifth of July, Crimes of the Heart, and SubUrbia. With playwright Matthew Weiland (The Actor’s Studio), he helped to develop and directed the world premiere of The Whales of Long Kesh, based on the hunger strikes in Ireland’s Long Kesh Prison.

He wrote and performed sketch comedy for “Lanigan in the Morning” on WMJI radio for two years as one of “the Careless Brothers.” He has also performed stand-up in area clubs.

His skills as a comic impressionist have led to film and live performances for such corporations as B.P. America, Picker International, and Ernst and Whinney.

Professional Organization Membership:
Actors’ Equity, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Screen Actors Guild (candidate)

Current Projects:
Allan has been on the Board of Directors of the Charenton Theatre Company since its creation, and is currently (Fall 2003) the interim president of the board. Charenton received the 2002/2003 best theatre award from Northern Ohio Live Magazine, top ten productions of 2002 from The Cleveland Plain Dealer, and best production of 2002/2003 from Scene Magazine. He frequently performs with Charenton in their award winning productions.

For the past fifteen years Allan has been developing his method of unified actor training, which aims to blend Eastern disciplines with current American and English methods. The results of his research, which his students like to call “Byrnedo” can be found in his staging of Shakespeare and the Greeks.

He has also been experimenting with ways of bringing the techniques of the cinema into the theatre.

He is currently writing a play based on his experiences of growing up with immigrant parents in a working class neighborhood.

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Any questions can be directed to Ginger Williams