A tribute to Jo Egan, from Artistic Director Suzanne Gorman
Our friend and colleague Jo Egan tragically died in a car accident on Christmas Eve last year.
I first met Jo in London around 2015 and was immediately struck by her passion for justice, her warmth, kindness and that powerful can-do spirit. She was a woman with so many strings to her bow. We initially worked together on a business plan for Maya Productions ( the most poetically written and creative I have ever seen) and she taught me how to make a wicked salad dressing with jam!
Since then we have been part of each other’s lives, regularly speaking, often through screens, as I developed a new musical Benny and the Greycats and Jo took her play Madam Geneva to production, revived Sweeties and developed new work. We also collaborated together on a new piece looking at Irish and Anglo-Indian /Indian connections through empire.
In September 2021 I finally made it over to Belfast and experienced Jo’s famous hospitality for myself. We worked together on the idea for the piece during the day – and put the world to rights over dinner at night. Looking back at the photos I also didn’t realise how many cocktails we had!
In June 2022 year, Ada Onyekwelu and I were lucky enough to see Jo at the Houses of Parliament when she brought over The Crack in Everything, a play that told the story of six children who were killed during The Troubles. Like so many others we were incredibly moved and inspired by what she had created.
I loved Jo’s laughter, and her ability to challenge in the most positive way. Her love and dedication to her family was paramount. Her love and dedication to the communities of Northern Ireland and Ireland was evident in all her work.
I still can’t quite believe she has been taken from us in such a devastating way- a woman who offered so much to the world. I will always remember her with great love and affection. We send to her family and other friends our deepest sympathies at this most tragic time.
Jo Egan worked as a playwright and director in the community theatre sector in Dublin and relocated to Belfast in 1996. In the last eighteen years she worked in and with communities that experienced the worst of the Troubles – not only creating theatre but also facilitating drama and creative writing workshops, as well as creating accredited training programmes for community, health and education workers interested in using arts practice in their work.
Jo’s MFA (Playwriting) at Trinity College Dublin (Lir Academy) involved the study of contemporary theatre practice, dramaturgy and playwriting. A background in creating site-specific work influenced her interest in the design and form of new writing for performance. Moving to Belfast in 1996, she wrote also individually as well as collaboratively, for professional and community theatre companies.
Jo worked as a freelance producer on community and professional theatre projects. She was Creative Producer for KABOSH Productions from 2005 – 20.