About the Festival

Who We Are

Who We Are

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival (IDGTF) is a company limited by guarantee (Company registration number 409686). IDGTF is run by an Executive Committee that includes design and web specialists, theatre, gay community and marketing experts, all of whom give their services on a full volunteer basis.
The people working on this either behind the scenes or in the public face include:

brian_merriman.jpg Brian Merriman, Founding Artistic Director.
Brian is one of Ireland’s leading producer/directors, and an accomplished actor, writer and singer in music and theatre at home and abroad. In all he now has over 360 productions to his credit. He has won many awards for directing, acting and singing at International Festivals including for Best Producer, Best Director, Best Show and Best Actor at the Waterford International Festival of Light Opera, The Association of Irish Musical Societies and The Northern Ireland Festival of Light Opera. Amongst other achievements, Brian devised, wrote and directed the biggest millennium night celebration in Ireland - 1000 artists, 15 hours of entertainment, culminating in an audience of 50,000 people on the Quay in Waterford. He has a strong commitment to diversity and equality in the arts and to date has sourced, developed and encouraged thousands of young artists and volunteers. He prioritises meaningful access to the arts by performers, writers, communities and audience.

149_20220069912_687629912_449442_9362_n.jpg Gareth Hurley, Company Secretary.
Gareth has been on the IDGTF executive committee for ten years, serving in a number of roles most recently box office manager and web & communications and has represented the Festival at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe for a number of years.  An IT professional he has experience in areas including web, social media, management and administration.  He has a long time interest in theatre and the arts.  He has previously been involved in a number of other festivals and university societies including the Dublin Fringe Festival as well as a regular attendee of arts festivals in Ireland and abroad.


Robert C Bates & Derek O’Neill, Technical Directors

R.C. has been involved in IDGTF for a number of years and takes over as Technical Director in 2016.  He is joined by Derek O’Neill who brings administrative and arts experience.


Steven Masterson, Marketing and Fundraising,
Executive Committee

Steven trained as an actor with Bull Alley Theatre Company, graduating in 2011. Roles included Macduff in Macbeth and Van Helsing in Dracula. Other theatre roles include James in Bound (New Theatre), Dougie in Strippers (Civic Theatre), Edgar in King Lear (Mill
Theatre) and A Christmas Carol which toured nationally, playing over 20 venues throughout Ireland.  Steven’s first involvement with the IDGTF was in 2013 when he played Leyton in My Second Self, a role that earned him a Best Actor nomination. He returned in 2015 with the Astonished Heart, which was nominated for Best Aspects of Production.
He joined the Executive Committee in 2015 and hopes to be able to help bring the festival to the next level and build on all of the hard work that has been put into place over the past twelve years.


Ivan Lynch – Finance, Executive Committee

Ivan joined us in 2015 having previously been a long-time supporter and
audience member of the Festival.  He has served on various voluntary committees in the past and has over 20 years’ experience in the world of accountancy and Corporate Finance in Dublin, London and Sydney.  A keen theatre-goer he hopes to put his experience to good use on the committee.

 


Martin P. Koob, Graphic Design

Martin lives part-time in Dublin and is the artistic director of The Keller Theatre in Giessen, Germany’s oldest English-language theatre, where he also does most of the artwork himself, as well as some light- and sound-design. An award-winning actor and set-designer, he directs a handful of shows each season, writes plays
occasionally and is an accomplished singer who’s sung all over Europe. He’s been with the IDGTF since 2012 as a volunteer and has taken care of the Festival’s artwork since late 2014.


We are supported by our eight member Board as well as over 40 volunteers annually.