Staff & Board
STAFF
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
MANAGING DIRECTOR
LITERARY MANAGER
BOARD
CHAIR
SECRETARY
RESOURCE COUNCIL
- Jan Baross
- Charlotte Headrick
- Diana Hennessy
- Adam Liberman
- Matthew Spangler
- George Thorn
- Gemma Whelan
Holly Griffith
Holly Griffith (she/her) has worked as an actor, director, writer, 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 recently recently earned an MFA in Theatre Directing from The Lir Academy in Dublin Ireland, where she collaborated with artists from all over Ireland and Europe. In her new role as Artistic Director, Holly hopes to enrich Corrib’s connections to communities both locally and globally whose stories are represented on our stages, and to use our resources to examine the intersectionality of Irish identity.
Karl Hanover
Originally from Ireland, Karl moved to the U.S. in 1994 to pursue acting, and received his MFA degree from the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver. Theatres at which he has appeared include Cal Shakes, the Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Magic Theatre, Profile Theatre, and Portland Center Stage. In addition, he has voiced characters for the gaming industry, including those of Atlas and Fontaine in Bioshock, Biochock 2 and Bioshock Infinite: Burial as Sea. As a theatre administrator he has worked in various capacities at Portland Playhouse, Profile Theatre, and Artists’ Repertory Theatre.
Pancho Savery
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, Shaking the Tree Theatre, 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.
Pancho Savery
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, Shaking the Tree Theatre, 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.
Becky Gardiner
Rebecca Gardiner is a Brand Ambassador representing The GlenDronach, BenRiach and Glenglassaugh Single Malt Scotches and Slane Irish Whiskey. Her love of all things whiskey was instilled in her from an early(legal) age in part by her father, Tim and her home place of Galway, Ireland.
With more than fifteen years of experience in the beverage and service industry, Rebecca has worked in bars around Europe before taking her abilities Stateside. She began her USA journey working pouring whiskey in a Irish Bar in Newport Rhode Island and managing a specialty liquor store.
Now based in Portland, Rebecca works closely with clients to create dynamic events, delicious whisk(e)y cocktails and perfectly paired food menus. Rebecca is a champion to women in the industry and a sought after whisk(e)y educator.
Carmel Breathnach
Carmel Breathnach holds a BA degree in English literature and Irish language studies from Maynooth University and a Diploma in Education from St. Patrick’s College, Dublin. She taught elementary school for two years in Ireland prior to moving to Portland in 2005, where she took up a position as lead kindergarten teacher for nine years. Currently, she writes full time on the themes of bereavement, childhood grief, and mother loss. Her work has appeared in The Irish Times, Huffington Post, Upworthy, Scary Mommy, Modern Loss, and other publications. Carmel is working on a memoir titled Briefly I Knew My Mother. She has volunteered for Girls, Inc., Friends of the Library Bookstore, and Oregon Catholic Charities, where she worked with refugee women and children. In her spare time, Carmel enjoys reading, swimming, travelling, attending local events, and listening to rock music.
Rene Denfeld
Mary Hansen
Mary has worked as a court appointed guardian, conservator, trustee, and executor of estates for thirty years. She has also worked in Montessori and special education, library services, retail nutrition sales, as a day care owner, and a periodontal surgery assistant. Her past job, community, and volunteer activities include parenting and wellness workshop presentations, Beaverton Public Schools; teacher, Beaverton Public Schools Art Literacy Program; home economics instructor, Portland Community College; program developer, State of Oregon Human Resources Department; program assistant, Tualatin Hills/Beaverton Good Neighbor Days; food drive assistant coordinator, Oregon Food Bank; director, Elmonica School Parent Forum; respite volunteer and bereavement counselor, Providence/St. Vincent Hospice; member, Oregon Interreligious Council for Peace in the Middle East; board member, Outreach in Burnside; SNJM Marylhurst (various); resource assistance, Legacy Hopewell House; and Guardian Conservator Association of Oregon (various). Mary has studied at Portland State University, Oregon Health Sciences University (Hearing and Speech Center), Northwestern School of Business, Providence/St. Vincent Hospice, and the Dougy Center.
Parag Shah
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.
Gemma Whelan
Gemma Whelan is the founding artistic director of Corrib Theatre. For Corrib, she has directed numerous regional and U.S. premieres, including James X, How to Keep an Alien, Four Last Things, Quietly, The Testament of Mary, and A Night in November (Drammy nomination for Direction, Drammy award for Solo Performance). In Portland, she has also directed at Artists Repertory Theatre, Profile Theatre, CoHo Theatre, Boom Arts, and Portland Center Stage’s JAW Festival. She was the founding artistic director of Wilde Irish Productions in the San Francisco Bay Area and directed at various theatres in the area for over 20 years. Gemma has taught at numerous colleges and conservatories in the Bay Area (including Mills College, American Conservatory Theatre, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre), and in Portland, Ireland, and Singapore. Her second novel will be published in spring 2022. She holds a BA in English, French, and Fine Arts from Trinity College Dublin, an MA in Theatre from UC Berkeley, and an MFA in Cinema from San Francisco State University. Member SDC (Stage Directors and Choreographers Society).
