Kevin Doyle

Kevin Doyle (IE/US) is a playwright and director originally from Brooklyn, New York. He specializes in creating large-scale works of interdisciplinary theatre that examine contemporary social issues and/or public policy issues. His work incorporates elements of dance, film, theatre, music, live camera usage, “found-texts” sources and his own original writing. His work is regularly presented in the European Unioin and North America.

For his time at the Saari Residence he will be completing several aspects of his next major work – THE AЯTS – which examines the history of public funding for the arts in the United States and contrasts it with public funding policies in several European countries. A large-scale three-part interdisciplinary work, Doyle will be focusing on the third part of the play; while also creating alternative methods by which aspects of his research can be manifested outside of the traditional theatre space. Prior to arriving at the Saari Residence, Doyle reviewed actual transcripts from proceedings in the United States Congress during the 1960s and 1990s that involved debates surrounding arts funding issues. His research also involved conducting actual recorded interviews with American politicians and arts leaders; in addition to interviews with European arts leaders.

The main focus of his work will be to figure out how these interviews and transcripts coalesce, contrast or relate to recent current events involving arts funding debates in the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Belgium and even Finland. His work will lead him to make decisions on what form all the content or sources will take in the final performance. Will they be realized via spoken text; incorporated into sound or film design; or some other yet undiscovered manifestation during performance. He also will be taking in advantage of several opportunities to speak with Finnish artists and Finnish citizens – both locally and in Helsinki – to have as many conversations as possible about their views on arts funding issues.