Owen O’Neill
Adaptor
Owen is a writer, actor of stage and screen, and stand-up comedian. He has written and performed 16 one-man plays and has won a string of awards including two Fringe Firsts at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Herald Angel Award for Best Play and the Edinburgh Critics Award for Best Comedy. He has appeared in five feature films, including Michael Collins directed by Neil Jordan and The General directed by John Boorman.
In 2009 at the East 59th Street Theatre in New York City, he won Best Actor for his portrayal of Nathan Cassidy in his award-winning one-man play Absolution.
His debut feature film Arise and Go Now, a dark comedy about priests, pigeons and the IRA, was directed by Danny Boyle and screened as part of the BBC Film on 2 series.
He wrote and directed The Basket Case, which won Best Short Film at the 2008 Boston Film Festival and Best Film at the Fantasia Film Festival in Brazil.
The Shawshank Redemption was adapted for stage in 2009 and has gone through several rewrites.
His latest book of poetry, Broken Songs, was published in August 2022, and his debut novel Tom Joad and Me was published by in May 2024 by www.thirstybooks.co.uk.