Marianne Kennedy is a Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Studies at the University of Galway, as well as a theatre director and producer of 25 years. Her research interests include Irish language theatre and performance, multilingual theatre, the decolonisation of Irish theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA), Arts Management, Theatre Producing and Business and the intersection of Creative Technologies and theatre. Kennedy is the Creative Director of the O' Donoghue Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance since its opening in 2016, as well as Artistic Director and convenor of the University of Galway's ‘Arts in Action’, a flagship arts and arts research programme on the University campus across architecture, circus, theatre, music, film, literature dance and VR.  She is the founder of the Irish language theatre performance and research collective Giorria Theatre, and convenor of Ceangal | Cwlwm, an annual research and performance initiative and symposium bringing together those involved in theatre-making in Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Welsh. She is a team member member of the research project ‘Immersive Empathy: Co-Creating Immersive Narratives on Home and Homelessness’ project,  which set out to capture and convey aspects of the experience of homelessness through the creation of  Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality (VR/AR) immersive experiences in collaboration with clients from the Galway Simon Community,  was recently awarded an ENLIGHT Impact Award.  Kennedy has many directing credits including for Giorria Theatre Collective, Abbey Theatre, An Taibhdhearc and GIAF and indeed the discipline of Drama and Theatre Studies. Prior to entering the Academy she has served as CEO of Siamsa Tíre Theatre, Arts Centre and the National Folk Theatre of Ireland, as well as leading the National Theatre of the Irish language as General Manager of An Taibhdhearc.  She currently sits on the board of Galway Theatre Festival, Macnas, and regularly sits on peer review panels for the Arts Council and Ealaíon na Gaeltachta.