Donal is co-founder and co-artistic Director of Asylum Productions. 

He has directed the bulk of Asylum’s work to date, including The Chronicles of Oggle (Asylum/Everyman, 2013); Red Lola(Asylum – Cork Midsummer Festival & Kinsale Arts Week); Meat (Granary -Cork Midsummer Festival, premier); Pondlife Angels(world premier) & Bedbound (Asylum/Cork Midsummer Festival – and national tour), both by Enda Walsh.

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He is also a freelance director, his credits include

credits include:

Love, Peace and Robbery (Chameleon); Circu Islu for Catalonian based McBride & Sons – a puppet circus in a miniature Victorian circus tent.

He co-wrote and directed Love All for Cheery Wild/Ten42 (National tour and Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2012) and wrote & directed Cinderella for the Source Arts Centre.

He has also directed large-scale street theatre spectacles for Abhainn Ri Festival, and co-directed and performed in The Chancy Brothers – a giant puppet show for Bui Bolg.

He directed The Lost Prince for Kilkenny-based Inclusive Theatre company Equinox; and facilitated the creation of the first Deaf theatre ensemble, Spirit Of Sign, under the Arts Council Artist in the Community Award.

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International directing work includes The Miracle for Theatre Jungen Generation, Dresden; and for Boomerang; Masquerade, (Planetado Festival, France (Arts Council Bursary Award); and the world premier of Chatroom by Enda Walsh at the National Theatre, London.

As an actor, Donal appeared as Jonah in The Whale (Talking Birds) – a 3-minute touring show for 1 audience member at a time performed inside an aluminium whale, and multiple roles in The Last Lot at Kilkenny cattle Mart (both for Talking Birds, Coventry). He also co-devised and performed Asylum’s two hander adaptation of The Bald Prima Donna, which enjoyed sell-out success at Edinburgh Fringe 2001, and went on to play in Germany and the US.