Storyteller Jay O'Callahan - Home Page

 

MARSHFIELD, MA.

 

Jay O'Callahan at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland
Jay O'Callahan at the
Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland

Jay O'Callahan takes a bare stage and single-handedly transforms it into a dynamic and sensitive world filled with compelling characters.

 

His solo performances at Abbey Theatre in Dublin, National Theatre Complex in London, the Olympics, Lincoln Center, Boston Symphony Orchestra and other theaters throughout the world have been applauded by the media, including The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and Entertainment Weekly. The Associated Press trumpeted him as "a theater troupe inside one body." Time Magazine dubbed Jay "a genius."

 

Jay writes the plays he performs. The hallmark of his talent is the passion he brings to big and small dramas of ordinary life. He slips into the souls of his characters and captures the wonder and sparkling sense of life welled up inside them, creating a magical world of hope, courage and dignity.

 

With the sweep of a hand, the flex of a muscle or the hushed click of a word, Jay gives voice to the small town spinster librarian in Village Heroes, the puzzled son coming to terms with his father in The Dance, or the young woman growing up in Nova Scotia during World War II in The Herring Shed.

 

Jay O'Callahan at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, IrelandPouring the Sun, was commissioned by Lehigh University. It is the story of an immigrant woman, Ludvika Moskal, who like the molten metal in a blast furnace is transformed into steel. For Ludvika the fires are many; immigration at 18, raising a family in the poverty of a steel-making city, fear of reprisal for standing up to injustice. Ludvika, her family, the whole steel making community of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, built the great cities of this land.

 

Jay has just completed creating Forged in the Stars, a story that was commissioned by NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) for their fiftieth anniversary. He is currently performing it at NASA locations around the country.

 

The National Endowment of the Arts awarded him a fellowship for solo performance excellence.

 

Jay has received awards for his performances, books, audiotapes and videos from the National Education Film Festival, Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals, Parents' Choice, New England Theater Conference and UNESCO, to name a few. He also is a regular contributor to National Public Radio and leads creativity workshops for corporations and other interested groups.

 

 

A Sampling of Jay's Achievements

 

Theatrical Venues

Abbey Theatre, Dublin

Lincoln Center, NY

American Stage Festival, Milford, NH

Merrimack Repertory Theater, Lowell, MA

Barter Theater, Abingdon, VA

Moores Opera House, Houston, TX

Boston Symphony Orchestra

National Theatre Complex, London

Carmichael Auditorium, National Museum of American History, DC

Pickford Theater, Library of Congress, DC

Comedy Playhouse, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand

Sanders Theatre, Cambridge, MA

Gilbert H.Grosvernor Auditorium, National Geographic Society, DC

Scottish International Festival, Edinburgh

Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

Stage West Theater, Springfield, MA

 

Selected Books, Videos, & Tapes

 

Herman and Marguerite: an earth story (Peachtree Publishers)

The Herring Shed (Artana Productions) ****

Jeremy: A Christmas Story (Artana Productions) *

Orange Cheeks (Peachtree Publishers)

The Island (Artana Productions) *

Father Joe (Artana Productions) ****

Coming Home to Someplace New (Artana Productions) ****

Earth Stories (Artana Productions) *

UNESCO video project Many Voices, One World

Dancing With Fire (Artana Productions) ****

The Spirit of the Great Auk (Artana Productions) ****

Master Class (Vineyard Video) **

Six Stories About Little Heroes (Vineyard Video) ***

Raspberries (Artana Productions) *

Little Dragon (Artana Productions) *****

Little Heroes (Artana Productions) *****

 

*
Parents Choice Awards
**
ALA/Carnegie Award & National Educational Film Festival awards
***
National Educational Film Festival
****
Aired on National Public Radio
*****
Parents Guide Children's Media Award

 

 

Representative Awards

  • Lifetime Achievement Award, National Storytelling Network
  • National Endowment for the Arts fellowship: solo performance, theater arts
  • Ohio State Award for NPR performance of Coming Home to Someplace New: The Pill Hill Stories
  • Circle of Excellence Award, National Storytelling Association
  • Unique Theatrical Contribution Award, New England Theater Conference
  • U.S. State Department International Communications assignment to Africa & Mauritius
  • National Fine Arts Committee's "official storyteller," Winter Olympics, Lake Placid, NY
  • The House of Representatives, State of Hawaii, award for dedication to the ancient art of storytelling

 

Representative Commissions

  • The Myth of Billy the Kid, National Public Radio
  • The Spirit of the Great Auk, Quebec Labrador Foundation
  • Peer Gynt and the Hary Janos Suite, Boston Symphony Orchestra
  • Edna Robinson, 250th anniversary, Harvard, MA
  • The Bread and Roses Strike, Massachusetts State Department of Environmental Management for Lawrence, MA
  • Pouring the Sun, Lehigh University and Touchstone Theatre