Aisling Byrne
Founder & Artistic Director
Aisling Byrne is a freelance theatre artist and filmmaker based in North Kildare, and has worked extensively in the field of inclusive arts, contemporary theatre & socially engaged theatre practice.
As the founder and Artistic Director of Run of the Mill she has co-created , facilitated and directed all of the company’s projects to date.
Aisling is also the Co-Artistic director of award-winning Dublin based theatre collective Talking Shop Ensemble alongside writer and filmmaker Shaun Dunne. Talking Shop Ensemble make form-flipping documentary theatre and autobiographical performance.
TSE’s work includes the award winning co-production Making a Mark (Dublin Fringe Festival, 2019, National Tour, 2022, Winner of the Judges Choice Award, nominated for Best Production, featured recently on The Tommy Tiernan Show)Rapids by Shaun Dunne (National Tour 2019 & Dublin Theatre Festival 2017).
Headspace (Short Film, 2022, shortlisted for Virgin Media Discovers 2021) Vulnerable for Dear Ireland 3 (Abbey Theatre , 2020, Seoda Festival 2021, + Official Selection KIFF, 2021), Quarantine (Culture Night commission, 2020) Singing for Survival (Run of the Mill Theatre, Draiocht 2019) and Split Ends (Dublin Fringe Festival, Fishamble Show in a Bag 2018).
In 2019 Aisling was the recipient of the Artist in the Community Bursary award from CREATE, the national agency for collaborative arts & in 2020 received a Arts Participation Bursary award from the Arts Council of Ireland to develop her work in film. She is currently a resident artist with Arcade Film.
As a freelance director Aisling collaborates regularly with companies making work for young audiences; most recently directing Ceol Connected’s Wunderground (2022) and Treehouse for National Tour and MORA (2021/2022) for Cliodhna Noonan/ Acting Up Arts. In 2022 she will direct Ceol Connected new production based on the Patrick Kavangh poem A Christmas Childhood.
As a facilitator, Aisling collaborates regularly with Dublin Theatre Festival, PlayActing Youth Theatre, Helium Arts, and Dublin City Council Culture Company. In 2022 she will facilitate The Next Stage, on behalf of Dublin Theatre Festival + Theatre Forum.
Aisling holds a B.A. in Drama and Theatre Studies, a Postgraduate Diploma in Drama-in-Education and a Master’s in Education Studies, all from Trinity College Dublin. She has a particular interest in socially engaged theatre, arts in community contexts, and the use of drama for teaching and learning across educational settings. Aisling is Vice Chair of the Association for Drama in Education in Ireland (ADEI) and guest lectures at Trinity College Dublin and UCD and has worked as a part-time lecturer at Marino Institute of Education on drama as a methodology in the primary school curriculum. She is currently working on behalf of the Arts Council’s Creative Schools initiative as a Creative Associate.
