“The blues was always in Ireland and it was always in me”

OTTILIE

Jolene O’Hara is a performer born and bred in Belfast. Theatre credits include: Wiper at Work, Dear Ireland (The Abbey Theatre, Dublin), Ottilie Patterson in Ottilie (Grand Opera House Belfast 2025), Polly in Good Vibrations (Irish Arts Centre, New York 2023 & Lyric Theatre, Belfast 2018), Florinda in Into The Woods (NI Opera/Lyric Theatre), Kiss Me Kate (NI Opera/Lyric Theatre), Sweeney Todd (NI Opera/Lyric Theatre), Mirrorball (Replay Theatre Co/Lyric Theatre), Pumpgirl in Pumpgirl (Decadent Theatre Company) and Logainne in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bruiser Theatre Company). Jolene's TV credits include: Eat the Rich (RTE Storyland), My Mother and Other Strangers (BBC),| Maru(RTE), Scoop (RTE) and Cracking Crime (RTE).

Jolene has been part of the Spectacular Grand Opera House Pantomime each year since 2022 as Hook in Peter Pan, The Wicked Queen in Snow White and The Wicked Step Sister in Cinderella. She is delighted to be back this year as The Evil Stromboli in Pinocchio!

Jolene is a main vocalist for Lush! Classical at The SSE Arena & Belsonic Belfast with The Ulster Orchestra.  She is one half of singing duo 'O'Hara' with her sister Philippa. They have performed all over Ireland and the UK including The Player’s Dinner at The 153rd Golf Open in Portrush and have amassed over 10 million views on YouTube. 

Jolene provides vocals on Van Morrison's Remembering Now, Orangefield Live and Moving On Skiffle albums and is part of the band line-up for his live shows. Jolene has also appeared on 'Classical Connections' with John Toal on the BBC accompanied by Ruth McGinley. She also performed with the RTE Concert Orchestra with Guy Barker conducting at the National Concert Hall, Dublin.

PIANIST/ARRANGER

Zak Irvine is a talented young jazz pianist and bandleader from Bangor.  Zak has been performing over the last couple of years over various Jazz venues, including Bert’s Jazz Bar and Scott’s Jazz Club, Belfast and The Courthouse, Bangor.  He has collaborated with different artists and honed his skills, developing a polished and versatile jazz piano style, with a passion for improvisation. Zak is now a prominent figure in Northern Ireland’s music scene. 

DIRECTOR

Matthew McElhinney is an Actor and Director from Belfast.  His recent directorial work includes the 25th anniversary production of A Night in November, which was nominated for two Offies and won Best Production at the LPT Awards.

Matthew also directed the World Premiere of How to Bury a Dead Mule, by Richard Clements which was nominated for Best new Play at the UK Theatre Awards.  His work on Man Who Swallowed a Dictionary, a one man play about the life of David Ervine was nominated for an Aisling Award.

Matthew has recently finished directing a UK and Irish Tour of Stones in His Pockets which has been met across the country with rave reviews.

This year, due to popular demand, his remount of the hugely successful A Christmas Carol, will be playing at the Lyric Theatre along with the poignant Dear Arabella, which opens this Autumn.

Writer

Richard Clements is an actor, writer, musician and producer from Bangor. He has worked across Theatre, TV, Film and Radio and trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College, Cardiff.  Highlights include Rhino (Tinderbox, UK Theatre Best Revival), playing Jimmy Gralton in Jimmy’s Hall at The Abbey, Rick Turner in The Fall, and most recently writing and producing his own critically acclaimed one man show, How To Bury A Dead Mule for the Edinburgh Fringe in 2023. (Nominee UK Theatre Award Best New Play and Fringe Foundation Mental Health Award ) He is set to return for a second year, to the Lyric Theatre’s production of A Christmas Carol in November.  His ongoing creative partnership with Belfast Stories and Northern Ireland Screen Digital Film Archive, has led to “Storymakers”, two albums of stories and poems set to music. Throughout the project, other artists have been commissioned to develop the pieces further. He is currently writing a new one man show about his childhood.

Stage Manager

Caoimhe is a freelance theatre maker from Donegal and a graduate of 
the Drama BA and Arts Management MA at Queen's University, Belfast. 

She has been working professionally as a stage manager since 2019, with credits including Good With Faces (Óisín Kearney, Dublin Fringe Festival), ROOTS (Eileen McClory, Off The Rails Dance Company), This Sh*t Happens All The Time (Amanda Verlaque, Grand Opera House, Lyric Theatre).

Caoimhe has recently had success as a director and producer with Float (Kirby Thompson & Orla Graham) at The Flagey Theatre in Brussels, Belgium, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival and the MAC, Belfast. 

She was one of Theatre and Dance NI’s INVEST artists 23/24, explor-
ing dance dramaturgy under the mentorship of Sharon Clarke from the 
Akram Khan Dance Company. 

Caoimhe has always had a keen interest in music and dance and is very excited to be working on a show featuring such excellent blues music! 

Producer

Rathmore Productions is owned by internationally acclaimed actor and director, Ian McElhinney. With nearly 50 years in the business., Ian’s best known roles are Barristan Selmy in Game of Thrones, Morgan Monroe in The Fall, and Granda Joe in Derry Girls., as well as High Country, Unforgotten, The Split. As a director, he was the winner of a Canadian Dora Award and nominated for a Tony Award for Stones in his Pockets. As producer, he has worked across - How to bury a dead Mule ( UK Theatre Award Nominee Best New Play, Edinburgh Fringe Foundation Mental Health Award Nominee), Weddin’s Wee’ins and Wakes, Rock Doves, Fly me to the Moon, Dear Arabella.

Ian is proud to be producing ‘Ottilie’ and to help keep her legacy alive.