A Tribute to Denis Smyth
The Lyric are very saddened to hear about the recent death of Denis Smyth, an extremely significant figure in the history of the Northern Irish arts sector, former Director of the Lyric, and important pioneer of youth drama and dance here.
Last night, Mark Carruthers led a jam-packed audience at the opening of the Lyric’s summer show, The Importance of Being Earnest, in a final applause in tribute to Denis and his legacy.
Denis Smyth trained and worked as a teacher, theatre director and senior arts administrator. After an early career in teaching, Denis studied theatre directing at the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal Court Theatre, the Northcott Theatre Exeter and the Berliner Ensemble in Germany.
In his youth he acted with the (then-known) Lyric Players at Derryvolgie Avenue, and in 1962 he became Associate Director of the theatre. Six years later in 1968 it had a full-time professional company of actors in the first purpose-built theatre in Northern Ireland for nearly a century. Denis was appointed Director of the Lyric with his productions including The Royal Hunt of the Sun, 1969; Smock Alley, 1969; The Field, 1969 and Death of a Salesman, 1970, alongside Lyric stalwarts Sam McCready, Helen Lewis and Louis Rolston.
He was also a director of the Arts Theatre Belfast, was a driving force behind the establishment of the Riverside Theatre Coleraine and was the holder of a Leverhulme Fellowship in Theatre Research and of a School Teacher Fellowship to research educational television.
Denis joined the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 1970 and was founder Artistic Director of Interplay Theatre, the first professional company to introduce theatre in education to tour across Northern Ireland. In 1978 he became Youth Drama Director for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland and initiated the Ulster Youth Drama Scheme. This established a network of thirteen drama centres across the nation and led to the formation of the Ulster Youth Theatre. From 1986, as Drama and Dance Director, he oversaw the upsurge in the number of companies and in the range of dramatic and dance activity in Northern Ireland. Over a six year period he established Ulster Youth Dance, a developmental programme of training, participation and performance which created opportunities for all those in local communities who wished to become involved in all forms of dance. At this time Denis’s wider professional circle included poets who became internationally renowned like Seamus Heaney and Michael Longley. He introduced Northern Ireland to exceptional London West End Theatre and Dance Directors.
Denis retired from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in 1995 after twenty-five years of pioneering work in Drama, Theatre and Dance across the nation.
We are very grateful to Denis for championing and pioneering drama and dance, particularly youth, in Northern Ireland for many decades. We extend our heartfelt sympathies to his family, his friends and many colleagues who worked with him.