After an incredibly successful six years, Force Majeure’s Executive Director Colm O’Callaghan has announced he will be leaving the company to take up the prestigious position of Executive Director of The Gate Theatre in Dublin.
The Board of Force Majeure and staff are delighted for O’Callaghan and this exciting new chapter. O’Callaghan helped to steer the company though many successful, and at times challenging, periods and played a key role in reinstating multi-year funding for the company.
“It is impossible to imagine where the company would be if not for the tenacity, exceptional instincts and sheer hard work of Colm, working alongside Artistic Director Danielle Micich,” said Julieanne Campbell, Force Majeure’s Acting Chair. “Force Majeure has been so fortunate to have his expertise and experience, and we are beyond thrilled for Colm. Of course, this is not just a loss for Force Majeure but a loss for the Australian arts sector, but most definitely a gain for The Gate.”
O’Callaghan has led Force Majeure through 10 new productions, including national and international tours and presentations with Carriageworks, Sydney Festival and Sydney Opera House; regained four-year federal and state funding resulting in a significant increase in public funding for the company; increased the financial reserves to the highest in the company’s history, despite the challenges of COVID; expanded the organisation’s philanthropic income; and worked to make space for leading First Nations artists, most notably with Associate Artist Ghenoa Gela.
Micich further commented, “Colm has been one half of the company backbone and truly shown his love and dedication for the artform and industry. As much as it is difficult to imagine him not with us, The Gate Theatre has definitely made a good investment restructuring and recruiting Colm at the helm.”
“I am thrilled to be appointed as Executive Director of Dublin’s Gate Theatre. But of course, it is with a heavy heart that I leave Force Majeure,” said O’Callaghan. “I am so proud of the achievements Danielle and I have made, always with a belief in the importance Force Majeure plays in the ecology. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Danielle, the Board of Directors, and the many hardworking artists and staff I have worked with in my time with the company. I leave with a trove of unforgettable and happy memories and I have no doubt Force Majeure will go from strength to strength.”
O’Callaghan will be finishing in July, with a recruitment for a new Executive Director to begin immediately.
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