About us
Our activities include weekly drama workshops, rehearsals and performances of plays; devising and making new performances; actor-training; research into theatre and young people; and international youth theatre projects.
We run a small space in Newbridge where we work with over 100 young people weekly. We also travel to schools and youth projects in County Kildare every week to run free theatre programmes with young people.
Our youth theatre is one of the largest in Ireland and the oldest in Kildare.
We have collaborated with European theatres since 2002 to develop educational and performance projects with groups of multicultural young people. We bring young people from all of the socioeconomic classes and backgrounds together in one place.
We train young drama facilitators and leaders to work with youth groups on themes of social justice, equality, and human rights, wellbeing, and democratic processes. These themes are expressed through theatre workshops, devised performances, and plays. This work aims to promote positive mental health; increase citizenship abilities; promote equality and develop critical thinking.
We collaborate with a wide network of international partners designing theatre-making projects, training courses, and exchanges. And we work with international actor-training universities to deliver masterclasses and programmes.
Crooked House is a registered charity with a board of trustees. We operate comprehensive Child Protection policies, have Garda Clearance for all our volunteers, and have a Welfare Officer in place to guide the company’s work with the young people.
It is funded by project-specific funding from the European Union (for European Solidarity Corps volunteering projects and Erasmus+ programme for many international projects), The Arts Council (for theatre-making with young ensembles), and Kildare County Council (annual funding to support workshop delivery). The HSE fund drama based mental health initiatives, and Kildare Wicklow ETB fund our leadership training work.
We are a registered Irish charity (not-for-profit organisation) whose number is 20143534.
We are a Company Limited by Guarantee, registered in Ireland as Number 31330. Our Revenue CHY Number is 20229.
People
PETER HUSSEY
Artistic Director
Peter established Crooked House is 1993. He is a theatre-maker, lecturer and trainer of actors and directors. He works in universities in Ireland, UK, the EU and Turkey in acting, directing, theatre-making and performance research. He has published on the impact of theatre-making on neurological and social development in young people.Over 30 years Peter developed the Crooked House style of theatre-making, a type of magic realism in performance that combines physical theatre, choral movement, text, and psychological realism. His work is guided by artistic experimentation and a concern for social and political fairness.
Oğuzhan Şahin
Company Manager
Oğuzhan is an actor who trained in Suleyman Demirel University in Turkey, and a director (Maynooth University). He runs our school and community youth programmes, directs shows with teenagers, and is a theatre-maker with our older company. He is the Supervisor for international volunteers. and the Company Manager.
Pauline Sartori
Project Manager
Pauline is a French choreographer and arts administrator. She studied in the Regional Conservatories of Metz/Boulogne-Billancourt, Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris, Cours Florent, and Cobosmika in Catalonia. In 2020, she studied Project Management at the Institut d'Études Supérieures des Arts in Paris. After graduating, she joined Crooked House Theatre Company as an ESC volunteer, where she trained as a Drama Facilitator and practiced administration. She is currently the trainee Volunteer Manager and is developing her skills in international project management.
Yakup Baş
Director, Kildare Youth Theatre
Yakup is an actor who trained in Suleyman Demirel University in Turkey. He worked as a facilitator in different theatres, agencies and Isparta Social Services and Child Protection Institution. He also took part as an assistant director in several plays. He was an ESC volunteer with Crooked House and is now Director of KIldare Youth Theatre. He has trained with Corn Exchange, Dublin and Frantic Assembly, London. In addition to running Kildare Youth Theatre where he facilitates workshops and directs plays, he facilitates socially engaged theatre projects
Yassine Barkaoui
Theatre Maker
Yassine Barkaoui is an actor and theater director who trained in the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts (ISAD) in Tunisia, He worked as Drama Teacher in high schools and youth centers in his home country, and as drama facilitator in different schools in Ireland. He also served as the project manager for the Among Us project, which is an integration project for IPA (International Protection Applicants) with the aim of facilitating their integration in the society using drama workshops to teach English and social skills.
Aliki Klapadaki
Project Manager
Aliki is an actress from Athens, Greece. She first studied Civil Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, but soon realised her real love was acting. She decided to follow that path and graduated from Peiraikos Drama School in 2023. Since then, she has joined several workshops, including the International Ancient Drama Workshop of the National Theatre of Greece. She enjoys learning new languages, playing the piano, and discovering music. In 2024, Aliki joined Crooked House Theatre Company as an ESC volunteer. From September 2025, she is working in the company as a Project Manager while also facilitating a variety of workshops within Crooked House.
Xeni Vasilakis
Project Manager
Xeni Vassilaki is an actress from Athens, Greece. She has studied at the drama schools “Delos” and “Moderni kairoi”. Besides her theatrical studies, she has studied French language and literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens as well as at the University of Geneva. Since 2022, she has performed in three theatrical plays in Athens, Greece and she has participated in two movies. She is member of the female choral ensemble Chores of Marina Satti which aims to promote the wealth of Greek traditional music. She believes that through the arts people can find the quintessence of life, happiness.
Emre Can Şahin
Digital Media Manager
Emre is a filmmaker from Bursa, Turkey. He graduated from the university's cinema department and has won awards in international film competitions for his documentaries. Emre has started working with young people in Ireland, creating documentary films for various projects. He is also actively involved in digital media productions.
Charlie Hughes Farrell
Projects Manager
Charlie joined Kildare Youth Theatre when he was 12, acting in several plays that travelled Europe and one that was staged in the National Theatre in London. He trained in Film, Digital Media and French in NUI Galway. He runs English language programmes for our international volunteers, supporting their language skills and offering support for their acting roles in our projects.
Cian Ó Náraigh
Theatre Maker
Cian joined Kildare Youth Theatre when he was 16. After his BA degree he earned a place on a playwriting programme facilitated by Carys D. Coburn. He then trained as a Drama Facilitator with Youth Theatre Ireland. He co-facilitated the weekly Caliban workshop, and creative writing projects with Kildare Youth Theatre before developing an Irish language project called Nasc.
Elliot Nolan
Project Manager
Elliot was a member of Kildare Youth Theatre for years before he won a place on the BA Classical Acting degree at LAMDA in London. He is a professional actor who manages our Indigo Project and is the assistant director on Shakespearean productions.
Anna Galligan
Drama Facilitation Trainer
Anna worked for over a decade with Youth Theatre Ireland, developing policy and best practices for youth theatres nationally, including drama and artistic facilitation. She is the Artistic Director of Carlow Youth Theatre and teaches Performing Arts at Carlow Institute of Further Education and Training. Anna trains our ESC volunteers in Drama Facilitation and runs some of our training programmes on our international projects.
Matteo Polimanti
Newsletter Editor
Matteo (he/him) studied Performing Arts in Rome and worked with several Italian theatre organizations to organize festivals addressed to the new generations. He volunteered with Crooked House to acquire some project management and drama facilitation skills for his future projects. He is currently working in the performing arts field in Milan. He is responsible for Crooked House's monthly newsletter.
Makis Nanos
Theatre Maker
Makis Nanos is an actor, assistant director, and drama facilitator from Athens, Greece. He trained as an actor in Dilos Drama School and graduated in 2019. He has since worked as an actor and assistant director in many productions in theatre and cinema in Greece, Poland, and Ireland. He also participated in drama and movement workshops in Athens, at the National Theatre of Greece, as well as other organizations, in Poland at the Grotowski Institute, and in Ireland with Crooked House Theatre Company. Since 2020, Makis has been a member of Kinitiras Youth, a self-organized youth group under the umbrella of the Kinitiras Artistic Network of Performing Arts in Greece. Since 2021, he has worked as a drama facilitator in youth and adult theatre groups in Greece.
Calvin Magee
Theatre Maker
Calvin is a theatre director, socially engaged artist, and youth theatre practitioner from Dundalk, Co. Louth. His practice spans forum theatre, testimony theatre, and using theatre as a tool to amplify voices that are too often unheard. He is Lead Facilitator at Run of the Mill, Community Liaison Officer at M.A.D Youth Theatre, and Youth Theatre Coordinator at Nenagh Arts Centre. In 2025, Calvin was Artist in Residence at An Táin Arts Centre, where he reflected on Augusto Boal’s methodologies and explored how they might be reimagined to better serve the communities he works with today. Most recently, Calvin joined the Crooked House team as part of EPIPA (Empowerment Through Performance), a collaboration with Együttható Közösségépítő Egyesület (Hungary) and Uniamocci (Italy). Through this project, he is investigating how Forum Theatre can support young people with disabilities in building advocacy skills and a stronger sense of self.
Allison Hollinshead
Researcher
Abdulselam Toğ
Theatre Maker
Abdulselam Tog is an actor and theatre trainer from Istanbul, Turkiye. He studied acting at Halic University and, during that period, took part in numerous projects, including plays, advertisements, and TV series. After graduating, he worked as a theatre trainer for three years, during which he also co-directed a theatre academy and three stage productions. He later appeared in an independent film and a digital platform series, and worked with Istanbul State Theatre for a year before moving to Ireland as a volunteer. With Crooked House Theatre Company, he facilitated drama workshops with different age groups and took part in three productions as an actor. He is currently studying and works with Crooked House as a drama facilitator.
Tuana Sunar
Theatre Maker
Tuana Sunar is a theatre-maker from Türkiye and a Master’s student in Theatre and Performance at Trinity College Dublin. She studied at Anadolu University School of Music and Drama and completed an Erasmus exchange in Spain at ESAD de Galicia, where she focused on physical theatre. In 2022, she received the Promising Actress Award in Istanbul, and in 2023, she founded her company İkaros, creating and performing her first solo piece, which later earned her the Young Talent of the Year Award. Since moving to Ireland, Tuana has performed in The Ripples at Atlantic Technological University and with Crooked House Theatre Company in Fáilte Anseo, The Crucible, and Is Mise Éire Eilá. Alongside performing, she works as a drama facilitator, blending movement and theatre to engage young people in creative expression.
Elijah Palacci
ESC Volunteer
My name is Elijah and I’m a French theatre student. My love of theatre came to me at a very young age and I continue to explore this artform both through my university studies and through other non-academic paths. I especially like to consider the social impact of theatre and this was what led me to the Theatre of the Oppressed techniques invented by Augusto Boal. I joined a Theatre of the Oppressed company (« Si les sardines avaient des ailes ») in which i was trained to become a Joker (facilitator). What makes theatre really important to me is the way it connects people on a deep and intimate level. I’m also a writer, I like to think of writing as a way to shape the world to your dreams and to extract the hidden beauty of an ordinary moment. I’m a very passionate person and I’m always curious of discovering new cultures, artforms and people.
Giovanni Borsari
ESC Volunteer
Hi, I’m Giovanni, an Italian actor and life enthusiast. In life and especially through this ESC program I try to understand what experiences and emotions are universally shared, and which ones are particular to certain settings or people. I’d like to make everyone feel just a bit closer to everyone else through acting and art in general, and I look forward to discover new ways to live and share. I always have too much going through my head, but I’ll take being too curious instead of being set in stone.
Matteo Andreatta
ESC Volunteer
I'm Matteo Andreatta, an enthusiastic and passionate social worker. I love connecting with people and I try to be open, welcoming, and present. I come from Trento, a small city in the north of Italy. I like to be creative, especially when I'm working outdoors with groups of young people. I've had some great experiences with pet therapy, especially with donkeys. During my free time I usually go hiking in the Dolomites. I also love theatre, arts and festivals. I’m interested in human and childhood rights. I'm excited about the possibility of bringing my energy, presence and ideas to Crooked House.
Bendegúz Gécsek
ESC Volunteer
I studied acting at the Pesti Magyar Színiakadémia (Pesti Hungarian Theatre Academy, PMSZA) and Hungarian-English Literature and Linguistics at Eötvös Loránd University. During my studies, I had the opportunity to take part in several theatrical productions, both through the academy and thanks to the connections I made there. Alongside this, I explored performance art and collaborated with a few independent groups.
Evonne Boland
Evonne retired from the International Private Banking and Hedge Funds sector to raise her family in Newbridge. Evonne is chairperson of Newbridge Tidy Towns Association and Newbridge Community Development. She co-founded the Cottage Market in Newbridge and is a member of the Kildare. Environmental Network.
Mary Linehan
Chairperson
Mary was the Arts Officer for Kildare County Council until 2001, when she became Home School & Community Liaison Officer for Scoil Mhuire here in Newbridge. Mary trained as an actor with Deirdre O’ Connell in the Focus Studio in Dublin. She has written plays for young audiences and directed for Kildare Youth Theatre.