Download Sinéad Cusack

SINÉAD CUSACK
HONORARY DOCTOR OF LETTERS
WATERFRONT HALL CEREMONY,
JULY 5, 2002
Address by
Professor Séamus Mac Mathúna
CHANCELLOR
Sinéad Cusack is an outstanding actress of stage and
screen, a winner of numerous nominations and awards
for her theatrical performances, and Associate Artist and
Board Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. She
is the doyenne of one of Ireland’s and Britain’s most
distinguished acting dynasties – The Cusack Family. Her
father was the prodigiously gifted actor, director and
writer Cyril Cusack, who, in 1982, received the honorary
degree of Doctor of Letters from the New University of
Ulster. Sinéad, then, follows in her father’s footsteps
here today and builds on a significant Cusack tradition.
All the family are involved in the theatre and the Arts.
Her sisters are the talented actresses Sorcha, Niamh and
Catherine, Paul is a television producer and director of
current affairs, and Pádraig is Head of Planning at the
1
Royal National Theatre. One of Sinéad’s many
memorable performances was a family affair alongside
Sorcha and Niamh as Masha in Adrian Noble’s
production of ‘The Three Sisters’ - a harrowingly
powerful portrayal of terrifying and ferocious discontent
and a harbinger of other great performances to come.
Born in Dalkey, Co. Dublin, Sinéad had a memorable
childhood peopled by artists of different kinds including
actors, directors, writers and painters. As a young girl she
met many famous actors, including, for example, the
inimitable James Cagney who made a very strong
impression on her. She attended the prestigious Irishmedium Scoil Lorcáin and is in the position of bestriding
the two principal cultural and linguistic traditions of the
island.
Although Sinéad had a range of theatrical experiences
during her school years, it was not until she started
University College Dublin that she decided to become a
classical actress. Her father, who had set an impossibly
high standard for those in the family wishing to enter the
acting profession, pointedly advised the young aspiring
actress against such a career move. Notwithstanding this,
unknown to her parents, she auditioned for the Abbey
Theatre and was accepted.
A consummate professional, Sinéad has given a
succession of truly remarkable performances over the
years in the most challenging of classical and theatrical
roles and it is by virtue of her own ability and
determination that she has reached the highest rank in her
chosen field.
2
The extent of her repertoire is most impressive, her major
credits and achievements bearing comparison with the
accomplishments of the best in the acting profession. She
has, for example, played all the great Shakespearean
heroines including – Desdemona (‘Othello’), Kate (‘The
Taming of the Shrew’), Portia (‘The Merchant of
Venice’), Beatrice (‘Much Ado about Nothing’), Lady
Macbeth (The Scottish Play), and, currently, at the Royal
Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford Upon Avon, Cleopatra
in ‘Antony and Cleopatra’.
While Sinéad’s beautifully open - some would say
angelic - features are justly renowned and stand her in
good stead in playing charming and loveable characters,
there is much more to her than meets the eye. There are
other persona behind the veil who enable her to portray
a wide range of types including strong-willed,
passionate, cruel, even monstrous characters. As the
Royal Shakespeare Society director Terry Hands
remarked, there is an ‘unpredictable and dangerous’ side
to her.
These facets of her multi-talented personality are not
only reflected in her Shakespearean roles but also in the
manner in which she has excelled in a range of great
Irish dramatic roles, such as the extremely challenging
and demanding part of Grace in Brian Friel’s ‘The Faith
Healer’, Pegeen Mike in ‘The Playboy of the Western
World’ and Minnie in ‘The Shadow of a Gunman’. She
was deservedly awarded the 1998 Evening Standard
Award and the Critics Drama Award for Best Actress
for her mightily powerful and stunning performance as
3
Mai O’Hara in Sebastian Barry’s ‘Our Lady of Sligo’
directed by the excellent Max Stafford Clark. Her
portrayal of the outrageous tirades of the bitterly
disappointed, bedridden, dying 53 year old alcoholic is
superb. As the critic Charles Isherwood remarks:
‘Cusack makes Mai’s truculence and antagonism appealing by
emphasizing her mordant humor and the disappointments from
which her anger springs. It’s a fully imagined and movingly
realized performance; Cusack feels Mai’s anguish down to her
fingertips, and the audience receives it from her in moments that
blaze with fury and humor and pathos.’
As early as 1969, Sinéad began her film and television
career when she starred in the MGM Production of
‘Alfred the Great’. This was followed by the all-star
20th Century Fox Production of ‘David Copperfield’ in
which she played the part of Emily. She has appeared in
more than 20 films alongside icons of stage and screen
such as Peter Sellers, Alec Guinness, Laurence Olivier,
Ralph Richardson, Wendy Hiller and Jeremy Irons. She
has also appeared with great Irish actors such as her
father Cyril Cusack, Donal McCann and Niall Toibín.
Her credits include ‘Hoffman’ with Peter Sellers, ‘The
Last Remake of Beau Geste’ with Marty Feldman,
Franco Zeffirelli’s ‘The Sparrow’ and ‘Waterland’ with
Jeremy Irons. She also starred with Jeremy Irons in
Bernardo Bertolucci’s beautifully-filmed ‘Stealing
Beauty’. Sinéad has been married to the great British and
Hollywood star and actor, Jeremy Irons, since 1978 and
they have two sons, Sam and Max.
Her television work includes a number of mini-series
such as ‘Oliver’s Travels’, with Alan Bates, which is
4
both humorous and poignant, and the very enjoyable
‘Have Your Cake and Eat It’. She appeared as herself in
‘Playing Shakespeare’ and has had important roles in
other productions such as ‘Tales from Hollywood’ and
‘Cyrano de Bergerac’ in which
she successfully
transferred her role of Roxanne from stage to screen. Her
gift for humour and comedy is reflected in this role as it
is in ‘Oliver’s Travels’ and in her portrayal of Beatrice in
‘Much Ado about Nothing’ and Celia in ‘As you Like It’.
Ms. Cusack is not only a great actress, she is a major
influence on the affairs of one of Britain’s unique
theatrical institutions, the Royal Shakespeare Company.
She became a member of the Ensemble in the nineteen
seventies and it was there she learned her trade: not
surprisingly perhaps, she is very loyal to the Company.
As a member of the Board during the recent traumatic
period of change, she has played a pivotal role in
defending the institution against its critics while
simultaneously arguing for change and radical reform.
She appeared before the Select Commons Committee on
the subject and made a decisively strong impression. She
abhors social exclusivity and has attempted to be loyal to
both tradition and innovation in the interests of the
Company and of theatre in general.
In conclusion, Sinéad Cusack is an actress of depth and
vision who has successfully played the most challenging
of theatrical roles on the great stages of the world –
London, Paris, Vienna, Berlin, New York and Los
Angeles. She continues to not only stretch herself
personally as an actress but also to play a major role in
5
cultural and theatrical affairs. She is a credit to her
profession, her family and her country.
CHANCELLOR, in the name of the Senate, I
present SINÉAD CUSACK for the honorary
degree of Doctor of Letters.
6