Peter O'Shaughnessy

'''Peter O'Shaughnessy''' OAM (5 October 1923 – 17 July 2013) was an Australian actor, theatre director, producer and writer who presented the work of playwrights ranging from Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen, Strindberg, Chekhov to modern dramatists, such as Ionesco, Pinter and Beckett. He acted as a mentor to and collaborator with comedian Barry Humphries in his early career. He attended Xavier College, Melbourne.

O'Shaughnessy was a minor exponent of Samuel Beckett, both in Australia and in Ireland. He produced the first ''Waiting for Godot'' in Australia in 1957. He played Krapp in the Australian premier of ''Krapp's Last Tape'' at the Arts Theatre in Melbourne in 1959. He also toured a second production of Godot in Sydney and Canberra in 1969, and later directed the Irish premières of ''Not I'' (1978), ''Footfalls'' (1978), and ''Rockaby'' (1984), and unofficial world premiers of ''Theatre I'' and ''Theatre II'' (later published in modified form as ''Rough for Theatre I and II'') in Cambridge in 1977.

O'Shaughnessy was also noted for his one-act performances of ''Diary of a Madman'', adapted from Gogol. In 1968 he co-created an illustrated anthology, ''The Restless Years'', based on his award-winning television program of the same name (not to be confused with the 1977–81 soap opera ''The Restless Years''). After bringing Shakespeare to Australian audiences in the 1960s, his Australian career was cut short after a devastating review published in ''The Australian'' by Katharine Brisbane. After a trial and an unsuccessful appeal, the case was ultimately determined in the High Court of Australia, where a new trial was ordered. However, he ceased working in Australia. In 1970 he left for London and continued to act in and direct Shakespeare in the UK and Ireland. For The British Council he has lectured on the plays of Shakespeare to universities in many countries of Europe, and in West Africa and South America. As a historian, his two books on General Joseph Holt and his book on John Mitchel focused on Australian/Irish history. Provided by Wikipedia