Pádraig Cusack, Irish theatre producer who has worked with the National Theatre of Great Britain, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) in Mumbai and numerous international festivals, is born on March 16, 1962, in Dalkey, County Dublin.
Cusack, the youngest son of the Irish actor Cyril Cusack and actress Maureen Cusack, is the brother of actresses Niamh Cusack, Sinéad Cusack and Sorcha Cusack, and half-brother of Catherine Cusack. He has one brother, Paul Cusack, who is a television producer. He is married and has two daughters, Megan, an actress, who in 2020 joins the leading cast in the Netflix/BBC popular series Call the Midwife in the recurring role of Nurse Nancy Corrigan, and Kitty, a psychology student. Two of his nephews are also actors, Max Irons and Calam Lynch.
Cusack is educated bi-lingually in Irish and English, initially at Scoil Lorcáin in Monkstown, County Dublin, and subsequently at Coláiste Eoin, Booterstown, County Dublin. He is a Taylor Exhibition music scholar at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), before winning a scholarship to train to be a professional cellist at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. In 1995, he returns to education to take a post-graduate degree in Business at University College Cork (UCC).
Having begun his career as a freelance musician, playing with the BBC Philharmonic orchestra and English National Opera North, an accident ends Cusack’s career as a musician, resulting in him pursuing a career in arts administration. Initially he focuses on the classical music sector, working at two leading concert venues in London, the Wigmore Hall and the Southbank Centre.
In 1992, Cusack makes his first move into theatre following his appointment as Administrative Director of West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, alongside Jude Kelly, where he produces a number of plays including the touring production of Five Guys Named Moe for Cameron Mackintosh Limited. In 1996, he is appointed Head of Planning of the Royal National Theatre under the outgoing artistic director, Sir Richard Eyre, and subsequently with Sir Trevor Nunn and Sir Nicholas Hytner. In 2009, he becomes the National Theatre’s Associate Producer. During this period, he produces numerous productions for tour both in the UK and internationally, taking the work of the National Theatre to five continents. Alongside this, he works as a touring consultant for the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, the Royal Court Theatre, London, Fiery Angel in London’s West End, Canadian Stage in Toronto, Bangarra Dance Theatre in Sydney, TheEmergencyRoom and Corn Exchange in Dublin and Galway International Arts Festival. In June 2016, he is appointed Executive Producer of Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff. In addition to this, he is Consultant Producer to the National Centre for the Performing Arts (India) in Mumbai.
As well as his theatre producing work, Cusack offers representation to a number of Irish artists including the director Annie Ryan, the composer Mel Mercier and the British playwright Matt Wilkinson.
In 2023, Cusack is the recipient of the Olwen Wymark Award from the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain for his championing of new writing which is presented at the 18th Annual Awards Ceremony in London.
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