Actor - Producer - Director - Teacher
"honest, poignant and insightful" --Jo Ledingham, The Vancouver Courier
“proof that live theatre lacks no courage when tackling tough issues.” --Peter Birnie, The Vancouver Sun
“S. Siobhan McCarthy is one mean scriptwriter”, --The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC
“Highly intelligent, sexy, titillating and challenging!”-- Michael Green, One Yellow Rabbit -High Performance Rodeo, Calgary AB
"Siobhan McCarthy is one of Canada’s most accomplished “cross-over” artists". --Canadian Theatre Review
“Director McCarthy tries out a variety of stylistic approaches, and the least naturalistic are some of the most effective; the video component also shows her gift for arresting images.” --Kathleen Oliver, The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC
"a stellar one woman performance by Siobhan McCarthy (in Spiraling Within) …it seems evident that the writer and actor are either, (a) highly talented or (b) hold this subject matter close to their heart and within their realm of experience. I’d say both.”—Alyssa Coulson, Monday Magazine, Victoria, BC
“one woman mind odyssey…compelling… inspirational…McCarthy breezes through her character’s journey (Spiraling Within) with passion and poignancy.” Michael Reid, The Times Colonist, Victoria, BC
“Giving a Piece of Her Mind- Spiraling is a powerful look at mental health; As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t get much scarier-or braver- than this…For one hour, I was right there with her.” --Colin Thomas, The Georgia Straight, Vancouver BC
Siobhan McCarthy is the Founder and Managing Artistic Director/ Producer of the absolut theatre company & blyssful productions. She originally hails from Toronto where she trained, competed and toured as a National Precision Figure Skater for over half her life. She then lived in Europe before "heading west" and graduating with her Honours Degree from the Department of Theatre, Film and Creative Writing at U.B.C. In September she took a hiatus from teaching and she returned to her alma mater as a part time student in the Arts Administration Program at UBC where she has been focusing on producing film and television.
McCarthy is a bold, innovative, multi-media, transdisciplinary artist who is constantly devising new original theatre, film and performance art. She has been profiled and published in the Canadian Theatre Review where she was credited as being one of, "Canada's foremost cross-over artists" and her philosophy of "Using the arts as a tool for healing, self- discovery, empowerment and catharsis" was celebrated.
She enjoys working collaboratively with other artists and in 2007 plans to focus on her film and television career. She has four films and a television series in development
Selected Past Directing credits include:
edges, altered states- primal scream- the edge of consciousness, Spiraling Within, Happy Meal, See Bob Run, A Soldier's Tale, Drunken Bliss!?! Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, The Comedy of Errors and the awarding winning Bold Girls. Equity Co-Op's include W.O.W-wow!!!, and Who Are You Calling Crazy !?!
As a performer, Siobhan is a true chameleon with a series of characters including - Blyss, Lucy, Violet, Merv, Joan and Savannah to name a few. When she is not shocking and titillating audiences across the country with her dominatrix penis wearing clown, Blyss or as her dirty old man Merv the Perv, you can find her acting sans white face or mask in various film, television and theatre projects.
Favourite acting film and television credits include Animal Miracles, The Entrance, Cultural Differences, F-Stop, Still Life, A Bug and a Bag of Weed, Last Wedding, Drunken Bliss, and the award winning Patricia Grey. Favourite Stage Credits include: Caroline in Deal Breakers, Agnes in Marion Bridge, Kayla in Spiraling Within, A Dark Witch in Macbeth, The title role in Claire, Star, in Five Dollar Drinks, and Violet in Violet's Cocktail Party.
Siobhan is the Production Manager of the Vancouver International Film Festival Trade Forum and she enjoys teaching and lecturing at various colleges, universities and institutions across the country.
She has created and taught for the voice, movement and mask course as well as the play creation and performance class at the New Image College of Fine Arts and is a past instructor of on-camera scene study and "intro to the biz" at John Casablanca's.
Siobhan is one of the Youth Playwright Mentors at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre and she has worked with Youth Cancer Survivors at Vancouver Children's Hospital- mentoring them in creating their play for the 2005 Children's Festival.
Siobhan has been an invited guest speaker/performer/ host at the Toronto Clown Festival, The Vancouver Pride Festival, The World Madness and Arts Festival in Toronto, Balancing Acts Disability Festival in Calgary, CMHA, Gallery Gachet, Alliance for Arts and Culture, University of British Columbia, as well as numerous schools and hospitals.
She has received funding and awards from several Regional and National funding bodies.
In 2004-2005 Siobhan was the Artist in Residence with the City of Vancouver at Gallery Gachet for her innovative community art building project entitled, "The Masks We Wear".
Siobhan is represented by Trisko Talent Management in Vancouver, BC
COURSES and LECTURES BY SIOBHAN:
Artist in Business, Grant Writing, Fundraising, Mask Making, Mask Performance, Writing the Monologue, Creating Character, On Camera Acting, Yoga for Actors, Monologue Performance, Scene Study, Madness and the Arts, Living and Managing Your Mental Health while being an Artist, How to be a VJ, Don't Wait for the Phone to Ring!, and How to Write, create, produce and perform your own work.
Ms. McCarthy is an accomplished PPSEC approved teacher and private acting coach. She has taught and lectured at UBC, John Casblanca's Acting School, New Image College of Fine Arts as well as other colleges and private institutions. Last year, she was the Artist in Residence with the City of Vancouver in the Down Town East Side teaching people mask making.
Video Clip of Blyss & Sweetness - Clown Burlesque - Click Here
Photos of Siobhan - Click here
To book Siobhan McCarthy for performances or teaching:
please email siobhan@blyssfulproductions.com,
or call (604) 263-1859