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Paul Boyd
After graduating Paul co-founded Belfast's award-winning theatre company Kabosh, serving as Artistic Director. The company's first production was an all-Ireland touring production of "Macbeth The Musical" and during his time with the company Paul wrote and directed a number of other musicals, including "The Elves And The Shoemaker", "Rumpelstiltskin", "Hansel & Grettel" and the acclaimed Irish tour of "Torch Song Trilogy", adapted as a musical from the play by Harvey Fierstein. He also directed or produced a number of other works for the company including many successful Irish touring productions such as Dennis Potter's "Blue Remembered Hills", Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads", Stephen King's "Misery", and new works by Belfast writer Owen McCafferty including "Freefalling" (winner of the 1995 Herald Award at the Edinburgh Festival). Paul left the company in 1997 to pursue his freelance career and Kabosh remains one of Ireland's most vibrant independent theatre producers. To date Paul is the author and composer of 15 original stage musicals that have been presented in 34 professional productions across Ireland. As well as being known for his musical adaptations of famous tales such as "Hansel & Grettel", "Red - the Red Riding Hood Musical", "Pinocchio" ('Best Musical' 2003, Belfast Telegraph's Sunday Life Drama Review of the Year) and the award-nominated "Alice The Musical" ('Best Drama' 1999 Belfast Arts Awards), Paul has continued to build on the success of his earlier adult-themed works "Torch Song Trilogy" and "Macbeth The Musical" with musicals such as "McCool", the story of Irish mythological wild-child Finn McCool (which in 2006 won a much coveted place as a UK entry to the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals in New York) and "Molly Wobbly's Tit Factory" (which was short-listed for The Highland Quest for a New Musical in 2006). Paul has also written many original scores for professional theatre, including music for "The Thief" (Irish Tour), "The Colleen Bawn" (Irish Tour), "The Playboy of the Western World" (Irish Tour), "Puppet Magic" (Irish Tour), "Buster" (Ireland Tour and Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh), "A Fairy's Tale" (Irish Tour), "The Magic Hat" (Ireland and Asia Tour), "The Little Wee Martian" (Irish Tour), "Dome Sweet Dome" (Irish Tour), "Smelly Won't Behave!" (Irish Tour), "Flaming Fables" (Irish Tour) and "Marching On" for the Lyric Theatre Belfast. In 2002 Paul founded pbm, Purpose Built Musicals, in response to requests from Irish theatre managements for a production company dedicated to presenting and licensing his works. For pbm Paul has so far directed new professional productions of "Hansel & Grettel", "Pinocchio", "Alice The Musical" and "Red - The Red Riding Hood Musical". In 2005 pbm had the distinction of running two of Paul's musicals in two different Dublin theatres simultaneously - a first for any living musical theatre writer. pbm continues to produce Paul's work for professional theatre managements and also licenses the shows to amateur companies, colleges and schools. In 2005 Northern Ireland's longest-established theatre company, Big Telly Theatre Company, premiered Paul's water-based production of Hans Christian Andersen's "The Little Mermaid". The show, performed exclusively in swimming pools, was co-created with Big Telly's Artistic Director Zoe Seaton and toured Ireland extensively before also touring venues in Taiwan and Andersen's home country of Denmark. Also in 2005 Paul composed the music for the annual Belfast Lord Mayor's Parade inspired by "The Chronicles of Narnia", the famous books by Belfast born author C.S. Lewis. In 2006 Paul's music, commissioned for the Belfast City Hall Centenary Exhibition, can be heard playing in the City throughout the year and "The Little Mermaid" continues on its travels across the world. The show's creators have already completed initial work on a second water-based musical production, "Sinbad", which is due for production on tour world-wide from 2007. Paul's musical "McCool" is set for a new production in 2006, his musical score "Titanic: Song of The Hammers" forms part of a major new exhibition in Belfast at the site of Titanic's construction which opened in April and Paul will direct a new production of his musical "Pinocchio" for Belfast's Lyric Theatre which runs from 28th November. Paul enjoys traveling (in the past two years his work has taken him to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Denmark, Amsterdam, USA, Serbia and, of course, across Ireland and the UK) and he divides his time between the company base in Ireland and his home in the USA. News & ReviewsNo current items | 
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Paul Boyd was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 1972 and studied Theatre at the University of Ulster, graduating with a BA (Hons) in 1993. Whilst still at University Paul's first musical, "Macbeth The Musical", opened as a student production on campus and immediately transferred to the nearby professional Riverside Theatre where it played to packed houses. A few months later the musical moved to Belfast for a sell-out run at the Group Theatre as part of Belfast International Festival. In the same year Paul's first play, "All Wired Up", won the Greer Garson Theatre Award, resulting in a full production at the University of Ulster. The play transferred to Belfast for a sell-out run at The Crescent Arts Centre before embarking on a tour to Derry, Dublin and eventually to the London Fringe where the show ran at The Village Theatre, Cricklewood.