Kate McCarthy (pronouns: she/her) is a Lecturer in Drama at SETU. Her teaching, research, and performance practice explore and challenge exclusionary and gendered narratives. Her teaching activities and research outputs use multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression, taking many forms including: theatre practice, workshops, community engagement projects, educational resources, public talks, podcasts, summer schools, as well as publications and conference contributions. In 2021, she was awarded the WIT Early Career Researcher Award. Her research interests include: the arts and education; contemporary theatre practice, in particular participatory performance and live art; the work of Waterford playwright, Teresa Deevy; and Waterford’s Magdalene Laundry and Industrial School. Kate is the Policy and Advocacy Elected Member of the Irish Society for Theatre Research (2023-2026).

Kate trained at the Cork School of Music (Munster Technological University), Trinity College London (Associate and Licentiate Diplomas in Performing), and in Drama and Theatre Studies at University College Cork (BA and MA). As a practitioner, Kate has facilitated and devised contemporary performance projects in Ireland and in the UK including: youth theatre, site-responsive performance, street theatre, community engagement project, and drama and theatre education projects.

As a scholar-practitioner, Kate has facilitated a wide range of drama and theatre, and community engagement projects in the region, and beyond, with the following artists and organisations: Animated State Dance Company; Amanda Coogan; Butler Gallery & Museum; The Copper Coast Geopark; Cruinniú na nÓg; Curious State Theatre and Street Spectacle Company; Dublin Theatre of the Deaf; Garter Lane Arts Centre; Little Red Kettle, Waterford Libraries, Waterford Imagine Arts Festival. Kate also supports work created by young people and has facilitated projects in this domain with organisations such as Activate Youth Theatre and Physcially Phishy youth theatres (Cork); Klub Music (Waterford); Learning for Life programme (SETU); Togher Family Centre (Cork); Waterford Youth Arts; SETU Youth Orchestra; and, Youth Theatre Ireland.

Kate's teaching and learning philosophy is informed by three interrelated approaches: the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL), Teaching for Understanding (TfU), and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). She teaches a range of practice-based and theory-based undergraduate modules in the Department of Arts (see Courses for more information), including on the BA programmes in Theatre Studies, English, and Visual Art. She has also taught on the Social Care, Early Childhood Studies, Design in Visual Communication, and Fáilte Ireland programmes. With Dr Úna Kealy, Kate was co-recipient of a Teaching Excellence Award in 2016. Kate received a Teaching Hero award in 2021 (The National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education).

Kate is a member of the Feminist Research Working Group (International Federation for Theatre Research), the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, the Irish Society for Theatre Research, the Arts Education Research Group (Trinity College Dublin), Women in Research Network (SETU), and PLACE (Practice-Led, Active & Creative Engagement) working group (School of Humanities, SETU).

Research projects

IBSA Project: Responding creatively to image-based sexual abuse (PI: Dr Jennifer O'Mahoney, SETU): This project works with SETU students and staff and supports them in creating artistic responses in different media to counter the occurrence of IBSA, recognising that students and staff can be strong allies in challenging rape culture. The artistic responses will be curated as part of an online exhibition on the project website.

Lyrical Bodies (PI Dr Úna Kealy, SETU), 2022-2027, investigates Waterford playwright Teresa Deevy’s ballet Possession, a work never yet performed, to explore and analyse ableism and gender discrimination towards the Irish Deaf community and Deaf woman via theatre practice research. The project considers how deafened playwright Teresa Deevy reflected on the socio-cultural environment of the mid-twentieth century. This project is funded by the Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion Fund (SETU) and Research Connexions (SETU).

Letters from the Past (with Dr Úna Kealy) constitutes an inter-generational archival project researching the correspondence between Waterford playwrights Teresa Deevy and James Cheasty.

The Waterford Memories Project (PI Dr Jennifer O'Mahoney, SETU) comprises an oral history, digital humanities project that investigates the Waterford Laundry and Industrial School. This project has multiple research outputs, each funded by different organisations including the Irish Research Council, Creative Ireland, and Waterford City and County Council.

Generation Climate Change (PI Dr Kate McCarthy, SETU) funded by Creative Ireland, in collaboration with Curious State theatre company, this project provided young people in Waterford city and county with opportunities for creative, critical, and reflective thinking about the climate crises and examined drama education and the Mantle of the Expert approach as a critical pedagogy. 

2021- present:

• editorial consult on a new series of Practice as Research publications (series editor Dr Nicole Brown (University College London)
• NCCA (Ireland) consultation on Drama, Theatre, and Film Studies (Senior Cycle, post-primary education)