Acclaimed Irish theatre director Patrick Sutton, who worked with the Gaiety Theatre and Smock Alley, died on Thursday.
Paying tribute to Sutton in a joint statement on Friday, both establishments said he had “shaped a generation of Irish theatre”.
Sutton served as the director of the Gaiety School of Acting from 1993 until his retirement in early 2024.
He was also the founder and “driving force” behind the restoration of Smock Alley Theatre. He worked as an actor and director in Ireland, England and France.
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His held leadership roles at the Wexford Arts Centre, Team Theatre Company and the National Festival of Youth Theatres. He also held governance roles with the Arts Council, Culture Ireland and other cultural organisations.
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Will Wollen, director and chief executive of the Gaiety School of Acting, said: “Patrick Sutton leaves an astonishing cultural inheritance for Ireland and for Dublin.
“For 30 years he led the Gaiety School of Acting from strength to strength and it is because of his leadership that generations of artists working in Ireland and around the world carry something of his work with them.
“We are shocked and saddened to learn of his passing, as he had only recently joined us at one of our 40th anniversary celebrations.”
He described the “revolutionary spirit” that runs through the Gaiety school and its alumni as his “undeniable legacy”.
“It was a privilege to know him. Our love and thoughts are with Mo and his family,” he added.
“Smock Alley stands today in no small part because of Patrick’s vision, determination and belief in what this extraordinary building could become,” said Oonagh Murphy, chief executive of Dublin Municipal Theatre at Smock Alley.
“He understood the importance of its history but, more importantly, he understood that a theatre only truly lives when it is filled with artists, audiences and new ideas.”
She added they would remember him with “enormous gratitude and affection.”
