Jim Daly RIP · Jan 29, 10:48 AM
Red Kettle Theatre Company would like to extend its deepest sympathy to the Daly family on the death of Jim Daly, who passed away at home on Tuesday, January 28th.
Jim was a member of Red Kettle from our inception in 1985 and his contribution to the development of all our work has been immense. He worked in a variety of production roles before finding his calling as a lighting designer where he illuminated the world premieres of many plays including among others Happy Birthday Dear Alice by Bernard Farrell, Jim Nolan’s The Guernica Hotel, Jimmy Murphy’s Kings of the Kilburn Highroad in Waterford, London and New York, Donal O Kelly’s Catalpa, The Queen and Peacock by Loughlin Deegan and many of Little Red Kettle’s plays including The Four Euclids of Squid and The Festival of Imagination and Wild Fancy in Waterford, Dublin, Galway and Japan. Jim also lit many of the classics of World Theatre including a beautiful design for Arthur Miller’s The Crucible. His great spirit will also be missed around the country where many of these plays toured – his comradeship with all of the theatre workers he worked with – where he shared (with his pipe and a large bottle) in debate on all the social, literary, hurling and creative issues of the day…The Everyman Palace in Cork always got in a crate of large bottles in the theatre bar in anticipation of Jim’s arrival!!
For many years also Jim held the chair of Red Kettle – repeatedly voted in to keep his position. He saw the company through an unprecedented growth and always believed in developing the company through a policy of consensus – often over-seeing meetings that lasted two days!! – bringing everybody with him on what was a remarkable journey. His great social conscience, natural human warmth, his love of learning, his belief in the value of the arts to all of our lives, his love of the underdog and his willingness and ability to share all of his talents and love to all of us that worked with him enlightened all our lives and helped shape the people and company that we have become.
– I know also that his plays touched the hearts and minds of the many young people that shared in bringing his work to the stage and indeed to the many of us that shared in that work as audience members.He will be sadly missed by all of us that knew him – for the great quality of his work and especially for his great humanity, friendship and uplifting spirit.
Ben Hennessy
More tributes to Jim Daly can be seen on the Waterford Youth Arts site: www.waterfordyoutharts.com/jimdaly.htm
Clem Jacob Hire and Red Kettle win major Award Little Red Kettle Summer Play 2010 Auditions!
