Philomena Muinzer

Philomena "Phil" Muinzer is a dramaturge, writer and former musician from Northern Ireland, who has used the pen name Phil O'Brien for some of her work.

Early life and education

Philomena and her twin brother Colum were born in Illinois, United States, of an Irish mother and American father. Her father, Louis A. Muinzer, graduated from Princeton University in 1949, and moved to Belfast to teach at Queen's University Belfast.^[1] The family moved to Belfast, Northern Ireland, when the children were young.^{[2][lower-alpha 1]}

She is a graduate of the University of Essex.^[4] She moved to the United States to study geology at Princeton University in 1973,^[1] graduating in 1978.^[5] She wrote a thesis on Arnold Guyot's barometrical explorations.^[6]

This was followed by postgraduate studies at the Yale School of Drama (1980).^[7][8]

Career

While at Princeton, she was disturbed by the sharp contrast between the violence of Belfast and the peace and calm of Princeton, and wrote the play We're on the One Road, about The Troubles in Ireland. It was performed in 1976, cast and directed by Muinzer.^[1] The play was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 1979–80.^[9]

Both Philomena and Colum played in the post-punk rock band Cruella de Ville, formed in 1982.^[2]

Philomena Muinzer has served as dramaturge for the Royal National Theatre.^[2]

Her 1987 article, "Evacuating the Museum: the Crisis of Playwriting in Ulster", published in New Theatre Quarterly, February 1987,^[4] has been extensively quoted in literature about Irish theatre and women playwrights.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

As of 2011, Muinzer was working as public relations officer for Pennant Books in London.^[15] She was thanked by Matthew Hussey in the foreword to his 2013 book, Get the Guy.^[16]

Selected works

Muinzer has written several plays and at least two books, sometimes adopting the pseudonym Phil O'Brien (O'Brien being the Munizers' mother's maiden name^[2]):

• We're on the One Road (1976)^[5]
• Together Against Him (1982), a play, which was awarded a bursary by The Arts Council of Great Britain^[4] and well-reviewed by the Times Literary Supplement^[8][17]
• Memories of the Irish-Israeli War (1995), a novel (as Phil O'Brien)^[8]
• Coldplay: Look at the Stars (2004), about the band Coldplay, in particular the effect of fame on frontman Chris Martin (as Phil O'Brien)^[18]

Personal life

She was married to writer Colin Bennett until his death on 15 February 2015.^[19]

Footnotes

1. Her Facebook page says "From Champaign, Illinois".^[3]

References

1. Princeton Alumni Weekly. Princeton University Press. May 1976. p. 30-PA7. ISSN 0149-9270. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
2. "Cruella De Ville". A to Z of N. Ireland Punk Bands. Spit Records. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
3. "Philomena Muinzer". Facebook. Retrieved 17 August 2022.
4. Muinzer, Philomena (February 1987). "Evacuating the Museum: the Crisis of Playwriting in Ulster". New Theatre Quarterly. 3 (9): 44–63. doi:10.1017/S0266464X00008502. ISSN 1474-0613. S2CID 191656586. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
5. Heinemann, Elaine P. (20 July 1978). "Playwright McCieery man of many talents" (PDF). The Franklin News-Record. Manville, New Jersey. p. 12-A. [Other students, such] as Philomena Muinzer -- whose glowing "We're on the One Road," a drama of contempary Ireland, was premiered at Intime the year before last -- are on their way. She's currently attending the Yake Drama School
6. Muinzer, Philomena. (1977). "Instructive panorama" : Arnold Guyot's barometrical explorations, 1848-1884 [catalogue entry]. OCLC 1340430839. Retrieved 20 August 2022 – via WorldCat.org.
7. "Lost Alumni: 1980". YSD Annual Magazine 2010-11. LV. David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University: 71. Fall 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2022 – via Issuu.
8. "First Flush: Memories of the Irish-Israeli War [book review]". Books Ireland (186). Wordwell Ltd.: 131 1995. ISSN 0376-6039. JSTOR 20623113. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
9. Kilgore, E.S.; Kilgore, M. (2004). The Susan Smith Blackburn Prize: Six Important New Plays by Women from the 25th Anniversary Year. Contemporary playwrights series. Smith and Kraus. ISBN 978-1-57525-379-4. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
10. Llewellyn Jones, Margaret (2002). Contemporary Irish Drama & Cultural Identity [PDF] [4ruvd97nesp0]. ISBN 1-84150-824-1. Retrieved 16 August 2022 – via EDoc Pub. First Published in Great Britain in Paperback in 2002 by Intellect Books Google Books
11. Murray, C. (2000). Twentieth-Century Irish Drama: Mirror up to Nation. Irish Studies. Syracuse University Press. p. 188. ISBN 978-0-8156-0643-7. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
12. Tracie, R. (2018). Christina Reid's Theatre of Memory and Identity: Within and Beyond the Troubles. Springer International Publishing. p. 4. ISBN 978-3-319-97876-5. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
13. Kosok, H.; Kamm, J. (1999). Twentieth-century Theatre and Drama in English: Festschrift for Heinz Kosok on the Occasion of His 65th Birthday. WVT, Wiss. Verlag Trier. ISBN 978-3-88476-333-9. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
14. Foley, I. (2003). The Girls in the Big Picture: Gender in Contemporary Ulster Theatre. Blackstaff Press. ISBN 978-0-85640-715-4. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
15. Directory of Publishing 2011: United Kingdom and The Republic of Ireland. Bloomsbury Academic. 2010. p. 70. ISBN 978-1-4411-8442-9. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
16. Hussey, Matthew (2013). Get the Guy: Use the Secrets of the Male Mind to Find, Attract and Keep Your Ideal Man. Bantam. p. 12. ISBN 978-0-593-07075-8. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
17. Notes
18. O'Brien, P. (2004). Coldplay: Look at the Stars. Plexus. ISBN 978-0-85965-349-7. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
19. "The obituary notice of BENNETT". Funeral Notices. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2022.