Philomena "Phil" Muinzer is a dramaturge, writer and former musician from Northern Ireland, who has used the pen namePhil 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][a]
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]
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]
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]):
^ abHeinemann, 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