After traveling the country directing and performing in numerous productions, Brendan Byrnes '92 has come home to Providence College to direct the production of Charley's Aunt.

The first production of the academic year to be presented by the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film, Charley's Aunt will be staged in the Angell Blackfriars Theatre in the Smith Center for the Arts on the weekends of October 24 to 26 and October 31 to November 2. The play was originally written by British playwright Brandon Thomas in the 19th century.

"It's already been quite the profound experience being back here at PC," Byrnes said of his role as guest director. "Twenty years ago, I was a college freshman sharing a dorm room in Guzman Hall with three other guys, getting acclimated to the college experience. And now here I am, twenty years later, back at PC."

A resident of New York City, Byrnes majored in theatre and graduated magna cum laude as a member of the Liberal Arts Honors Program. As an undergraduate, he was an active participant in theatre and dance-writing, performing, directing, and choreographing--and was the first president of the College's chapter of Theta Alpha Phi, the theatre honor society.

"I am so glad my parents convinced me to get a solid liberal arts education instead of going to a conservatory program," he said. "In preparation to start any career, it's so important to graduate from college as a thinking person on many levels, not just your chosen field. That's something that PC does so well."

Since graduating, Byrnes has worked as a professional actor and director and is a member of both Actors' Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. Most recently, he spent two months in Missouri playing the role of Bill Ray in the Equity Theatre production of On Golden Pond.

This is the fourth time he has returned to PC as a guest director. The last time, in 2005, he directed and choreographed Brigadoon, the inaugural performance in the new Angell Blackfriars Theatre.

"It's a cliché, I know, but it's always a lesson for me to learn first-hand how much things change and how much things stay the same," Byrnes said of his guest role. "Each project has brought an entirely new pool of student actors, stage managers, and artists to collaborate with, so doing this work in a comfortable place with new people is really the best-case scenario."

Byrnes is directing an acting cast and off-stage crew of approximately 20 students in Charley's Aunt. 

Byrnes spoke highly of the influence his professors at PC had on his development as a person and as an actor.

"The theatre department at PC offers great opportunities to learn, to do, and to learn by doing," he said. "I've known ever since I was a little kid that I wanted to be an actor and a director, and my experience at PC really shaped me in pursuit of those goals. I became a better actor, a better director, a better person while I was here."

Byrnes praised several current faculty members as being valued mentors to him. He credited John P. Garrity, Jr. '73, Mary G. Farrell, David M. Cabral, and Rev. Matthew D. Powell, O.P., all of the Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film, as well as the late Dr. Rodney K. Delasanta (English) '53 of the Honors Program.

For tickets and more information on Charley's Aunt, click  here. 

 - Joe Miller '10