JOHN ROGERS
ACTOR | FILMMAKER | THEATREMAKER
John Rogers is an actor, filmmaker and theatremaker, based in Galway.
John played the role of John Hamilton on Abú Media’s Mobs Cheanada on TG4 in 2011. In 2011 he also worked with Dick Walsh on his short film Nun Or The Udder. John has worked with filmmakers Keith Harrison, Rory O Kelly and Conor Maguire.
John’s theatre work has been seen at Galway Theatre Festival, the Dublin Fringe Festival and Cork Midsummer Festival. His shows include Prelude to The Stars in Winter, Tea, P.I.S.C.E.S., ARTIST SCIENTIST PRIEST and Decision Problem [Good Time for Questions].
John has worked in theatre since 2002. Starting in 2012 John created a series of one-man-shows that redefine solo performance by playing with and sometimes discarding entirely the tools of traditional theatre. His work is often non-narrative and makes use of digital technology. He has devised and performed in durational pieces most notably the 24-hour nonstop ARTIST SCIENTIST PRIEST. His shows often incorporate social media and as such can be experienced simultaneously online and onstage.
John begun his series of one-man-shows with Decision Problem [Good Time for Questions] which premiered at Dublin Fringe Festival 2013. It was subsequently shown at Galway Theatre Festival 2013. Decision Problem [Good Time for Questions] charts the origin and rise of the digital realm and asks questions about our shared future with machines.
From Decision Problem [Good Time for Questions] came ARTIST SCIENTIST PRIEST, a 24-hour nonstop one-man-show that charts the origin and rise of homo sapiens. John performed this challenging play at Dublin Fringe Festival 2014 and Galway Theatre Festival 2015.
In 2015 John was awarded an Arts Council of Ireland project award for development of his new show P.I.S.C.E.S. This play took a hard science fiction look at the social impact of contact from an extraterrestrial race. P.I.S.C.E.S. premiered in 2016 at Galway Theatre Festival.
In 2016 John began development of a new show that investigated tea-drinking cultures of Ireland, Sri Lanka, Japan and China. Incorporating a live score by Aengus Hackett, Tea premiered at GTF 2017.
During lockdown, John created a new work for 2020: Prelude to The Stars in Winter — a 360 degree short film.
Aside from his own shows John has acted and devised with other theatremakers and companies including Moonfish Theatre (Tromluí Phinocchio / Pinocchio — A Nightmare, 2013 & After The End, 2008) Theatrecorp (Measure for Measure, 2013 & The Caucasian Chalk Circle, 2010), Side-Show Theatre (King Alfred: A Mystery Play, 2012), Waterdonkey Theatre (Happening, 2011 & The Very Best of John Lennon, 2011), Suantraí (Too Much of Nothing, 2010 & Ashes to Ashes, 2009), Mephisto Theatre (Dystance, 2008) and 3rd Condition Theatre (Knockdoubt, 2002).
John interned with Elevator Repair Service theatre ensemble in New York in Summer 2010. In 2015 he was invited on a 6-week artist residency at Sura Medura, Sri Lanka in association with Uz Arts and Galway 2020.
John is a graduate of University of Galway with a MA in Drama & Theatre Studies.