Meet the BYT Team
Confidence. Communication. Creativity.
At Bright Young Things we are so fortunate to have teachers who are as bright, crazy and dramatic as the young people we teach! BYT is built on the strength of its teachers. We are passionate about bringing the expertise of those who have trained and worked with the best to the young, local talent of NI. A big thank you to all of the BYT Team. Here’s to loving going to work every day!
Meet Lisa Duffy

Founder and Director of Bright Young Things Drama, Lisa has a boundless energy and commitment to drama and confidence building for young people in NI. With a Single Honours Degree in Drama from Queen’s University, a Professional Acting degree from the world renowned LAMDA and a PGCE in Primary Education from Roehampton University, Lisa is passionate about continuous professional development and bringing these expertise to the young people of NI.
Alongside running BYT, Lisa has a second organisation offering Presentation and Confidence Building skills to businesses and organisations across NI and continues to lecturer in Performing Arts.

ARTIST QUALITY REVIEW
Lisa Duffy
Lisa participated with Tinderbox Play Machine Academy 2018/19; a six-month intensive training programme for emerging artists in contemporary theatre practice, devising and performance. Lisa demonstrated a huge interest in exploring numerous techniques and styles with in-depth analysis, focus and desire to understand the various pathways for the creation of new work.
Lisa approached improvisation with an open attitude and demonstrated the ability to create and utilise strong theatrical space, narratives and risk with simple instruction and provocation. Lisa also demonstrated the ability to work as an ensemble member, offering and receiving ideas and pushing the devising process to create, visceral and truthful new work. Lisa also demonstrated the ability to challenge her own creative thought processes and articulate her vision to the ensemble coherently and professionally. We invited Lisa to be part of the Engine Programme with Manifesto Poetico October 2019. Lisa brilliantly engaged with the process from the first week laboratory through to performance as part of the Epic Borders Trilogy. Lisa represented Northern Irish talent to an exceptional standard and we look forward to see her current ambitious developments in the future.
PATRICK J O'REILLYMeet Our BYT Team
At BYT we are so fortunate to have teachers who are as bright, crazy and dramatic as the young people we teach! BYT is built on the strength of its teachers. A big thank you to all of the BYT Team. You are brilliant.Here’s to loving going to work every day!

Hannah Reilly
Hannah graduated from Queens University Belfast with a 2:1 in Drama and English with specialisation in devising, applied and physical theatre. She has also been a freelance drama facilitator for several years working with companies in Belfast such as Nismat and Terra Nova Productions.
Hannah has successfully put several students through their LCM acting exams, with some students winning numerous awards in the Belfast Drama Festival. Having worked as an Activity Therapist with dementia patients and completing her ASD and TEFL training, Hannah has experience working with people from all walks of life.?

Roisin Gallagher

Jayne McKenzie
Jayne gained a 1st class honours in Theatre Arts: Acting and Contemporary Theatre Making and has been working as a Theatre and Screen actor since.
Jayne is also a member of the National Youth Theatre and The American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Los Angeles: Acting for Film and Television. She has trained in Firearms and weapon training for screen acting and has currently furthering her qualifications with the Irish screen acting masterclasses.
To name a few, Jayne has performed with Cahoots NI; A Midsummer Nights Dream at the Lyric Theatre; devised and performed Submerso at Brighton Fringe Festival and is currently devising a play to perform in Dublin in February 2020.?

Jessica Samoy Plunkett

Mariah McAlynn
“What I love most about BYT is the fact that the children develop knowledge and skills for life through the use of drama and play. As well as this, I love seeing the friendships that are made throughout each term. Learning with friends is fun and it’s even better with play!” ?

Gary Crossan

Megan Keenan

Gerard Kelly
