Martin O'Brien

Martin O'Brien

Martin O'Brien is the founder and Artistic Director of Ten Ten Theatre.
Starting his working life as a professional actor, Martin performed in the West End (Blood Brothers) and at the National Theatre (twice) as well as appearing in many TV dramas throughout the 1990’s. He then developed a second career as a writer, winning the BBC Northern Exposure Award for his play “On Eagles Wings” and writing for the BBC One drama “Doctors” and numerous radio plays.
He founded Ten Ten Theatre – a professional theatre company with an underlying Christian ethos rooted in the Catholic tradition - with his sister Clare in 2007. Since that time, Ten Ten has developed a wide-ranging programme in drama-based Relationship Education in primary schools, secondary schools and parishes, currently working with over 80,000 children and young people every year. The company has also won awards for its work with young offender institutions and has more recently moved into mainstream theatre productions, starting with the sell-out production of “Kolbe’s Gift” at the off-West End venue, The Leicester Square Theatre, in October 2013.
When not working, Martin tries (and sometimes, just sometimes, succeeds) to beat his 12-year-old nephew on Fifa…
www.tententheatre.co.uk

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Martin O'Brien's Latest Posts

Parenting and family life

Filed in Family by on May 1, 2016 0 Comments
Parenting and family life

On the first Monday of the month, Ten Ten send a newsletter to parents who have attended a parent session in a school.  The newsletter includes a chapter from the booklet “Being a Parent Today: […]

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The Gift of Priests and Sisters: a resource from Ten Ten

Filed in Arts by on April 19, 2016 0 Comments
The Gift of Priests and Sisters: a resource from Ten Ten

Primary school children throughout the UK have been learning why certain people chose to follow God’s call to become priests and sisters by engaging in an innovative new project from the Catholic education organisation, Ten […]

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Children are an extraordinary gift…

Filed in Family by on March 12, 2016 0 Comments
Children are an extraordinary gift…

On the first Monday of the month, Ten Ten send a newsletter to parents who have attended a parent session in a school.  The newsletter includes a chapter from the booklet “Being a Parent Today: […]

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Prayers for children to learn and treasure

Filed in Arts by on February 4, 2016 0 Comments
Prayers for children to learn and treasure

On the first Monday of the month, Ten Ten send a newsletter to parents who have attended a parent session in a school.  The newsletter includes a chapter from the booklet “Being a Parent Today: […]

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Catholic Theatre Company wins award for stage play about human trafficking

Filed in Arts by on October 25, 2015 0 Comments
Catholic Theatre Company wins award for stage play about human trafficking

Ten Ten, the Catholic professional theatre company, has won the Award for Best Stage or Film Production dealing with Modern Slavery for the play, “This Is My Body”. (In the photo above Home Secretary Theresa May […]

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Ten Ten updates: touching the lives and faith of young people through school drama and workshops

Filed in Arts by on May 4, 2015 0 Comments
Ten Ten updates: touching the lives and faith of young people through school drama and workshops

We often reflect that one of the great blessings of Ten Ten’s work is that everyone involved in the projects is impacted and blessed by the plays, workshops and projects. This includes students, parents, parishioners […]

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Day of International Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking

Filed in Ethics by on February 8, 2015 0 Comments
Day of International Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking

Today marks the first Day of International Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking, which was announced by Pope Francis a few months ago. This afternoon at 3pm, we will host the premiere screening of our […]

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This is My Body: now booking for the human trafficking play from Ten Ten Theatre

Filed in Arts by on September 7, 2014 0 Comments
This is My Body: now booking for the human trafficking play from Ten Ten Theatre

This Is My Body: Now Booking There are “reasonable grounds” to suspect that a Romanian woman, who has been working as a prostitute in the UK, is the victim of human trafficking. She is given […]

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Summer news from Ten Ten Theatre

Filed in Arts by on September 1, 2014 0 Comments
Summer news from Ten Ten Theatre

We hope this finds you well and that you have had a restful summer. Summer can be a great opportunity to be refreshed and reminded of what God is calling each of us to – […]

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A meditation on Holy Week and the Passion of Christ – in a UK shopping centre

Filed in Arts by on April 7, 2014 0 Comments
A meditation on Holy Week and the Passion of Christ – in a UK shopping centre

In 2013, Ten Ten Theatre – the Catholic professional theatre company – staged a Passion Play based on the Stations of the Cross involving over 250 people from the local churches and schools in Runcorn and […]

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Two powerful plays for young people about relationships, choices and the pressure to conform

Filed in Arts by on March 28, 2014 0 Comments
Two powerful plays for young people about relationships, choices and the pressure to conform

We are delighted to announce Ten Ten’s latest production at The Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden on Saturday 26 April. Babies and Chased are two short plays which explore the lives of teenagers as […]

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Pope Francis’s motorbike

Filed in News by on February 10, 2014 0 Comments
Pope Francis’s motorbike

Writer Audrey Gillan has written a topical short drama, which was speedily produced by BBC Radio 4, about the auction of Pope Francis’s Harley Davidson motorcycle earlier this week. It’s a charming story about family […]

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Two plays for the whole family by Catholic theatre company Ten Ten, Sat 8 Feb, London

Filed in Arts by on January 17, 2014 0 Comments
Two plays for the whole family by Catholic theatre company Ten Ten, Sat 8 Feb, London

Following the huge success of “Kolbe’s Gift” in the West End last October, Ten Ten Theatre is presenting a double-bill of plays for the whole family at The Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden on […]

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White Elephant: the Christian presence in the violent slums of Argentina in the 1970s

Filed in Arts by on January 17, 2014 1 Comment
White Elephant: the Christian presence in the violent slums of Argentina in the 1970s

Much has been made of Pope Francis’ work in the Argentinian slums before being elected Pontiff.  An interesting point of reference is the 2012 feature film “White Elephant”, a subtitled movie set in the villa […]

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Powerful new play about human trafficking by Ten Ten Theatre

Filed in Arts by on October 24, 2013 0 Comments
Powerful new play about human trafficking by Ten Ten Theatre

A new theatre play, which addresses the issue of human trafficking in the UK, was shown at a special event in Central London to mark Anti-Slavery Day. Ten Ten Theatre have commissioned a one-woman drama […]

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Kolbe’s Gift – trailer

Filed in Ethics by on September 17, 2013 0 Comments

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St Maximilian Kolbe: the man behind the saint

Filed in Arts by on September 14, 2013 1 Comment
St Maximilian Kolbe: the man behind the saint

Eighteen months ago, I made the decision to stage a theatre production of the play “Kolbe’s Gift” by David Gooderson at The Leicester Square Theatre, a 400-seat off-West End theatre, for a week of performances […]

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