About the Author.
Mr. Matt O'Brien's experience in drum corps began in 1974 with the Scarlet Knights of Gurnee
Illinois 1974, where he marched until 1977. In 1981, O'Brien joined the Cavaliers Drum and
Bugle Corps, where he served as Percussion Caption Head and percussion arranger for the
Cavalier Cadets 1982-84.
Matt O'Brien has been Artistic Director for Splinter Group Theatre Company since the company
was founded in 1989. In the 8 years since the company began, he has been directly involved as a
director, producer, designer, technical consultant or actor in each and every one of the 50
some-odd Splinter Group productions. Recent Splinter Group triumphs include Galt
MacDermot's musical setting of "The Human Comedy" (revised score, 1997), Marc Blitzstein's
opera "The Cradle Will Rock" ("Top 10 Shows of 94", Chicago Tribune), Peter Weiss' Holocaust
docu-drama "The Investigation", and the 1996 "Buckets O' Beckett" festival starring John
Mahoney and Estelle Parsons. He is currently working on our new festival, "The Twentieth
Century", a 40-week retrospective opening in September 1999, and featuring 20 plays by 20 of
the century's most important playwrights produced with an all-star cast of directors and
performers.
Matt is seen onstage in our touring production of Samuel Beckett's"Krapp's Last Tape" at
universities and theater festivals across the country, most recently at the San Francisco and
Seattle Fringe Festivals. He's an alumnus of the Goodman/DePaul School of Drama and
Columbia College, where he has also taught, and prior to the formation of the Group he worked
as a director and actor for a number of Chicago companies including Body Politic, Oak Park
Festival, Mary-Arrchie and the late lamented Steppenwolf Second Company. When not putting
down artistic insurrections, raising funds or re-writing light cues he can sometimes be found
teaching sea kayaking on Lake Michigan, doing landscaping penance in the backyard from Hell
or playing with his children Hallie and Sam.