Niamh Cusack

 ( Living People ) 

Throughout the 1990s, Cusack performed in prominent London productions, including Nora Clitheroe in Sam Mendes's staging of Seán O'Casey's The Plough and the Stars at the Young Vic, Rosalind in As You Like It at the Barbican Centre, Flora Crewe in Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink at the Aldwych Theatre, and a role in Jean Genet's The Maids at the Donmar Warehouse. In 2003, she played Portia in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice at the Chichester Festival Theatre, directed by Gale Edwards.

In 2004, she joined the National Theatre's adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials as Serafina Pekkala, alongside Anna Maxwell Martin, Ben Wishaw, and Patricia Hodge. In 2007, She returned to the National Theatre in 2007 for The Enchantment and starred in Mark O'Rowe's Crestfall at Theatre503. In 2009, she portrayed Maggie in the Old Vic's revival of Brian Friel's Dancing at Lughnasa alongside her husband, Finbar Lynch. In 2010, she played Catherine Dickens in Andersen's English, by Sebastian Barry.

In 2011, she appeared in The Painter by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, opposite Toby Jones and followed it with the role of Edith Davenport in Cause Célèbre by Terence Rattigan and the Widow Quin in The Playboy of the Western World by J.M. Synge, both at the Old Vic. Cusack was nominated for a Whatsonstage.com Award in 2012 in the Best Supporting Actress in a Play category for The Playboy of the Western World role.

In August 2012, Cusack rejoined the National Theatre for the role of Siobhan in the world première of the stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, adapted by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott. The show premièred on 2 August 2012. It also starred Luke Treadaway as Christopher, Nicola Walker as his mother Judy, Paul Ritter as his father Ed and Una Stubbs as Mrs. Alexander. The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night-Time secured the most nominations, with eight, for the 2013 Olivier Awards. The show transferred to the Apollo Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, London on 1 March 2013 with Cusack reprising her role.

Cusack returned to the London stage in 2016 as Paulina in The Winter's Tale at the Globe and Owen McCafferty's Unfaithful at Found 111 in the West End.

In 2017, she was cast in the leading role of Lenú in the world premiere of the stage adaptation of the multi-award-winning tetralogy of books My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante at the Rose Theatre, which transferred to the Olivier Theatre of the Royal National Theatre in 2019. In between the transfer in 2018, Cusack returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company in another leading role as Lady Macbeth opposite Christopher Eccleston which transferred to London's Barbican Theatre. In the first stage adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro's novel The Remains of the Day by Barney Norris, Cusack was cast as Miss Kenton. Cusack also returned television as Janine in the acclaimed 4-part series The Virtues directed by Shane Meadows.

In 2022, Cusack appeared at Abbey Theatre in Brian Friel's Faith Healer opposite Aidan Gillen and directed by Joe Dowling (which had been postponed owing to COVID-19). For her performance, she was nominated for Best Actress in a Support Role at the Irish Times Theatre Awards. In 2022, she starred as Gertrude in Hamlet by Bristol Old Vic along with husband Finbar Lynch. In 2023, she led the cast in the first major revival of Polly Stenham's That Face at London's Orange Tree Theatre.