Kevin O'Brien

Although an atheist at an early age, Kevin O'Brien’s experiences with the dramatic arts began a conversion process that, with the help of the writings of G. K. Chesterton, eventually brought him into the Catholic Church.  

Mr. O'Brien hosts the television series The Theater of the Word on EWTN and can also be seen on episodes of EWTN’s The Apostle of Common Sense, The Quest for Shakespeare, and The Journey Home. He also portrays J. R. R. Tolkien in several Tolkien specials hosted by Joseph Pearce.

Most recently, Mr. O'Brien has appeared in two movies:  Manalive, based on the novel by G. K. Chesterton, and To Follow the Light: the Conversion of John Henry Newman. 

In addition, Mr. O'Brien has performed and produced 35 audio books and is the only person in history to play every part in a Shakespeare play (twice!), which he did for his audio readings of The Merchant of Venice and Macbeth for Ignatius Press. Also, Mr. O'Brien and author Joseph Pearce are the co-founders of the website  The Christian Shakespeare, which publishes essays demonstrating the Catholic worldview of the world's greatest dramatist.

Mr. O'Brien is also a writer and regular contributor to The St. Austin Review and Gilbert Magazine. ACS Books will be publishing his autobiography soon.  

For more information, visit www.thewordinc.org 

To meet Mr. O'Brien, watch below:



Mr. O'Brien teaches the following courses:
(Click on titles for videos about the courses.)

Speech and Communications
Drama and the Human Spirit for Middle School
Drama and the Human Sprit for High School
A Study of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, “I Call you Friends” 
Christmas in Literature, Film, and Music
Mythology in Literature 
Love and the Meaning of Life 
Debate and Argumentation 
A Mastery of Mysteries
A World Without God 

Student testimonials:

"I have learned SO much this semester! It was a great experience."

"I've always liked literature, but this class made me love it even more."

"The course was fun, Mr. O’Brien is a GREAT teacher!"

"Preparing for the debates was a lot of fun, as was seeing and hearing our classmates' arguments. I really liked having to prepare both sides of our last argument and not knowing which we would do in class. Kevin O'Brien was an awesome teacher and gave me a great understanding of the subject. I would definitely recommend this class."

"Mr. O'Brien was AWESOME!!! He is so funny!!! But he also taught us all we needed to know about drama!!! 

Parent testimonials:

"I cannot tell you what a difference your class has made this semester for [my daughter]. She came downstairs the other day and said, 'I'm so sad that Mr. O'Brien's class is over.'  This semester I watched some of your classes with [my daughter] because she'd say, 'Mom, you're going to love this!  Pull up a chair!' You are an outstanding teacher ... We are so grateful for your impact on my daughter's life,"

"We love Mr. O'Brien!! Our daughter is really enjoying his class this semester. Thank you so much!"

" I remember speech classes being very intimidating for the naturally quieter people in class, but my son has not felt intimidated at all. He really likes the class discussions and has had a lot of fun with the creativity of the writing prompts and assignments."

"The teacher, Kevin O'Brien was great!!! A very special thanks to Mr. O'Brien. I hope that he will continue to teach this class so that all rest of my 7 kids may benefit from him. My son thoroughly enjoyed his class.  I really like his focus on the philosopher, Socrates as a great philosopher and orator. He made the class very fun by dressing in costume!! What a GREAT teacher!!"

"The kids are very engaged, the teacher makes the material interesting and fun, and the kids get to try out their skills during class. The plays chosen are giving a deep and thorough survey of the history of drama even though the kids may not realize that."