{{short description|Irish writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} '''Syd Cheatle''' (6 January 1936 – 22 March 2018) was an Irish architect and writer born in Dublin. His father was Jack Cheatle, who was leader of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra while his mother was Aileen Foley, a cellist from Skibbereen. Syd attended Castleknock College before going to Dublin Institute of Technology to study architecture. After training he left Ireland to start his career as a writer.<ref name = IT>{{cite web | url = https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/playwright-and-architect-with-a-passion-for-his-island-community-1.3491892 | title = Playwright and architect with a passion for his island community | date = 12 May 2018 | accessdate = 26 March 2020 | publisher = Irish Times}}</ref>
After leaving Ireland for London to write, 1970 saw his first two plays, ''Retreat'' and ''The Director'' produced by the Abbey Theatre in Dublin in 1970. His next play, ''Straight Up'', received its premiere at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and subsequently transferred to the Piccadilly Theatre in London in December 1971. It premiered in the US at the Kansas City playhouse in 1973 with subsequent productions in Seattle, Newhaven, Washington DC and New York City. ''Straight Up'' was translated into German by Jurgen and Astrid Fischer and given the German title ''Im Schoss der Familie''. The translation premiered in Germany at the Landestheater Darmstadt in 1972, and was then successful over a 14-year period with German and Austrian major productions in cities such as Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Vienna.<ref name = IT/> ''Straight Up'' was premiered in Australia by the Western Australia Theatre Company in Perth.<ref name = ETN>{{cite web | url = https://www.thetrust.org.au/pdf/trust-news/TN_1975_06_027.pdf | title = Elizabethan Trust News | accessdate = 26 March 2020 | publisher = Elizabethan Trust News}}</ref>
He also worked as an architect in London with Idea International, he was involved in many high-profile projects all over the world but the most prestigious was probably the Lloyds Building in London but he was growing increasingly homesick. He leased a house on Sherkin Island, County Cork and split his time between London and the island until he moved there permanently in 1989. He threw himself into island life and was advocated on behalf of the community on Sherkin and other island communities for local authorities to support them.<ref name = IT/>
Syd Cheatle died on 22 March 2018 at the age of 82, when he was a resident in a nursing home in Clonakilty. He was survived by his wife Miriam, ''née'' Dunne, and his three children Andrew, Juno and Aran. His grave is in Tullagh Cemetery, Baltimore, County Cork.<ref name = Cheatle>{{cite web | url = https://rip.ie/death-notice/sydney-syd-cheatle-sherkin-island-cork/350324 | title = The death has occurred of Sydney (Syd) CHEATLE Sherkin Island, Cork | date = 23 March 2018 | publisher = RIP.ie}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cheatle, Syd}} Category:1943 births Category:2018 deaths Category:20th-century Irish dramatists and playwrights Category:Irish male dramatists and playwrights Category:Architects from Dublin (city) Category:20th-century Irish male writers Category:People educated at Castleknock College