JANE EYRE. THE GATE.

TALKING TO TERRORISTS. THE SAMUEL BECKETT.

THE BACCHAE OF BAGHDAD. THE ABBEY.

"Ray Yeates reprises his role in this production, almost years on from his first with Bolger. He is strongly accompanied by Fionnuala Gygax and Donna Anita Nikolaisen, who play various roles, believably occupying the space of a cocky drug dealer one moment, an immigrant the next."

Conor Capllis, THE IRISH TIMES

 4/5

"In the opening scene we meet four of the five characters, one or two spatting already. ‘Fat’ Hanna (impressive Leah Rossiter) gets in an argument with Ellen (Fiona Keenan O’ Brien) over who caught the cook’s eye. The air turns blue but Judith, a natural leader and excellently played by Donna Anita Nikolaisen, sorts them out."

THE BELFAST TIMES

“In a delicate exchange between the bright mannered Hickey and Nikolaisen, radiant with sincerity, the elderly character tells a new arrival about the psychology of accruing heirlooms, by which they “try and stop time by hording things”.”

Peter Crawley, THE IRISH TIMES

FILM

production, role, director, producer

SEPTEMBER SAYS, biology teacher, Ariane Labed, element films

CHRISTMAS AT CASTLE HART, paige monaghan, Stefan Scaini, hallmark films

THE LAST RIGHT, Air Hostess, Aoife Crehan, Deadpan Pictures

SWEETNESS IN THE BELLY, grace ture, Zeresenay Mehari, sienna films

QED (Short), Ali, Amy-Joyce Hastings, Michael O’Kelly

TV

CRÁ, diane, Phillip Doherty, Fibín Media

SILLY SUNDAYS, Mom, Nuria González Blanco, Cartoon Saloon

KIN, estate agent, Felix Thompson, bron studios

CONVERSATIONS WITH FRIENDS, lucy, Leanne Welham, element pictures

NOVA JONES, Frances Frond, Akaash Meeda, CBBC

bio

Donna Anita Quinn is an Irish Caribbean stage and screen actor and voice over artist. Trained at The Focus Theatre her recent theatre highlights include the lead role of Judith Noone in Jaki McCarrick’s 2024 Irish premiere of the play ‘Belfast Girls’ and multiple roles in Dermot Bolger’s play ‘Home, Boys, Home’ as part of the 2024 Dublin Theatre Festival.

Donna’s film credits include ‘September Says’, ‘Sweetness in the Belly’ and ‘Christmas at Castle Hart’. Her breakthrough TV role came as Zambian nurse Ama Chisenga in RTE’s ‘Fair City’. She went on to play roles in ‘Crá’, ‘Kin’, ‘Conversations with Friends’, ‘Nova Jones’, ‘The South Westerlies’ and ‘Blood’. As a voice over artist Donna voices the role of ‘Mum’ in Cartoon Saloon’s preschool animation ‘Silly Sundays’.

Donna won Best Supporting Actor for her role as Ali in the award winning short ‘QED’ at the 2018 Dublin Underground Cinema Festival. She is represented by Alex Cusack Management and Voice Bank

Background
Born in Dublin I was raised in Cork by my parents Anita and Kurt Nikolaisen. From an early age the stage called to me. My debut performance was a student showcase at Cork Cat Club with The Monfort School of Performing Arts. After graduating from UCC I moved to Dublin and continued my performance training at The Focus Theatre, The Attic Studio, Bel Canto School of Voice and Waltons School of Music. During this period I also set up Visual Aspects. Early stage roles include Margaret in ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ with The Dublin Shakespeare Society and Bloody Mary in The Pioneer Society’s ‘South Pacific’. From this springboard I began my acting career. My goal is to continue developing my craft, role by role, through working with wonderful, creative people.

Performance Training

Acting for Camera, Film Venture
Stanislavsky Studio, The Focus Theatre, Tim McDonnell
LAMDA, Montfort College of Performing Arts
Chekhov, Rayla Tadjimotova
Grotowski, Jason Byrne
Viewpoints, Joe Devlin

Voice
Bel Canto Voice, Bel Canto School of Voice
Music Theatre, Waltons School of Music
Voice, Andy Hinds

Dance
Contemporary Dance, CoisCéim Dance Theatre
Jazz Ballet, Elena Degtyareva
Hip Hop, Jane Shorthall

Skills & Qualifications
BSc Business Information Systems Hon, UCC
Visual Aspects Web Design Studio
Full Drivers License
Recording Artist