Ablaze Productions, founded by Trinity alumni; Beth Strahan, Íde Simpson and Megan Doherty is a new theatre company focusing on new work and female-led stories. Their first play, Cailíní, played to sold out audiences at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast. In anticipation of their new production, Double Down, I sat down with Strahan to discuss all things Ablaze and her journey from playing a duckling in her local theatre group to directing her second professional production.
Strahan studied Drama and Theatre studies in college, and was initially focused on the performance side of theatre. Strahan explains, “I came into the course as a performer, as an actor, and that’s the route that I wanted to go down. But the course was so varied and you’re exposed to all elements of production, which I really commend the course for, and I realised that I loved directing.” Strahan made her directorial debut directing the Trinity Hall musical, Legally Blonde, in 2022, and went on to direct the Trinity Musical Theatre show, Sweet Charity the following year.
Strahan got her start in theatre with her local musical theatre group’s production of Honk! The Musical, so it is only fitting that her directing experience began the same way. Strahan notes, “Musical theatre has been a huge part of my life. It’s why I picked my degree. I was very lucky in the fact that I could take a hobby to a degree level, and yeah, musical theatre is something that I am such a strong advocate for.”
It was in the final year of the trio’s studies that Ablaze was born. They collaborated on their final year project to create Cailíní, a devised piece that explored familial relationships, specifically the complicated relationships between a group of sisters. Strahan describes the collaborative process; “It was really exciting and I knew that I didn’t want to leave it at that. What we had in that rehearsal room was so unique and the crossover between production team and cast, it was so respectful. Communication was at the forefront of everything that we did, and it was just a really exciting kind of process.”
The production debuted at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in November, and then transferred to the Lyric in May. It was when the production was transferring to the Lyric that the group decided they had to create a name and identity for themselves as up-and-coming artists. Strahan explains, “We realised that in an industry that is, well, was on its knees during COVID and is only now starting to get back to what it was pre-COVID, and has limited funding opportunities, if we want work, we have to create it ourselves. So that’s kind of why we created Ablaze. And this name, Ablaze, came about as it just really encapsulates our ethos of new, exciting writing, and being in a rehearsal room, having the spark and working off of it.”
The company’s debut production, Cailíní was placed in the Top Ten Northern Irish Theatre Highlights in the British Theatre Guide. Strahan notes that the move to the Lyric was also “the first time that we as producers of Ablaze were paying our creatives, paying ourselves.” When talking about their experience with seeking funding in the arts Strahan describes the arts scene as a “world of very limited funding.” Strahan continues, “It is a struggle and we have had many rejections and I think that’s feedback that I would give to the course, I don’t think there is enough focus on the actual skill that is writing an application. For us, it’s been learning on our feet.”
Their upcoming production Double Down was commissioned by Droichead Arts Centre and the Arts Council Ireland, and is co-written by Íde Simpson and Aoife Cronin. The pair are studying playwriting together at the Lir Academy this year after graduating from Drama and Theatre Studies last year. Strahan explains that when Ablaze received the commission, “we knew that we wanted to collaborate with Aoife.” Cronin’s capstone Uncanny Valley debuted the week after Ablaze’s Cailíní and went on to play at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.
Strahan notes, “we always admired Aoife. Her writing is very different to the kind of naturalism that Cailíní was rooted in. Aoife is always looking at the surreal and questioning what’s real and what’s false and that really interested me as a director. It’s challenging me right now with Double Down, as the play dips in and out of the dream world and as a director, leading rehearsals, there’s always this question of, is this real?”
Double Down centres around protagonist, John, and his complex relationships with his wife and daughter. Speaking about the work, Strahan confesses, “I love families. I think that historically the Irish home has always been the focal point of the Irish stage.” However, while their production centres around the home, Strahan wants to challenge ideas of women in the domestic sphere; “We give women these really loud powerful voices on stage, I think that’s really interesting and Double Down looks at that as well.”
Discussing what is next for the theatre company, and as a Northerner myself, I couldn’t help but wonder (hope) if Belfast born Strahan and Simpson would ever be tempted to set their work in the North. Strahan replied, “Íde and I as a duo work very well because she is the writer and I’m the director so anything that she writes I want to get my hands on. Kind of anything that Íde writes there’s a Northern voice in there and it’s not it’s not obvious at times but I think that background always kind of infiltrates her work. So short answer, yes, I would love to.” Whatever is next for the theatre company they are definitely ones to watch.
