James Ireland
Theatremaker
My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse
Winner of the Staging Change x VAULT award
July 2022 - London Irish Centre; A Pinch of VAULT Festival
August 2022 - Pleasance Courtyard, Edinburgh Fringe Festival
November 2022 - VOILA! Festival of European Theatre
March 2023 - VAULT Festival
★★★★ - Everything Theatre ★★★★ - Binge Fringe ★★★★ - All That Dazzles
★★★★ - Fringebiscuit ★★★★ - The Upcoming
Photography by Paul John Roberts
About me
I am an award-winning playwright and theatremaker based between Dublin and London.
I graduated from the MA Writing programme at the RCA (London) in 2020, where I researched actionable allyship in theatre producing. Since then I have co-founded award-winning eco gig theatre company Bradán (Axis Green Arts Award, Dublin Fringe 2022, and awarded support by PAN PAN Platform; VAULT x Staging Change Award 2022).
In addition to writing, I work in sound design, composition & live music for theatre, and dramaturgy.
Please get in touch below if you'd like to discuss any collaborations, or to enquire about programming any of the projects listed on this site.
A little bit about my practice
I write primarily ecological work, exploring how economic and social histories drive current behaviours towards the environment, often using Irish mythology as a lens. My work often uses surreal, absurd, and off-the-wall stories to make things as fun and unhinged for the audience as possible (because there’s enough depressing content about the climate in our lives already).
As a sound designer/composer/live musician, I often work with folk/trad instruments. I play a number of instruments, and enjoy running these through effects processors to create a mix of folk, ambient, and electronic scores. I am equally interested in writing great songs and the sounds of landscape, biosphere, folklore, and deep time.
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Recent writing for theatre
- A SHITE Christmas Carol, after Charles Dickens (Theatre Deli, London, 2023);
- Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge, (Axis Green Arts Award winner; awarded support by PAN PAN Platform; FeastFest 2023; The New Theatre, Dublin Fringe Festival, 2022);
- My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse, (Staging Change x VAULT award winner; VAULT Festival 2023; VOILA! Festival of European Theatre, 2022; Pleasance Courtyard, Ed Fringe Festival, 2022; London Irish Centre, 2022);
- Rajesh and Naresh, (Summerhall, Ed Fringe Festival, 2021-22; Unity Theatre, Homotopia Festival, Liverpool, 2021; Theatre Deli, London, 2019);
- Show Me Your Wallets, (work-in-progress staging, Smock Alley Theatre Dublin, Scene + Heard Festival, 2020);
- Mother Catfish, (work-in-progress staging, The Arcola, Act II Festival, 2019);
- Mercury, (The New Theatre Dublin, 2016);
- Fireplay, (The New Theatre Dublin, 2015).
Short plays include: Shark (Daddy Issues) (as part of Plays are SHITE, Dublin, 2023); Lobster Emoji (as part of Definitely Maybe Actually Nevermind by Haus of Bollix, The Space Theatre London, 2022; and as part ofThe Emoji Project, Hen & Chickens Theatre, Camden Fringe, 2021); Cáithnín, and Oxygen (published by Fishamble, 2021 and 2020 respectively); David Beckham’s Hair (Pleasance London, 2018; The Printing House Dublin, 2015); FEAT. (co-writer, The Players Theatre Dublin, 2018); Sheep (Edinburgh Fringe 2016); and a number of site-specific performance pieces for SHITE Productions (London and Dublin, various locations, 2015-).
Critical writing on theatre appears in ARC Magazine and Rant + Rave.