Edinburgh Fringe Q&A: Heaven

Fest: Tell us about your show and what audiences can expect? 

Janet Moran: Heaven is an award-winning play written by Eugene O’Brien (Pure Mule, Eden) about a couple in the midst of a chaotic wedding weekend when everything comes to a crunch, both in their relationship and in their lives. They are complex characters, struggling in different ways and we get to hear their innermost thoughts with all that implies, all the madness, doubt, joy and all the secrets.

Fest: Can you talk about some of the creative team involved?

Janet Moran: Our director Jim Culleton, is winner of an Olivier Award and Artistic Director of multi-award winning company Fishamble. It’s performed by myself and the star of Oscar-nominated The Quiet Girl, Andrew Bennett.

Jim Culleton: Eugene O’Brien is a multi award-winning screenwriter and playwright, and tour performers are two of Ireland’s top actors.  

Fest: Where do you draw inspiration from for your work, both in terms of creation and performance?

Janet: With performing, it’s often from music. A particular song might become a theme for a character and when I’m directing, music is also hugely important. It usually comes to me first, as a way into making a production coherent. With writing, life I guess. Usually location first sparks something, or something someone said might lead me to a character and then a story

Jim: I’m inspired by the amazing imaginations of playwrights, working with fantastic theatre artists, and the amazing feeling when we perform with an audience and feel the play connects in a way that is electric and urgent and helps us grapple with the world in which we live. 

Fest: Looking at this production, how would you say it links to Fishamble‘s previous work personally and thematically?

Jim: All of Fishamble‘s work is new and original and contemporary, so I think it links to the company's previous work through visceral language and real connection with the audience through humour and emotional engagement. We are drawn to plays that give a voice to people at the edges of society.

Janet: All good work looks at the human condition and should have the audience at its heart. That’s the work I like to do and this piece is ambitious in how it looks at people even in a small town setting and strikes an emotional chord with audiences.

Fest: What do you find special about Eugene's work and why do you think there’s still an appetite for it?

Jim: Eugene has something original to say about the human condition, a unique perspective on the world, which is exciting.

Janet: The characters he draws are so magnetic and even in their flaws, they are heroic. His use of language is singular and often hilarious.

Fest: Why is this an important story to tell?

Janet: It’s important because it’s a truthful exploration of a marriage, of unfulfilled lives and complicated relationships with partners and children. It talks about loneliness and longing the courage it takes to live fully.

Jim: It strikes a chord with audiences, a couple searching for a way forward in the middle of a midlife crisis. When we performed the play in and in New York earlier this year, there were a lot of very awkward conversations in the car home afterwards!

Fest: What would you like audiences to take away from seeing this production at the Fringe?

Janet: I’d like them to feel that they have seen some secret part of themselves reflected back at them.

Fest: Do you tend to take inspiration from events happening in the world around you in terms of your work? Do you think artists have a responsibility to respond to what's happening?

Jim: Yes, we always try to make sure our productions use the artform of theatre to help us understand and engage in what is happening in the world around us. Sometimes a play might be set in the past, but it’s still about the present. Theatre is an immediate, visceral, electrifying artform, which can bring audiences together as a community and provoke thoughts and questions in a way that no other artform can.

Janet: I do think artists should respond to what’s happening around them. I think in general art should engage more with the world around us. What’s the point of making something if you’re not making it for the people who will receive it. It has to be relevant

Fest: How do you feel about the current arts landscape in Ireland and your part in it? Does it excite you and inspire you to keep pushing the boat out?

Janet: I think the more recent landscape where we see more artists making their own work is a good thing. I think there’s a huge amount of support out there for artists in Ireland from companies, venues and funding bodies. For me personally, it has meant that I can try to push myself to try to make bigger work for more audiences.

Jim: Thankfully, in Ireland, culture and art is valued and increasingly receiving more funding and support from the government which is starting in recent years to really see the value of art and culture in engaging with the rest of the world, and helping us understand who we are as a country.

Fest: Why are arts festivals such as the Fringe so important for international exchange?

Janet: It’s the best and biggest platform in the world here in Edinburgh. Everyone comes here to see work. Festivals can focus presenters from around the world to come and make it worth their while because they will have so much to consider.

Jim: Festivals like the Fringe are so important to reach international audiences, especially from a small country like Ireland. We have been part of the Culture Ireland Showcase in Edinburgh Fringe for many years now, and so many opportunities to tour internationally have come from it, including 15 off-Broadway transfers in the past 12 years, so the company could never sustain the careers of artists and connect with audiences in the way we do without festivals such as the Fringe. 

Fest: What can the wider arts community do to get more people involved in their specific disciplines? 

Janet: More outreach. Make more work that speaks to audiences

Jim: Post-pandemic, it has been hard to hold onto people in the arts and in theatre. We need to make sure that working conditions are attractive enough if we want people to get involved more.

Fest: Have you got your eye on any other shows that are part of the programme?

Janet: I’ll be going to a lot of children’s work with my son and am looking forward to the other shows at the Traverse. My favourite part though, is bouncing around and discovering things or waiting to hear what’s lit everyone up.

Jim: I’m looking forward to seeing all the other shows in the Culture Ireland Showcase, as well as the other shows in our venues, Traverse for Heaven and Assembly at Dance Base for King.

Fest: What’s next for you and how are you feeling about the future in general?

Janet: The second series of the The Dry will be coming out on ITV soon. My own play Quake premieres at the Dublin Theatre Festival in October. Feeling good.

Jim: Fishamble will premiere a new place in Dublin Theatre Festival, then co-produce a new play with Theatre Gu Leor in Scotland and Theatr Bara Caws in Wales in our three native languages, then tour KING to New York and Los Angeles, so lots ahead, thankfully.