Image by Leo Byrne & Publicis.

BREAKING Digital Programme

Fishamble: The New Play Company presents

BREAKING

Written by Amy Kidd
Directed by Jim Culleton

You can be a bit naïve sometimes.
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Welcome to the world of Sam and Charlie in BREAKING, a groundbreaking first play by Amy Kidd.

It looks like love but it tastes like control. How do we judge, when we can't trust our own judgment? Who do we distrust and who gets the benefit of the doubt?

Fishamble's world premiere of BREAKING asks fascinating and profound questions about how we navigate a world without any simple answers.

Sam and Charlie are played by Curtis-Lee Ashqar, Eavan Gaffney, Matthew Malone and Jeanne Nicole Ní Áinle.

Duration Running Time 90 mins - No interval
Age Guidelines 14+ / This production contains scenes of coercive control and suggestions of domestic violence and self-harm.
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If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this production, support is available through a number of organisations accessible here.

★★★★
'clever... compelling' 
Irish Times

'intriguing... compelling and provocative... a fine ensemble... fascinating'
Irish Independent

‘an intricate puzzle…brilliant’
RTÉ Arena

‘an important play… the cast do it full justice…brave and innovative’ Sunday Independent

‘powerful moments…superlative performance’ 
Arts Review

‘an elaborately structured puzzle…deftly directed’
​The Guardian

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Creative Team

Production Team 

Written by Amy Kidd
Directed by Jim Culleton
Set and Costume Designer Alyson Cummins
Lighting Designer Suzie Cummins
Composer and Sound Designer Carl Kennedy
​Dramaturg Gavin Kostick

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Click here to buy the playscript

Creative Producer Laura MacNaughton
Production Manager Eoin Kilkenny
Stage Manager Steph Ryan
Marketing Allie Whelan
​PR O'Doherty Communications
Executive Director Eva Scanlan
Assistant Stage Manager Emily-Rose Champion
Intimacy Director Sue Mythen
Chief LX Adrian Moylan
​Costume Supervisor Maisey Lorimer
Sound Assistant John Norton 
Staging Crew ​Damien Woods
Set Construction Connacht Production Services
Cover Artwork Leo Byrne & Publicis 
Rehearsal photography Allie Whelan 
Production photography Anthony Woods
Carpenter Martin Wallace
LX Crew T Kokalj
Production Manager (Cork) Ian Brown
Filmed by Media Coop
Associate Producer Cally Shine 
Executive Director Eva Scanlan

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Past Performances

27-28 September 2024, Droichead Arts Centre
2-5 October 2024, Draíocht, Dublin Theatre Festival
8-9 October 2024, The Everyman, Cork

Meet the Team

WRITER Amy Kidd

Amy Kidd is an actor and playwright who trained (in acting) at The Lir Academy, Dublin. Amy is a founding member of emerging Irish theatre company Anseo Anois Theatre, with whom she has worked primarily as an actor, but also as a collaborating artist on the writing &development of new plays and as a director. Most recently, she played Sylviain the company’s production ofThe Pride by Alexi Kaye Campbell. BREAKING is Amy’s debut play; she is delighted that Fishamble are producing its premier production, and over the moon to be working with such a wonderful team. She is currently writing her next play, for which she is grateful to be supported by The Arts Council, The Abbey, The Irish Theatre Institute and FRINGELAB.

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DIRECTOR Jim Culleton

Jim Culleton is the artistic director of Fishamble: The New Play Company, for which he has directed productions on tour throughout Ireland, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the US, including 11 transfers Off-Broadway. His productions for Fishamble have won Olivier, The Stage, Scotsman Fringe First, and Irish Times Best Director awards.   Jim has directed for the Abbey, the Gaiety, the Belgrade, 7:84 Scotland, Project, Amharclann de hÍde, Tinderbox, Passion Machine, the Ark, Second Age, Dundee Rep, CoisCéim/Crash Ensemble/GIAF, Frontline Defenders, Amnesty International, Little Museum of Dublin, Fighting Words, Scripts, Dirty Protest, Draíocht, and Baptiste Programme. He has directed audio plays for Audible, BBC, RTÉ Radio 1, and RTÉ lyric fm.   He has also directed for Vessel and APA (Australia), TNL (Canada), Solas Nua, Mosaic, and Kennedy Center (Washington DC), Odyssey (LA), Origin, Irish Arts Center, New Dramatists, Irish Rep, and 59E59 (New York), as well as for Trafalgar Theatre Productions on the West End, and IAC/Symphony Space on Broadway. He has edited many books, most recently Fishamble Tiny Plays in 2024 for New Island Books. ​

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CAST Curtis-Lee Ashqar

Curtis-Lee Ashqar is a graduate of the three-year Bachelor in Acting (Hons) from The Lir Academy.  His most recent castings include Dave Hyndman in Good Vibrations musical at The Lyric Theatre, Belfast, directed by Des Kennedy. Prior to this Curtis-Lee and company won Best Production at Dublin Fringe Festival 2022, in Carys Coburn’s Absent The Wrong at the Abbey Theatre on the Peacock Stage, directed by Veronica Coburn. After this, Curtis-Lee worked briefly with Druid, in their play reading series Stars & Stripes. Curtis-Lee also portrayed Hassan in The DLO, a play for young audiences crafted and written by Mary-Lou McCarthy.  He recently worked on a new play by Marina Carr, Gilgamesh, with theatre company Macnas playing the title role. Curtis-Lee appeared in the role of Jo in Peat by Kate Heffernan and directed by Tim Crouch at The Ark, Dublin.  Screen Credits include roles in Game of Thrones (Season 5) directed by Michael Slovis, Into The Badlands for AMC, Torvill & Dean for ITV and the lead role of Ahmet in Murat Asker's short film The Gift. Some of Curtis-Lee’s credits at The Lir include The Skriker in The Skriker directed by Tom Creed, Vaguin in Children of the Sun directed by Lynne Parker, Three Winters directed by David Horan, The Garden devised with Mikel Murfi, Damus in Portia Coughlan directed by Annabelle Comyn, the short film Happyish directed by Juanita Wilson. ​

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CAST Eavan Gaffney

Eavan Gaffney most recently played the role of Lusha in Rough Magic and The Abbey Theatre’s co-production of Children of the Sun, directed by Lynne Parker. She performed in Emilie Hetland’s Revolutionary, directed by Katie O’Halloran; in Staging The Treaty written by Theo Dorgan and directed by Louise Lowe; and she played the role of Maud alongside Owen Roe in Sebastian Barry’s The Steward of Christendom at the Gate Theatre, Dublin & National tour.Eavan’s further credits include You’re Still Here by Murmuration for the Dublin Fringe Festival, The Fabulously True and Timeless Tale of Sergeant Virgil by Andy Crook for Faoin Speir. 

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CAST Matthew Malone

Matthew Malone is an Irish actor. Named as one of The Irish Times’ 50 people to watch, he has worked with many of Ireland’s leading theatre companies. Matthew has been nominated by the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards three times, including Best Actor for the role of Bernard in Philip McMahon’s Once Before I Go (The Gate). Selected stage credits include An Old Song Half Forgotten opposite Bryan Murray at The Abbey Theatre, Gold in the Water (One Thousand Pieces | Lovano), The Boy Who Never Was (Brokentalkers), Tarry Flynn (Livin’ Dred), Faultline (ANU), and the role of Gracie in Fishamble’s Embargo. On screen Matthew recently appeared in Frank Sweeney’s new film Few Can See (IFFR Tiger Award winner), and also played the leading role of Donal in Dad (RTÉ | Blue Ink Films) directed by Declan Recks. Further TV/Film credits include Miss Scarlet and The Duke (PBS), The Resistance Fighter (Scorpio), Valhalla (Netflix), Darkey Kelly (Screen Ireland), and As Luck Would Have It (Zanzibar). Matthew is also a writer, currently developing a full length play funded by Arts Council Ireland and a new comedy-drama with support from Virgin Media. He trained in acting at The Lir, and also holds a degree in Drama & English from Trinity College Dublin. 

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Jeanne Nicole Ní Áinle most recently filmed a main role alongside Barry Ward and Charlene McKenna in the TV Series Clean Sweep. Just prior they filmed the role of Dr Brady in the comedy feature Apocalypse Clown directed by George Kane.  In theatre Jeanne has just finished a run of Metamorphoses, written and directed by Jimmy Justice. Jeanne played the role of The Chorus in Suzy Stork directed by Ursula McGinn at Smock Alley Theatre; and the role of Grace in An Octoroon directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike for The Abbey Theatre.  Further credits include Try and Touch, directed by Nell Hensey; Stay Alive alongside Stephen Rea, Emmet Kirwan and Lisa Dwyer-Hogg, directed by Juliet Riddell; Dungeons & Dragons directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein for Paramount.

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SET AND COSTUME DESIGNER 
​Alyson Cummins studied Architecture at UCD and trained at Motley theatre design school. She was a finalist in the Linbury biennial prize for stage design and has gone on to design for stage and television Designs for stage include: Yeoman of the Guard; Acis and Galatea (Opera Holland Park); Scorched Earth (Attic Productions); The Pull of the Stars (Gate theatre); In Two Minds (Fishamble); Volcano - Best Set Design Irish Times Theatre Awards 2022 (Attic Productions); The Race; Wires, Strings & Other Things (The Ark); Colic (Hatch); Morrigan (Cork Opera House); L’Amico Fritz, L’Arlesiana, Così Fan Tutte, Zaza (Opera Holland Park), Così Fan Tutte, Iolanta & L!Enfant et les Sortilèges (Royal Academy of Music London), Our New Girl; Medea; Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living In Paris (Gate Theatre), Last Orders at the Dockside, Heartbreak House, The Risen People, Quietly, Perve, No Escape (Abbey Theatre), Midsummer, This Lime Tree Bower (Project Arts Centre/Eoin Kilkenny), Thick As Thieves (Clean Break & Theatr Clwyd), The Lion in Winter (English Theatre Frankfurt), Tosca (Icelandic Opera), Gulliver’s Travels, Sinners; The Nativity & The Gingerbread MixUp, Mixed Marriage, Pentecost (Lyric Belfast) – Best Set Design, Irish Times Theatre Award 2015; The Nest (Lyric Belfast/Young Vic); Fabric – Edinburgh Fringe First Award (Marlowe Theatre), Macbeth (Iford Arts); The Lighthouse (Royal Opera House), The Night Alive (DTF/Lyric Belfast), Be Infants in Evil (Druid), It’s A Family Affair (Sherman Cymru), Before It Rains (Bristol Old Vic / Sherman Cymru)  

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LIGHTING DESIGNER 
​Suzie Cummins is a Dublin-based lighting designer for theatre, dance and events. She has worked as a designer in Ireland for almost a decade. Suzie was the 2023 recipient of Druid’s Marie Mullen Bursary, an award for female theatre artists working in the fields of design, directing and dramaturgy. Suzie was the associate lighting designer on the Druid O'Casey trilogy in 2023. Lighting design credits include: Super Bogger, Danty Dan, Tarry Flynn, Trad (Livin’ Dred); Lost Lear, The Wrens (Dan Colley & Riverbank); The Making of Mollie, The Race (The Ark); Absent the Wrong (Once Off Productions); Every Brilliant Thing (Abbey Theatre); After Taste (National Youth Theatre/Abbey Theatre); The Secrets of Primrose Square (Pat Moylan Productions); Minseach (Sibéal Davitt); Before You Say Anything (Malaprop); Minefield, Charlie’s a Clepto (Clare Monnelly); Harder, Faster More (Red Bear). Associate lighting design credits include: The Giggler Treatment (The Ark); Party Scene (Thisispopbaby); Solar Bones (Rough Magic).  

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MUSIC AND SOUND DESIGNER 
Carl Kennedy is a composer and sound designer for theatre. He trained at Academy of Sound in Dublin. He has worked on numerous theatre productions, working with venues and companies including Fishamble: The New Play Company, The Abbey, Lyric Theatre, The Gate, The Gaiety, Landmark, Decadent, ANU Productions, Rough Magic, Theatre Lovett, HOME Manchester, Prime Cut Productions, Graffiti, HotForTheatre and Speckintime among others. In 2023 he received The Irish Times Theatre Award for Best Soundscape, and he also has been nominated three times previously in this category. He has made a number of audio pieces for installation and radio, working with ANU, Upstate Theatre Project, various museums in Dublin City and many others. He also composes music and sound design for radio, TV and video games. He was composer and sound designer for Mr Wall on RTÉJr which was shortlisted for an IMRO Radio Award in the 2018 drama category. Game titles include Curious George, Curious about Shapes and Colors, Jelly Jumble, Too Many Teddies, Dino Dog and Leonardo and His Cat. TV credits include sound design for 16 Letters (Independent Pictures/RTE) and SFX editing and foley recording for Centenary (RTE). 

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PRODUCER 
​Laura MacNaughton has worked in the professional arts sector for over twenty years in theatre, film and dance. She has worked primarily as a General Manager, Producer and Programmer. Laura has worked at a senior level in multiple arts organisations, these include The Gate Theatre, Dublin Dance Festival and The O’Reilly Theatre. She is Co-founder and Creative Producer of Exit Pursued by a Bear, a theatre company for young audiences. Their first work Our Little World (2022), was commissioned in response to the impact of Covid on primary school children. Laura is a drama facilitator and director with Belvedere College Drama Department. She currently sits on the Arts Council Peer Panel for Theatre and the Producers Working Group for the Performing Arts Forum. Laura is the Producer at Fishamble: The New Play Company and previous credits include In Two Minds (2023) and Taigh Tŷ Teach (2024). 

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PRODUCTION MANAGER 
​Eoin Kilkenny has toured across Ireland and the world with theatre productions from Landmark Productions, Rough Magic Theatre Company, Fishamble: The New Play Company, CoisCéim Dance, Abbey Theatre, and many more. He has worked at some of the best festivals at the Traverse Theatre Edinburgh during the Festival Fringe, Galway International Arts Festival, Melbourne International Arts Festival, Dublin Fringe Festival and London International Festival of Theatre. He trained as a production manager with the Rough Magic SEEDs programme, working on their productions in Dublin, Belfast and New York. He is a product of UCD Dramsoc and has completed an MA in Producing at The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.  

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STAGE MANAGER 
Steph Ryan has worked in theatre for many years and with many companies including CoisCéim, Rough Magic, Abbey/Peacock Theatres, OTC and INO to name a few. Work with Fishamble includes Handel’s Crossing, The End of The Road, Noah and the Tower Flower, Spinning, Little Thing Big Thing, Invitation to a Journey (a co-production with CoisCéim, Crash Ensemble and GIAF); Mainstream, Rathmines Road, On Blueberry Hill, Embargo, Duck Duck Goose, In Two Minds and Pat Kinevane’s Forgotten, Silent, Underneath, Before and KING. Steph is delighted to be back working with Fishamble on BREAKING.