Jake Mace
Content Warning: Discussion of Child Sexual Abuse
Ronan Colfer of Poke the Bear Productions is the writer of upcoming show Our Brothers in Cloth, headed to Edinburgh Festival Fringe this week with a story set in the sleepy Irish village of Bunderr, a place where ‘silence speaks volumes’. The team have partnered with One In Four, a charity based in Dublin aiming to end the trauma of child sexual abuse in Ireland. Ronan describes the show as a piece “full of fight and grit”, and we caught up with him for a pixelated pint to find out what inspired him to write it.
You can catch Our Brothers In Cloth from July 31st to August 25th (not the 6th, 12th, or 19th) at Studio Five at Assembly George Square Studios from 12:15 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Ronan, your upcoming show Our Brothers In Cloth explores silence, abuse, and generational trauma in rural Ireland. Tell us what inspired you to write the show and about the journey you’ve been on with it so far.
Ronan: I think what started me on it was just wanting to know more about what had happened; both where I grew up as well as the wider implications of the whole thing. Looking back on it now I realise how little I did know, and in the learning and discovering I then started to structure a narrative and find the characters within the story I was trying to tell.
Since first making that decisoon to tell this story it’s been quite a journey, and I’ve gotten to meet and work with some exceptional people. Most importantly survivors of child SA; and when I hear feedback from them, as well as organisations that help victims, saying that the piece is true to life, well that is always the most heartening thing, because it is for them this story is being told.
Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.
Ronan: It’s not a victim led story, and it’s not a story to bash you over the head with shame and guilt. This is actually a very active story full of fight and grit, and the main character, Alan Kinsella, who has recently buried his younger brother, is our guiding hand into this world and the circumstances that follow.
I think people always asume with something like this that it’s going to be disturbing and heavy all the way through, but that’s far from the case. I actually see a lot of hope within it. However, the overarching authority of the church and the revelations that come out are what shatter this picturesque setting to pieces.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Ronan: How something like this can tear friends and families apart. The hurt that it can bring and the denial of something which can seem so obvious to “us” on the outside, yet not so obvious when you’re living inside it and having to make so many hard decisions.
I assume it would have really tested a lot of people’s spirituality at the time, because having to accept such a thing meant not only questioning the church, but possibly your own faith also.
Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Ronan: Seeing lots of other shows. I can’t wait to indulge in weeks of theatre for the whole month. I want to see as wide a variety of stuff as I can. It will be a great learning platform for me and the team and give us lots of ideas and inspiration for our own creative work too I’m sure.
Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Ronan: Whiskey, with some holy water as a chaser … Somehow that makes sense, lol!…
A reminder, you can catch Our Brothers In Cloth from July 31st to August 25th (not the 6th, 12th, or 19th) at Studio Five at Assembly George Square Studios from 12:15 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Je Gutierrez
Lamesha Ruddock
Jasmine Silk
