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Two white women are dancing with their back to the camera,  and their hands above their heads

Kate Bauer

Three white performers: the man on the left wears a blue shirt and plays guitar, the woman in the centre plays violin, and the woman on the right plays a bodhrán drum.

News and Updates

Bradán co-founders James Ireland and Kate Bauer (James is on the left and wears a blue shirt - Kate is on the right and wears a pink outfit).

Mastercard Fireside Chat
Bradán Founders discuss Ecological Theatre

11 September, 2023

Bradán co-founders, Kate Bauer and James Ireland, were invited to give a talk on creating Ecological Theatre at the Mastercard Headquarters department meeting. The discussion ranged from how to successfully collaborate as a writer and director team, and how to faciliate the creation of eco-theatre with an ensemble. 
For more please check out @BradanTheatre on all social media platofrms.

James Ireland, non-binary performer, is pouring a flask of water. There is a quote from a review over the image.

Latest Review for Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge

6 October 2023

"Part-lecturer, part-Masterchef, performer James Ireland emanates warmth & wisdom as they weave tales that transport us to Ireland's forested mountains whilst sharing fascinating histories of the food we take for granted. The vibe is very cosy– imagine being beckoned closer to a campfire…

These are stories of both tragedy & hope– remembering the food sources that we have lost, and those that have adapted just to survive in the environment we humans have fundamentally altered. There’s a perfect balance of levity & poignance."

Performer Lena Stahl is on the left and wears a black leotard and non-binary drag artist Crystal Bollis stands on the right. Both are dancing.

Awards

VAULT Festival 2023

Festival Spirit Award 

Haus of Bollix

Definitely Maybe Actually Nevermind

Dublin Fringe Festival 2022

Axis Green Arts Award 

Bradán

Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge

Staging Change X VAULT Festival Award

Bradán 

my lover was a salmon in the climate apocalypse

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19 March 2023

Nominated and voted for by VAULT Festival staff, this is awarded to artists and companies who embrace the Festival’s spirit and ethos of creativity, honesty, respect & kindness.

Director: Kate Bauer 

Writer: Alexandra Christle @CBollix

25 September 2022

Dublin Fringe Festival in partnership with Axis Ballymun, the Axis Green Arts Award is a fantastic opportunity for environmentally conscious makers and producers. The award includes a cash prize as well as a targeted package of supports for the company. Selected by Axis Ballymun via an application process.

Director: Kate Bauer 

Writer: James Ireland

11 December 2021

The award goes to a piece of work that considers its environmental impact, and celebrates work being made in a way that is environmentally conscious, and also somehow rooted in the climate crisis.

Director: Kate Bauer 

Writer: James Ireland

Directing

Recent show credits at a glance 

Cooking the Vegan Salmon of Knowledge

​Bradán Theatre 

Debuted in The New Theatre, September 2022 

Supported by PAN PAN Platform at Dublin Fringe Festival @panpantheatre

Second performance run: 

FeastFest (The Factory &

Applecart Arts Theatre)

September 2023

This isn’t the first ecological catastrophe we’ve created. 10,000 years ago, human societies across the world changed from hunter-gathering to agricultural lifestyles. We’d hunted our food off the face of the earth. We’re making another catastrophe now.

Join the artist as they cook a vegan version of smoked salmon, using the ingredients to have a conversation about the history of food, and human impact on the environment in deep time. With live cooking and live music.

Written & performed by James Ireland

Directed by Kate Bauer 

Photo credit: Pranav Darshan

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my lover was a salmon in the climate apocalypse

Bradán Theatre 

Debuted as part of The Pleasance programme for Edinburgh Fringe Festival 

August 2022

Additional performances: Voila! Europe Theatre Festival London, November 2022 

VAULT Festival London, March 2023

Winner of the STAGING CHANGE x VAULT AWARD for ecologically-conscious development, Bradán’s debut show is a gig theatre call to arms on all things climate, capitalism, and surviving this overwhelming timeline.


My Lover Was a Salmon in the Climate Apocalypse premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2022  forming an exciting full debut for award-winning company Bradán — a collaboration between Disabled non-binary writer James Ireland and Queer Irish director Kate Bauer.


Humanity ruins everything, but humanity's just a dodgy side-branch of fish evolution. Why not return to being fish? Fin's deep empathy for nature culminates in him thinking he's a salmon, onstage, whilst the band looks on in fishy horror. But could this kickstart a climate revolution? 

Written by James Ireland

Directed by Kate Bauer 

Performers: Rory Gradon, Elisabeth Flett, and Elinor Peregrin

Original music devised by the ensemble of cast and creatives 

Definitely Maybe Actually Nevermind

Haus of Bollix 

Debuted as part of the Maiden Speech Festival 2019 

Tristan Bates Theatre 

Additional performance location include:

The Space Theatre, March-April 2022

Winner of the VAULT Festival Spirit Award 2023.

Join drag artist Crystal Bollix as they take on their greatest enemy yet … Romantic Comedies. Fall in love with this new cabaret extravaganza all about the pitfalls of chick-flicks and Colin Firth.

“Distraction is nice and it’s easy for the time being, like watching your favourite Rom Com every once in a while. 

But one day you’re going to find yourself leaning on that distraction.”

Written by Alexandra Christle 

Directed by Kate Bauer

Performed by Crystal Bollix, Lena Stahl and variety of guest performers 

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Rewritten

Sophie Kilgannon

Catalyst Festival

Mountview Academy of Arts, July 2021

Rewritten tells the story of a young college student struggling to find her voice within her school work, and ends up getting inspiration from the most unlikely source. Shakespeare's most outspoken or misunderstood female characters help her find her way. 

"I think, if anything just write your women as people, in their own right, not just as ways of reaching your story’s conclusion."

Written and produced by Sophie Kilgannon

Directed by Kate Bauer

Performed by Imelda D'Souza 

Outsiders

Patch Plays

Patch Plays Scratch Night

September 2020

Patch Plays create environmentally conscious theatre and are based in London. 

"I have no print. I’m just a blank space. Not even a blank space because that's something. I’m just... space. I’m print-less. We leave no trace."

Written by Lizzie Jackson

Performed by Gemma Crooks, Tristan Pegg and Kristin Duffy

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Julius Caesar

The Undisposables 

The Space Theatre, March 2020

“Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more.”


The UnDisposables present their politically charged production of Julius Caesar. Drawing parallels with the modern day issue of climate change, their production delves into the moral ambiguity within Shakespeare’s classic text, questioning who has the right to power, and by what means can or should power be achieved?   


Director Kate Bauer says, ​“As humans we naturally want leadership but what a leader stands for can sometimes seem irrelevant in the struggle for change. I want the audience to feel entertained while they are bombarded with an onslaught of colliding perspectives. My approach to this production is to make the language as accessible as possible and use the text alongside movement and music to drive forward a more inclusive space for Shakespeare where we aren't afraid to be irreverent, even when discussing the climate emergency.”


The production is supported by a practical workshop, titled People & Power in Shakespeare, which will investigate the power within Shakespeare’s female roles and explore how language can be used by leaders to manipulate and gain support. 

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Meet Kate Bauer

Theatre Director

Kate Bauer is an award-winning queer Irish theatre-maker. She graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a BA in Drama and Theatre Studies and from King’s College London & Shakespeare's Globe with an MA in Shakespeare Studies. Her final dissertation centred on gender fluid casting in contemporary productions of early modern texts. 
Kate has worked for many years as a freelance director and facilitator with a strong focus on community theatre and inclusive intersectional feminist practice.
She is the co-founder/resident director of eco-theatre company, Bradán Theatre, and drag collective, Haus of Bollix. She is originally from Dublin, Ireland, and based in London.
Kate has a collaborative, intersectional approach to directing and devising work, which involves gig theatre, live art, and physical theatre.

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Get in Touch

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