As If Theatre Debuts New Works Program with ‘Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down’

Cast of Ashes, Ashes: Bradley Goodwill, Skye Stafford, Judith Shahn, Jack Lush, Molly Hall, Christina Williams

Courtesy of As If Theatre and Gretchen Douma

Stories, and the mediums through which we tell them, have always been a key component of humanity. From the parabolic lessons of fairy tales and myths to the small anecdotes of our daily lives, storytelling brings us together, solidifies our sense of community, and gives us a platform where we can hold a mirror to the experiences and emotions of others and find ourselves within them. Gretchen Douma, As If Theatre’s debut New Works program playwright, showcases the impact of the humble autobiographical narrative in her play, Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down.

Described as a “dramedy about what happens when the skeletons in the closet meet the ashes in the jar,” Ashes, Ashes is Gretchen’s first full-length play produced for the stage. The playwright has over thirty years of experience as an actor, ten years of writing as a theater critic, and more recently joined the storytelling community à la The Moth. She first began developing the idea for the play in 2017 while taking a playwriting class with Rebecca Touriño Collinsworth, founder of Parley Productions. 

The new play, directed by As If founder Cindy Giese French, follows three siblings as they reunite to scatter their mother’s ashes, an event which unearths buried and hard feelings. The cast includes Molly Hall, Skye Stafford, Jack Lush, Judith Shahn, Bradley Goodwill, and Christina Williams. In an interview, Gretchen described the play as “highly autobiographical and not entirely factual,” adding that “I got to make some decisions about writing a scene that never happened that maybe I wish had, or writing a scene that never happened that I’m glad didn’t happen that way.” 

Promo poster for Ashes, Ashes

Courtesy of As If Theatre and Gretchen Douma

This process of growth and exploration was made possible through the New Works program at As If. The program, which stemmed from As If’s short play reading series on Zoom called the Quarantine Quickies, allowed the play the time it needed to be workshopped to its highest potential. With Cindy’s direction, it underwent table reads, feedback circles, and thorough discussion. Cindy stated, “I think our flavor of theater is that dramedy. There’s the serious moments and then there’s fabulous laughter. That’s what attracts me and, I think, what attracts our audience. That, and stories that are truthful and interesting.” Such sentiments make Gretchen’s Ashes, Ashes a perfect debut performance for the program. 

As If Theatre was started in Kenmore in 2018. Cindy described how she and As If’s now managing director, Amy Gentry, toured a space in Kenmore with no intention of starting a theater company, went next door to a brewery, and asked each other, “Do you want to start a theater company?” Kenmore, Cindy said, was a bedroom community, meaning it was designed merely to be a resting place before and after work. It contained little-to-no community spaces and was thought of as arts desert. As If began as an effort to change that, and slowly but surely, the community has grown and expanded. Cindy noted, “When I see ticketing come through, I always look where they’re from. Because I want to see those Kenmore addresses, and I want to see Bothell, and all these other localities coming into our space.”

A grant from 4Culture enables the company to offer tickets via a pay-what-you-can model, and Cindy notes “We’re trying to make theater accessible to all. It shouldn’t be your paycheck that determines whether or not you can see art.” The company’s name also speaks to its mission: to act as if gender, age, and racial equality are realities rather than aspirations, and to uplift contemporary works that do representation right. As If also won the Northern Regional People’s Choice Organization of the Year at the 2025 Gregory Awards.

Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down debuts on February 5 at 7:30 p.m. and runs through February 8, 2026. The show takes place at the Kenmore Community Club, and has an approximate runtime of 100 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.