‘Ashes, Ashes’ Snapshots Family, Grief, Humor in Kenmore
Ashes, Ashes, We All Fall Down, written by Gretchen Douma, premiered February 5-8 at As If Theatre. The play, with its familial themes and living room-confined location suited the small, homey venue well. Staff greeted guests with warmth, ensuring all felt welcomed into the budding Kenmore arts community. Upon entering the Kenmore Community Club, a donation-based concession stand sold fresh, homemade cookies which added a unique layer of care, commitment, and connection to the performance and the theater space that often goes unfelt by patrons at larger venues.
As If Theatre Debuts New Works Program with ‘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.
