Imagination Generation Station

A community engagement project led by Asylum Productions.

Asylum Productions is an award-winning, rural theatre company that creates unusual theatre in unusual spaces. They are passionate about climate justice, sustainability and creating inclusive and engaging theatre.

At Carlow Arts Festival 2023, Asylum Productions hosted the Imagination Generation Station. A drop-in space for people to feed in their ideas for an intergenerational, electrifying community production that considers the future of energy production by looking to the past - the Rural Electrification Scheme.

From this, Asylum developed First Light.

First Light

Asylum Productions in association with Once Off Productions presents First Light, part street theatre, part spectacle, part circus show specially created with and for Carlow.

In an alternate universe, in the town of Wolrac, the townsfolk are ready for Capacity connection, for the coming of the First Light. But the powers that be have other ideas. In the 1950s Ireland embarked on the largest social enterprise in our history - Rural Electrification. This is not that story. Well, not really…

As Ireland faces the challenge of grid decarbonisation, Asylum Productions explores how we’ve done it all before. Bringing their unique brand of collaborative theatre to create this lo-fi, electrifying journey to another dimension, all unplugged and powered by the people of Carlow, and other renewable sources.

Led by Asylum Productions, this show engages a local community cast of approximately 35 people with singing from Carlow Community Choir led by Imelda Andrews and Mary Amond O'Brien.

Adam Byrne

Aisling O'Halloran

Anne Barry

Aoife Doyle

Béibhinn Thorsch

Ben Nunan

Bernard Jennings

Bernie Brennan

Cara Armstrong

Charlotte Crowson

Cian Kinsella

Ciarán Dunphy

Danny Kelly

David Williamson

Dee Colhoun

Deirdre Flemming

Edwina Hopkinson

Elizabeth O'Brien

Emily Rose Brophy

Emma O'Brien

Fiona Broadberry

Fiona Dowling

Harry Shorthose

Kate O'Connor

Kayla Nolan

Kevin Tynan

Liam Dalton

Mark O'Brien

Mary Brennan

Meghan Dempsey

Michael Somers

Mollie Finn

Shane Byrne

Shannon O'Doherty

Sophia Rocca

Asylum Productions Team

Co-Artistic Directors:	Medb Lambert	Donal Gallagher
Co-Directors:	Donal Gallagher	Janice de Bróithe
Producers:	Maura O'Keeffe	Sadhbh Barrett Coakley	Joe Murphy
Production Designer:	Medb Lambert
Production Managers:	Liz Honan	John Grubb
Stage Manager:	Grace Halton
Assistant Stage Manager:	Abbie Nolan
Aerial Crew:	Jonah McGreevey	Conor McCague	Deirdre Griffin

Funded by the Arts Council | An Chomhairle Ealaíon

Additional funding from Carlow County Council and Creative Ireland Carlow

In partnership with the Watergate Theatre