Hello? Mum? I'm calling from the future...
A sweeping, multigenerational story, Never Always Ever Was weaves together the lives of Danny, a restless young man from Belfast determined to escape the monotony of home in search of purpose and adventure, and Julia, a recent university graduate from Port Fairy who has returned home to find a way to turn her passion for environmental conservation into meaningful action. Their fateful meeting on New Year’s Eve in 1989, at a small-town pub, sets the stage for an exploration of identity, home, and the far-reaching ripple effects of the choices we make.
Told across four key moments in time — 1989, 1996, 2025, and 2049 — the play traces one family’s journey through both intimate and monumental change, asking how we live, what we pass on, and how we choose to face an uncertain future. At its core, it’s about the quiet, everyday acts of love, care, and resilience that echoes across generations. Against a backdrop of environmental shifts and disappearing coastlines, it explores how family, memory, and place can anchor us, even as the world transforms.
This dynamic two-hander brings together one actor from Northern Ireland and one from Australia to embody a vivid tapestry of interconnected characters. Through the entwined stories of Danny, Julia, their ancestors, and descendants, Never Always Ever Was reflects on the environmental challenges facing coastal communities — revealing both the fragility and enduring strength of the places we call home, and the futures we strive to protect.
Never Always Ever Was is currently being developed by Australian playwright Fleur Murphy in collaboration with Northern Ireland-based theatre company c21 Theatre and the National Celtic Folk Festival. This exciting new project has been made possible through the generous support of the British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grant, the British Council Northern Ireland, and the Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation.
Told across four key moments in time — 1989, 1996, 2025, and 2049 — the play traces one family’s journey through both intimate and monumental change, asking how we live, what we pass on, and how we choose to face an uncertain future. At its core, it’s about the quiet, everyday acts of love, care, and resilience that echoes across generations. Against a backdrop of environmental shifts and disappearing coastlines, it explores how family, memory, and place can anchor us, even as the world transforms.
This dynamic two-hander brings together one actor from Northern Ireland and one from Australia to embody a vivid tapestry of interconnected characters. Through the entwined stories of Danny, Julia, their ancestors, and descendants, Never Always Ever Was reflects on the environmental challenges facing coastal communities — revealing both the fragility and enduring strength of the places we call home, and the futures we strive to protect.
Never Always Ever Was is currently being developed by Australian playwright Fleur Murphy in collaboration with Northern Ireland-based theatre company c21 Theatre and the National Celtic Folk Festival. This exciting new project has been made possible through the generous support of the British Council’s Connections Through Culture Grant, the British Council Northern Ireland, and the Seaborn, Broughton & Walford Foundation.
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Rehearsal images with artists: Fleur Murphy, Stephen Kelly, Amanda LaBonte and Tom Royce-Hampton
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The work is currently in development
An excerpt was presented at the National Celtic Folk Festival in June 2025 with the following creatives involved: Written by: Fleur Murphy Directed by: Stephen Kelly Performed by: Amanda LaBonté & Tom Royce-Hampton Dramaturg: Hanna Slättne |
Audience feedback:
That was fantastic!
It was really hopeful, and we need that.
The words, the writing, it’s very very powerful.
It’s really good. The language is absolutely beautiful, it’s lyrical and it’s very visual. It’s a beautiful piece… beautifully written.
I found the story so powerful. I was born in Belfast and met my husband in 1989. I was crying – our son is a journalist. We do worry, we live in Melbourne, but we have a house here in Portarlington and we worry about the seafront… It’s like it was a play written for me… I think it speaks to so many people's experience. It was extraordinary, thank you, it’s been a privilege.
I really loved the heart of it, and I really love the authenticity of the characters and they didn’t go into stereotype, they stayed real – and that’s very very hard to do particularly when you're trying to underpin a topic like climate change as there can be a temptation to hammer it home… my own preference for theatre is something with more heart – and I loved it, for that reason.
That was a beautiful reading and a beautiful piece of writing... I felt like the way you wrapped the issue in real people, that’s the hope... it’s a really beautiful work and I think it’s a really poetic and moving way to engage people in the idea of climate change.
That was fantastic!
It was really hopeful, and we need that.
The words, the writing, it’s very very powerful.
It’s really good. The language is absolutely beautiful, it’s lyrical and it’s very visual. It’s a beautiful piece… beautifully written.
I found the story so powerful. I was born in Belfast and met my husband in 1989. I was crying – our son is a journalist. We do worry, we live in Melbourne, but we have a house here in Portarlington and we worry about the seafront… It’s like it was a play written for me… I think it speaks to so many people's experience. It was extraordinary, thank you, it’s been a privilege.
I really loved the heart of it, and I really love the authenticity of the characters and they didn’t go into stereotype, they stayed real – and that’s very very hard to do particularly when you're trying to underpin a topic like climate change as there can be a temptation to hammer it home… my own preference for theatre is something with more heart – and I loved it, for that reason.
That was a beautiful reading and a beautiful piece of writing... I felt like the way you wrapped the issue in real people, that’s the hope... it’s a really beautiful work and I think it’s a really poetic and moving way to engage people in the idea of climate change.
Visit c21 Theatre Company's website at: www.c21theatrecompany.com
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