Any time theatre artists tell stories about family members on-stage, they risk a backlash back at home. Therefore, in advance of co-producing and performing in Willilish’d, Vancouver actor Hayley Sullivan McInerney made a pledge to her mother in Australia.
“She was very concerned that she would be swearing in front of people,” Sullivan McInerney tells Pancouver with a smile over Zoom. “So, I had to promise not to include any of the swearing.”
Sullivan McInerney and her producing and stage partner, Thule van den Dam, describe Willilish’d as an interdisciplinary work rooted in music, theatre, and design. It addresses memory, emotion, change, and motherhood through lullabies and nursery rhymes. And it’s inspired by conversations that Sullivan McInerney had with her mom.
“Every time we’ve done little showings, it was really moving for the people that saw it,” Sullivan McInerney adds. “If people can feel connected to their mom or their dad or their siblings—or with the people next to them—that feels important.”
About three years ago, Sullivan McInterney and van den Dam formed their duo, known as As and When. It will perform Willilish’d at re:Naissance’s IndieFest on Friday (November 21) and Saturday (November 22), with both shows beginning at 7:30 p.m. at DigiBC Creative Tech Studio (577 Great Northern Way). (Transit information is available on the re:Naissance website.)
“The music can stand on its own, but we felt that having a more immersive and designed environment lifts it into something else,” van den Dam tells Pancouver on the same Zoom call. “We use a loop pedal. I play viola and Hayley sings. So, we take snippets of something and we just build it out…and then that transforms into something else.”
In addition, Willilish’d includes audio recordings of Sullivan McInerney speaking with her mother.
From Medea to Willilish’d
Sullivan McInerney and van den Dam had the sorceress Medea in mind from Greek mythology—along with motherhood—when they began this project. They crafted 15 minutes of a piece that included lullabies, which they presented during a residency with Tara Cheyenne Performance.
“In the talkback afterwards, it became clear from the audience that they were really resonating with the lullabies in the piece—separately from whatever we were trying to do with this broader Medea narrative,” van den Dam says. “So, we went towards that.”
That’s when Sullivan McInerney started talking to her mom in Australia about lullabies.
“Willilish’d was one of those songs,” van den Dam continues. “So we’ve named the piece after that one.”
Sullivan McInerney says that her mother and her siblings believed that they had all made up this song. But she quickly adds that this “may or may not have been true”.
That’s because the duo came across versions of “Willilish’d” in poetry in Ireland, Scotland, and England, albeit with somewhat different wording.
“That is a huge part of lullabies and nursery rhymes,” van den Dam points out. “It is an oral history and it’s often passed down through the maternal line. They get changed along the way.”
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As and When will perform Willilish’d at IndieFest 2025, which is presented by re-Naissance. The performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (November 21) and Saturday (November 22) at DigiBC Creative Tech Studio (577 Great Northern Way). For tickets and more information, visit Showpass.com.
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