Cast Announced For Karis Kelly’s New Dark Comedy Play 'Consumed'
- Maisie Ellis
- Jul 2
- 2 min read
Sheffield Theatres have announced the full cast and creative team for award-winning playwright Karis Kelly’s Consumed, which will be running at the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse from September 24th to October 11th 2025.
This dark comedy is a co-production with Paines Plough, Belgrade Theatre, and the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, in association with the Lyric Theatre Belfast.
Alongside Director Katie Posner (Joint Artistic Director for Paines Plough), joining the creative team are Set and Costume Designer Lily Arnold, Sound Designer and Composer Beth Duke, Lighting Designer Guy Hoare, Dramaturg Suzanne Bell, Assistant Director Gina Donnelly, with Casting Director Jacob Sparrow.
Karis Kelly commented: “I am absolutely delighted to be working with such an incredible creative team. For me, to be working with a full Irish cast, rehearsing at the London Irish Centre (where I attended many cultural events growing up) is a full circle, dream come true moment! I was lucky enough to be in the auditions and I was absolutely blown away by their talent. I cannot wait to get into the room and work with Katie and the whole team, and watch this play come to life!”
The production is heading to the See It First event in Coventry as well as the 2025 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In September, Consumed will embark on a UK tour, stopping at the Belgrade Theatre, Leeds Playhouse, Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, and finally the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse in Sheffield.
The cast includes: Julia Dearden (Derry Girls; After Life; Dancing at Lughnasa), Caoimhe Farren (The Ferryman; Derry Girls), Andrea Irvine (Blue Lights; Line of Duty) and Muireann Ní Fhaogáin, who will be making her professional stage debut in Consumed.
Winner of the Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2022, Karis Kelly’s play is a twisted comedy, tackling such subjects as dysfunctional family dynamics, generational revolt and national boundaries. The synopsis is as follows:
An 80th birthday party that no-one seems to want. Four generations of Northern Irish women, reunited under one roof. A house full of hungry ghosts, with more than one skeleton in the closet. Turn off your phones at dinner.
Consumed Director, Katie Posner, said: “I am beyond excited to be directing this incredible cast and team for the world premiere of Consumed. From the first moment I read it for the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, Consumed gripped me completely. It’s Granny Eileen’s 80th birthday party, and as the family reunion unravels, the story peels back the wallpaper to reveal the tensions between four generations of northern Irish women, speaking to the silences and secrets passed through them all."
"Karis invites us into a world that feels disturbingly, viscerally, hilariously familiar... especially to anyone who’s been shushed at the family dinner! After hit runs of previous Women’s Prize winners, we’re so proud at Paines Plough to continue producing and platforming outstanding female and non-binary writers. We can’t wait for this play to meet its audiences and are delighted to be collaborating with our fantastic partners The Belgrade Theatre, Sheffield Theatres, Women’s Prize for Playwriting and the Lyric Belfast.”
Tickets for Consumed at the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse are on sale now and can be booked online at sheffieldtheatres.co.uk, at the Box Office or over the phone on 0114 249 6000.
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