Amy Day
Writer/Composer-Lyricist
Amy Day is a San Diego-based musician, writer, and professor. The writer and composer-lyricist of “In the Midst of Plenty,” Amy spent the summer of 2022 alongside Anne-Marie O’Sullivan of Enchanted Croi Theatre, bringing 'In the Midst of Plenty' to the stage for the first time; in addition to writing the piece, Amy served as the Music Director for the production, orchestrating and arranging the score. She also played piano and accordion in the band for its 2023 performances.
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Amy has written for and performed with a number of Americana and indie-folk bands, including the 2020 San Diego Music Awards-nominated duo The Spiritual Motels. Amy has studied playwrighting with Aleta Barthell (Window of Shame, finalist for National Playwrights Conference 2020-2021 and 2016 HUMANITAS/CTG Playwriting Prize) and musical theatre songwriting with Mark Hollmann (Urinetown, winner of 2002 Tony Award and 2001 Obie Award for best music and lyrics).
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An educator, Amy has served on the board of directors for and taught at Rock and Roll Camp for Girls San Diego, has been an active member of the Lady Brain Collective, and participates in writing groups for songwriters, playwrights, and musical theatre composers. Amy also teaches Legal Writing at California Western School of Law. During the summer of 2019, Amy taught a course in human rights at the Irish Centre for Human Rights at NUI Galway. While there, she visited the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park; it was this visit that inspired Amy to bring the Strokestown story to life through music.
Ben Vleminckx
Executive Producer
Ben is a UK-based Producer who is passionate about bringing stories to the stage that resonate and connect with audiences through shared lived experience or historic events. Ben has produced both small and mid-scale commercial theatre and has a wealth of knowledge of UK touring.
He is Producer at Stuff and Nonsense Theatre Company, a family theatre company that co-creates both original productions as well as modern adaptations of well known stories with and for children and their families. Ben spent several years working at Theatre Royal Plymouth (the UK's largest regional producing theatre) as a Producer in the Engagement and Learning department where he worked in partnership with The National Theatre, Frantic Assembly, and The Royal Shakespeare Company to name a few.
Ben is passionate about musical theatre and, having spent his early career working as a jazz professional drummer and percussionist, he has played on musical productions across the South West of the UK.
Ben said "I am delighted to be joining the creative team as we embark on the journey of up-scaling In The Midst of Plenty in preparation for future touring. It has so much potential and its successful tour of Ireland in 2023 is testament to that. Audiences already love it and so they should! This show is something really special. Not only does it have a brilliantly melodic score and songwriting but it tells a globally important story which unites the Irish diaspora, and what better way to share it than through a large-scale folk musical!"
Anne-Marie O'Sullivan
Producer
Twenty-two years ago, Anne-Marie O'Sullivan began her creative journey with intensive training in Theatre Acting at Bretton Hall College in England. There, she developed a deep understanding of the craft of theatre-making, gaining not only rigorous vocational training but also academic honors and a strong foundation in performance theory. That education laid the groundwork for what would become a dynamic and far-reaching career in the performing arts.
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During her time at Bretton Hall, Anne-Marie trained with the Creative Arts Team in New York, where she specialized in Boalian techniques used in community theatre settings. Her early professional work included innovative collaborations with West Yorkshire Police, using theatre to address racism in schools. She graduated as a specialist in Theatre in Education and has since toured extensively as an actor for over fifteen years. Her work has taken her across Europe, including performances with Theatre in Education companies in Sicily, Italy, and Greece.
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Anne-Marie has a particular passion for devised theatre and has written and performed original works for stage, television, and film. Her diverse experience includes commercial projects, educational video production, and experimental solo work. One standout piece, First Blush of Spring, was a one-woman show performed in an 8-by-8-foot costume dress made of parachute material.
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Her career has included remarkable international collaborations, such as performing at the Rafi Peer Theatre Festival in Pakistan and touring with The Caravan Stage aboard the Amara Zee, a 90-foot tall theatre ship. These adventures sparked a new interest in costuming and stage design.
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Transitioning into film, Anne-Marie secured lead roles in two award-winning features: O Xenagos by Zakarias Mavroidis and Fish and Chips by Elias Demetriou. Her experience in film led to the founding of The Athenian Players, performing in Athens in collaboration with Horos Technis Asomaton.
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In 2019, Anne-Marie returned to her roots in Ireland and founded Enchanted Croí Theatre, a company through which she continues to explore her passions for puppetry, stagecraft, film, video art, music, and dynamic storytelling. Through Enchanted Croí, she produces theatre at all scales, works in Theatre in Education across schools, and channels her love of history in partnership with the National Famine Museum at Strokestown Park.
David Fairs & Conor O'Kane
Directors
Seasoned and acclaimed artists with rich backgrounds in theatre directing, producing, acting, writing, dramaturgy, design and movement direction, the pair will evolve and reimagine ‘In the Midst of Plenty’ as we scale up the production and embark on its next chapter in 2026 and 2027.
A partnership since 2015, David and Conor are queer, neurodivergent artists. Conor, a County Derry native, trained for three years at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, while David, from Northumberland, trained for three years at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (which he continues to visit as a lecturer and Industry mentor), after reading History at Cambridge University.
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Their recent directorial work includes: the 5-star revival of ‘Anything Is Possible If You Think About It Hard Enough’ (off-West End at the Waterloo East Theatre); a sell-out run of cult musical ‘Little Shop of Horrors’ (Derry Playhouse); the five-star production of ‘Hole’ by Hannah Morrish (London’s iconic Old Red Lion Theatre); Stephen Berkoff’s ‘Messiah’ (Edinburgh Festival); a new version of Jean Cocteau’s ‘The Human Voice’ (created in collaboration with the Comité Jean Cocteau in Paris); the first London production of Max Dickins’ ‘Kin’ (Lion & Unicorn Theatre); a stage adaptation of TV-series ‘Up In Town’, which they were invited to create by Emmy-winning original writer/director Hugo Blick (BBC/Amazon’s ‘The English’), performed to mark the 20th anniversary of the first broadcast. They are also co-founders of theatre company GOLEM!, which has produced work across London and at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Dell in Stratford-upon-Avon.
They also have the valuable perspective that comes from working on both sides of the table, with extensive experience as actors: David across theatre, film and radio (including BBC Radio 4, Shakespeare’s Globe, the New Vic Theatre, the Hampstead Theatre), recently receiving critical acclaim for his performance in the Kenny Wax (‘Six’) production ‘Tom, Dick & Harry’ (London’s Alexandra Palace Theatre); Conor across theatre, musical theatre and film in both Northern Ireland and London, bring nominated for an Off West End Award for his performance in musical ‘Miss Nightingale’, for the Derry Playhouse playing Fr O’Gara and John Hume respectively in ‘The White Handkerchief’ and ‘Hume: Beyond Belief’ (5-stars from The Guardian), and appearing in the upcoming Channel 4 series ‘Trespasses’ (from Oscar-nominated Wildgaze Films).
“Conor and David are a dream, and I could not be more excited about what they will imagine for the show,” says the show’s writer, Amy Day. “I am particularly drawn to David’s background studying history before he trained as a theatre-maker. I think this makes him uniquely qualified to lead the show creatively from a place of respect for the subject matter while interpreting it through an artistic lens”.
Get in Touch
Ben Vleminckx
Executive Producer
benvleminckxproducer@gmail.com
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Anne-Marie O'Sullivan
Producer
enchantedcroitheatre@gmail.com
Amy Day
Writer, composer, lyricist