New Theatre Company Questions What Should be Valued in Times of Crisis
I attended Queen’s University at a time when there were still students around from prior to the lockdown, and they would tell me about all of the amazing clubs that made Queen’s Drama a land of endless opportunity. However, as things began to reopen, a vast number of these clubs never returned. 5th Co, Vagabond Theatre, Imaginary Theatre Company, and Queen’s Students on Broadway all have fizzled out over the past five years. So when students take an interest in putting on their own work, outside of the school or within, I take an interest. HouseOnFire Theatre is the newest name to pop up: helmed by Henry Hamilton and Ryan Larkin, they are diving into their first production by bringing fresh eyes to a familiar show. I had the chance to speak to the two about their company, as well as their upcoming production of Never Swim Alone by Daniel MacIvor.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. This interview may contain spoilers for ‘Never Swim Alone.’
Let’s kick things off nice and easy, can you tell me a bit about why you decided to produce a show together?
RL: Henry and I have been friends for quite a while–starting around grade 10–and we’ve both always been very involved in drama and theatre, but we’d never really had the opportunity to act alongside each other. So we were like, “Let’s change that.” We decided to start up this little company as an opportunity for us to explore plays and works we were interested in, and just have full control over what we were doing.
HH: We kind of started this out as a standalone thing where we just wanted to put on this one show because it allowed us to be on stage together for the first time. Then the more we thought about it, we realized that we would love to make this an actual thing that we do. An actual company that would continue onwards in the future so we would have more control over what we’re doing while we’re at Queen’s.
How did you decide “House on Fire” would be the name of your company?
HH: I remember The Strokes’ album “A Room on Fire” and I just love that imagery, it’s a very evocative image. So it’s kind of harking back to that, but there also are some wider and, as Ryan said, artistic and philosophical ways that we’ve looked at it. If your house is on fire, what do you take with you? You don’t run out with your TVs, your valuables. You run out with things that are treasured and things that are closest to you. Your photo albums, maybe pieces of artwork that your children have made, valuable mementos that maybe don’t have intrinsic value in the world but mean a lot to you personally. We should be saving the art, we should be saving the human connections, and we hope that through these shows that message bleeds through.
Now, I have one somewhat harsh question, so I’d like to get it out of the way: I love Daniel MacIvor, but of all his works Never Swim Alone is easily the most overdone. Just three years ago in 2022 it was done right here in Kingston by Spur of the Moment Productions, and none of his other shows have been produced in Kingston since. So, why add to the oversaturation of Never Swim Alone productions?
RL: [What] I think separates us from the other [productions] is we’ve got a very interesting venue choice.
We’ve chosen to do this at the Newlands Pavilion down by the water, and I think that’s given a lot more of an impact to what the show has done and how audiences will take it in because it’s really dramatic to have the character that Hayley [Watson] is playing talk about drowning and racing so close to the water.
How did you find a director having already chosen a show and the majority of the cast?
RL: Something that was really important to us was finding someone who we know we could work with, and in layman’s terms, “someone who could match our freak.” Liv [Buchanan] just happened to be the perfect person for that. Some of the funniest jokes or best things about this show have come from Liv being like “let’s try something really silly.” We have so much faith in her because we know that all of us are operating on that same level of “we’re gonna try something: it might not work, it might be hilarious,” and then we just keep going.
HH: Liv is one of those people who you feel very comfortable trying uncomfortable things with, and trying things that seem weird and strange. Half the time it won’t work, but the times it does? It’s like lightning: it’s perfect for the moment. Liv was the first on both of our lists in terms of directors, and we didn’t have an honest second choice if she said no.
You mentioned your unique venue choice; was this location always in mind from the moment you began the project?
HH: There was a point before we went home [for the summer] at the end of last year where we realized it would be a lot more interesting and a lot more poignant if we decided to do it somewhere near the water. Our first thought was [Kosso Eloul’s “Time” sculpture], we thought we would be able to do a proscenium show there. Then Liv jumped aboard and she said “No, don’t do that, I have a better idea, it’s like 500 meters in the opposite direction.” And it’s this beautiful venue that fit our needs perfectly.
Was there anything you feel is important to mention that wasn’t covered in our discussion?
RL: The important thing for me that pushed me, and I’m sure Henry as well, to start this company was to set an example that if this is something you want to do, you can just go and do it. We had no experience going into this and we had a lot of people who were like, “Wow, second year seems early to jump in and start this thing.” But here we are, we took the leap, and we’re running with it. We wanted to set an example that “hey, if you have something that you’re interested in; there’s nothing stopping you from just going out there and trying.”
HH: The Kingston community, and especially the Queen’s theatre community is an amazing petri dish for ideas and for just experimenting with what you think is interesting. We’ve seen a lot of other shows put on at Queen’s that are just students doing what they’re passionate about, and we wanted to get in on that as well. My biggest hope is that someone sees us do this and thinks, “if those jokers can do it, why can’t we?” The world is always a better place if there’s another show going on.
Ryan Larkin is a second year student at Queen’s majoring in Classics and Theatre. While mainly focusing on acting in a variety of shows and roles, Ryan has taken a stab at producing as a co-creator of HouseOnFire Theatre, a production company ran alongside with Henry Hamilton.
Henry Hamilton is a second year student at Queen’s majoring in Film and Theatre. Over the course of his year and change at Queen’s he has acted in both DSS as well as the department’s winter major: ‘Love and Information’. This new semester sees Henry expanding the scope of his work, challenging himself as both an actor and as well as a theatre maker.
‘Never Swim Alone’ is being presented by HouseOnFire Theatre and will be playing at the Newlands Pavilion from October 2 – 4, 2025. More information and Tickets can be found here.
