Ann Blake is an Irish musician and theatre practitioner based in Limerick, Ireland. As of 2020, she is an Artist-in-Residence with Ormston House. She had worked with Ormston House since 2013 on projects such as The Misadventures of a Good Citizen, The Museum of Mythological Water Beasts and The Feminist Supermarket.[1] She co-hosts a monthly podcast, The Limerick Lady, with Emma Langford. It has included guests such as Denise Chaila,[2]Sharon Slater,[3]Amanda Palmer,[4] and Pamela Connolly of the Pillow Queens.[5] She also hosts a podcast, Ann and Steve Talk Stuff, with Stephen Kinsella.[6]
She is a founding member of Choke Comedy Improv with Myles Breen.[7] Her play, The Morning After The Life Before, first produced in 2017, was based on her own life experience with the backdrop of the referendum for the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland included the provision for same-sex marriage in Ireland. Blake both wrote and performed in this play, which was produced by Gúna Nua and first performed in Belltable Arts Centre.[8] Since then, it toured both nationally and internationally, having been performed in such places as Viking Theatre in Clontarf, Dublin,[9] Bewley's Theatre, Dublin,[10] Omnibus Theatre, London.[11] While winning top awards at the London Fringe, Ontario,[12] and Montreal Fringe,[13] in 2019, it had five nominations and won two awards at the Origin Theatre's 1st Irish Awards in New York.[14] The play was favourably reviewed.[15][16][17]