Birthday Candles
- Performed 2026
- UTC Theatre Company
- Venue: Chattanooga Fine Arts Center’s Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre
- Chattanooga, TN
- Ellen Rich
- Ajaya Kennedy
- Adam-Bradley Tisdale
- Matthew Patrick
- Jayden Brooks
- Karis Richardson
- Karlee Ming
- Anne K. Swedberg | Director
- Lyric Boals | Asst. Director
- Solomon Ledford | Stage Manager
- Maislynne Payne & Emily Griswold | Asst. Stage Manager
- Conard Belitz | Sound Designer
- Adam-Bradley Tisdale | Asst. Scenic Designer
- Emma Laine Hoffbauer | Scenic Designer
- Alex Miller-Long | Lighting Designer
- Ashlynne (Ash) Ludwig | Costume Designer
- Austin Frizzell | Scene/Shop Supervisor
- Kristin Stamps Nalley | Choreographer
Birthday Candles: A 90-Year Journey of Tradition
Birthday Candles traces 90 years in the life of its main character, Ernestine Ashworth, who bakes herself a birthday cake in the kitchen of her childhood home each year, using a recipe handed down by generations of women in her family.
While a teenaged Ernestine declares her rebellion against the conventional order of things—including getting married, remaining in her hometown of Grand Rapids, and raising a family—an older Ernestine discovers that the birthday rituals inherited from her mother and grandmother are integral to her existence. In turn, Ernestine bequeaths the same birthday traditions to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, weaving invisible connections from one generation to the next as she wraps her family in love.
The Influence of Thornton Wilder
Haidle happily admits that he modeled Birthday Candles after a 35-minute Thornton Wilder play entitled The Long Christmas Dinner (1931), which similarly follows five generations of a family as they gather for their annual Christmas meal. Author and playwright Thornton Wilder was a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner with his plays Our Town and The Skin of Our Teeth, as well as his novel, The Bridge of San Luis Rey.
Noah Haidle remembers that seeing a high school production of Our Town “made my brain explode, and that explosion helped me want to become a playwright in the first place.” Unsure of how someone goes about becoming a playwright, a teenaged Haidle visited his local Grand Rapids public library and started to read his way through the list of Pulitzer prize-winning plays dating back to 1918, the first year the prize was awarded for drama. Haidle remembers that he read one play a day for years, hoping that his play-reading would in turn feed his playwriting skills.
Three Sources of Inspiration
In an interview with Roundabout Theatre’s now-retired dramaturg Ted Sod and published on the Roundabout Theatre website in 2022, Noah Haidle lists three sources of inspiration for Birthday Candles:
1. The Goldfish Memory: When I was 19, I read that goldfish have a three second memory span.
2. Schopenhauer’s Companion: When I was 34, I read that Arthur Schopenhauer spent the last years of his life alone in Frankfurt, Germany playing the violin to his dog Atman (the name of the goldfish in Birthday Candles).
3. The Wilder Catalyst: Third, somewhere in my self-assigned course of study, I encountered Thornton Wilder’s A Long Christmas Dinner.
Production History: From Detroit to Broadway
Birthday Candles was the first play commissioned by the newly-formed Detroit Public Theatre (2015) and its trio of Producing Artistic Directors: Courtney Burkett, Sarah Clare Corporandy, and Sarah Winkler. The play premiered at the Detroit Public Theatre in 2018 and was scheduled to open on Broadway in 2020, only to be delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Haidle edited and re-wrote portions of the play before the Roundabout Theatre’s production of Birthday Candles launched in April of 2022, featuring actor Deborah Messing as Ernestine. Haidle and his wife Kelsey had a son between the two productions, an event he describes in his Roundabout Theatre interview as “rather impactful.”
Generations of Ernestine’s family might say the same thing.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Fine Arts Center recently brought to life Noah Haidle’s poignant and evocative play, “Birthday Candles,” on the Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre stage. Performed by the talented UTC Theatre Co., the production offered a captivating look into the lives of ordinary people and the profound beauty found within everyday moments.
A Deeply Moving Story of Time Premiering in 2018 and later opening on Broadway in 2022, “Birthday Candles” has quickly resonated with audiences for its unique structure and emotional depth. The play masterfully blends humor and drama, delving into universal themes of family, legacy, and the relentless passage of time. It’s a timeless reflection on the human experience, showing how ordinary routines can hold a lifetime together.
The story unfolds through a series of birthday gatherings, returning again and again to a single kitchen. Beginning with her 17th birthday and spanning over 90 years, the narrative follows Ernestine Ashworth’s life as it unfolds around a single anchoring tradition: baking a birthday cake from her mother’s recipe. Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Acting Concentration, Anne Swedberg, who directed the UTC Theatre Co. production, described it as a sweet—but never saccharin—piece that reflects deeply on life and the enduring sense of continuity within families.
Noah Haidle: Finding Grace in the Everyday Playwright Noah Haidle is celebrated for his inventive theatrical storytelling that honors the ordinary. In structuring “Birthday Candles,” Haidle drew inspiration directly from Thornton Wilder’s 1931 one-act play “The Long Christmas Dinner,” a creative connection he openly pursued with the blessing of the Wilder estate.
Swedberg noted that the play shares a strong kinship with Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece Our Town, particularly in its emphasis on paying attention to the tiny details of daily existence. The UTC Theatre Co. production thoughtfully brought this message to the forefront, urging modern audiences not to let life simply rush on by, but rather to take the time to stay in the moment and appreciate the grace and beauty residing around them every day.
A Collaborative Student Production The UTC Theatre Co. production of “Birthday Candles” showcased the dedication and talent of UTC students, both on and off stage. The demanding lead role of Ernestine was taken on by junior theatre education major Ajaya Kennedy, who beautifully anchored the production by remaining on stage from beginning to end.
Swedberg praised Kennedy, highlighting her innate warmth and her ability to naturally embody complex relationships as five generations of family members came and went around her. She was supported by an excellent ensemble student cast, including senior Adam-Bradley Tisdale as Kenneth, whose hard work and collaborative spirit were evident in the seamless performance. Behind the scenes, a dedicated crew of UTC students managed the stage production alongside a skilled design team, contributing to the overall success of the poignant show.
