My Life Story: Meet the surf dude who now has role in Cork theatre life

Al Dalton has immersed himself in the world of theatre over the last 15 years.

He has touched on every role you can think of, from lighting to stage managing to facilitating artists to hosting and working with world-renowned playwrights such as Simon Stephens right here in Cork.

Al is someone who is quite clearly committed to promoting the arts in Cork, advocating for artists, telling stories, and being the glue to bring it altogether.

He has honed his craft to become a skilled theatre director, and is currently directing a new show by Cork writer Tommy Harris called Babylon West, which strarts a run in Cork Arts Theatre from tonight, October 21.

Al and his wife, Sadhbh Barrett Coakley, the well-known theatre producer, have created their own company, ALSA, through which they have created many shows, supported many artists, and created a platform for art to happen.

Here Al, shares some of his story so far, and explains how he has ended up doing what he loves, what influenced him along the way, and how, even in the middle of all this, he was running another business here in Cork.

Q: Tell us a little about where you grew up, Al, and what you imagined your future might look like when you were young.

I grew up between Ballinlough, the city centre, and Rochestown.

I’m not sure if I had a clear idea of what my future would look like when I was young. I always felt that, whatever I decided to do, I would be supported by my family.

That support, love, and care was always evident from everyone in my family towards me.

Career-wise, I flirted with the idea of being a Garda but I never did anything to ever pursue that. I think I liked the idea of being part of the road traffic division of An Garda Síochána so that I would be able to drive fast in a patrol car with flashing blue lights.

Q: What first set you on the path towards the career and life you have today, and was there a moment when you realised, ‘This is what I want to do’?

Attending speech and drama classes in the Cork School of Music (CSM) at the age of 9/10 certainly played a part in setting my path.

I had a brilliant teacher, Mary Mulcahy, who saw me through all my grades and many Feis Maitiús.

From the age of 14/15, I joined the CSM Youth Theatre under the facilitation of Regina Crowley and this was the real beginning of my love with theatre, having the chance to be part of a large cast/ensemble with fellow teenagers.

Regina also had us performing interesting texts and made us think about things beyond ourselves.

Q: Every journey has obstacles. What has been one of the biggest challenges you’ve faced, and how did it shape the person you became?

One of the biggest professional challenges that I’ve ever faced was the winding down a business which I ran from 2019 to 2023 called Notes To Cork.

I had taken over the running of our 40-year-old family business, Poster Displays, when my aunt was battling cancer in 2019. During covid I pivoted the business, which had been purely outdoor advertising on billboards, and started on a journey of building a small creative design studio.

Leaning on our footprint of billboards across the city, I displayed messages of hope during covid on the sites, which then became a platform to support artists through commissions and exhibitions.

In our last year of business, we had a strong portfolio of local businesses, cafes, bakeries, and sole traders, which we had supported with brand and identity development, business planning and strategy and advertising.

To make that next step with the business, I would have needed to commit significant time and investment to scale up, but somewhere in the back of my mind I wanted to be back working in theatre. The original passion.

The familial connection to the business also made it extremely hard to close the door on - feeling like I was closing a chapter for all of us connected to the business.

Also, the fear of letting all that work go, the blood, sweat and tears, everything that it takes to run your own business. I had essentially worked full-time on it from the moment I stepped into the business, pretty much 24/7 for near five years, was so hard. But I still feel that letting it go was the right thing.

I’m not one for regrets as I usually feel with any decision I’ve made it has been overly considered and that I’ve worked out all the pros and cons. It enabled the tentative steps back into working in the arts.

Q: Looking back, was there a particular person, opportunity, or decision that changed the direction of your life?

I think the biggest decision that changed the direction of my life was deciding to go back to college to study for a BA in Theatre and Drama Studies through CIT, now MTU.

I had been on a different path studying Outdoor Education and was absolutely loving life working as an outdoor instructor in a surf school in West Cork with an eye on travelling to Europe to surf.

However, in 2012 I auditioned for the MTU drama course and was awarded a place as part of the inaugural year of the degree.

Not only did that decision change my career focus, but it also changed my personal life too as I met Sadhbh on the course and we became an item fairly quickly. We have since married and now have our little boy.

Q: Of everything you’ve achieved so far, what are you most proud of, and what makes that achievement meaningful to you?

My son, I think is probably the thing I’m most proud of. He’s incredible. We have enjoyed the first year and a half of parenthood so much. Every day is a learning day.

Q: Your journey has taken you to where you are today, but what values, lessons, or sense of home have stayed with you along the way, and what advice would you give someone starting their own journey?

Generosity to others was a clear value that was very evident in my family growing up and is something that has never left me.

Listening to others, I think has been my own personal life lesson. The thing that I’m continually trying to do better. Especially as a director, I feel it is one of the critical skills when working with actors and other creatives. Creating an environment where people feel seen, heard, and deeply understood. It builds trust and enables the art of theatre-making to go to those next levels, in my opinion.

My career today is in the shape of a theatre director. I mainly work freelance. I also am co-artistic director of ALSA Productions, a Cork based theatre company, with my wife Sadhbh. The company is 10 years old this year.

We produce original work and published plays and have had moderate success with funding from the Arts Council over the years.

Babylon West, starring Tommy Harris and James Burke, directed by Al Dalton, runs at Cork Arts Theatre from October 21-24.

It is a new black comedy about local politics, paranoid conspiracy, and the sacrifices people will make to get what they want. It promises to be a night of laughs and great new writing with two fantastic performers.

Tickets €18/€15, see https://corkartstheatre.com