Noah Haidle’s Birthday Candles illuminates the beauty of everyday life through Ernestine Ashworth’s annual ritual of making a birthday cake. The play explores how birthdays mark time, family and the fleeting nature of special moments. This blog invites you to share in the warmth and reflection that permeates this play.

Just as Ernestine’s birthdays become a lens through which we view her journey, birthdays in our own lives often serve as milestones, markers of change, and repositories of cherished memories. We asked the cast of Birthday Candles to share anecdotes about their own most memorable birthdays. These stories, like the play, are filled with joy, nostalgia and reflection.

Will Allan – Billy/John

As a young lad named Will, you can imagine my excitement when Free Willy came to theatres just in time for my seventh birthday. There was candy and soda galore, and it became evident that as the movie reached the climactic moment of Willy the whale flying through the air to freedom, I needed to relieve myself of all that Coca Cola. One buddy (also named Will) went with me to the bathroom, and we missed the iconic scene. As we got back to the seats, the other boys made fun of me for missing it and the other Will stepped in and said, “We saw it from the back, and it was even cooler from back there.” This was a lie, but it was also my first memory of a friend truly having my back. So, I may have missed Willy’s big moment, but I sure lucked out with a big moment from the other Will.

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Barbara Chisholm – Ernestine 

I am the sixth and youngest surviving sibling in my family and as such there are fewer childhood photos than of the older siblings. I unearthed these pics from my third birthday (which I do not remember) and they unlocked forgotten memories and foretold the future. This is the birthday I received the treasured doll I named Aunt Polly after the character in the film Pollyanna which presumably aired regularly on television as I was too young for movie theatres and streaming and renting weren’t invented. Aunt Polly felt as big or bigger than I and almost human. I adored her and shared secrets with her for years. Even more telling is the presence of my beloved older sister Margaret in the photo with me, our baby sister Gina who passed away at age 6, and Aunt Polly. Margaret would become my savior, my cavalry, my support throughout our lives, especially after we lost Gina and throughout my mother’s decline and eventual death. Margaret has saved my life more times than I can count. And here she is at my third birthday party, understanding the significance of Aunt Polly and gladly including her in this photo. And there’s cake!

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Amira Danan – Alice/Madeline/Ernie

In high school, I embarked on the best birthday trip a young adult version of myself could have imagined: Coachella. I had scrolled through Tumblr images of the dreamland for years. My mom, my sister and I spent three days in the Indio desert with all of my favorite artists at the time. I wore a flower crown, of course (it was 2014, after all). I saw Lorde’s first big festival performance, touched hands with the lead singer of Bastille, and swayed to Flume as I watched the sun set over the desert. Those 72 hours were pure joy.

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Mierka Girten – Joan/Alex/Beth 

I was never comfortable getting my picture taken because I had broken my nose and it had a huge bump on it, so my pictures were usually a bit wonky. I would hide my nose with my hair and make a goofy face so that it appeared that I was just having fun. My 15th birthday was different because I had a rhinoplasty – which is a fancy name for a “nose job.” My nose was so damaged that I had a difficult time breathing. So, this “nose job” was about to change my young life forever. This was the first birthday that I could smile and be photographed without shame. I even cut my hair so that I couldn’t hide anymore. Fifteen and ready to take on the world! Happiest Birthday ever!

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Adam Poss – Matt/William

My seventh birthday in the first house my parents bought was the first birthday that I invited friends AND my entire extended family: grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. My parents got me a Piñata and had to talk me off the ledge after I kept missing it while blindfolded. I remember pouting in the background, arms crossed, near tears as other kids kept landing hits. Just as the Piñata was nearing its last legs, I got to have an un-blindfolded whack at it and sent the candy sprawling. Yes, it was cheating. But it was my birthday, and my parents made sure I was King.

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Bill Timoney – Kenneth

For my 15th birthday (1973), my parents took me to the Broadway musical Irene. I knew star Debbie Reynolds from the movies. Mom pointed out that the short girl on the end of the chorus line was Debbie’s daughter Carrie, from her marriage to a singer named Eddie Fisher. But I focused on the actress playing the villainess – Ruth Warrick, whom I recognized from Citizen Kane. I was a “cinemaniac” even as a boy, watching all the classic films. Nine years later, I found myself playing scenes opposite Ms. Warrick on the soap opera All My Children.