{"id":75489,"date":"2026-03-30T08:33:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T12:33:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/?p=75489"},"modified":"2026-07-16T08:33:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T12:33:31","slug":"utc-theatre-co-presents-birthday-candles-april-14-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.utc.edu\/news\/2026\/03\/utc-theatre-co-presents-birthday-candles-april-14-18\/","title":{"rendered":"UTC Theatre Co. presents \u201cBirthday Candles\u201d April 14-18"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Adam-Bradley

Ajaya Kennedy as Ernestine and Adam-Bradley Tisdale as Kenneth in the UTC Theatre Co.’s upcoming production of “Birthday Candles.” Photo courtesy of UTC Theatre Co.<\/p><\/div>\n

The passage of time takes center stage when the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Theatre Co. presents \u201cBirthday Candles,\u201d its final production of the 2025-26 academic year.<\/p>\n

The play follows Ernestine Ashworth across more than eight decades, using a series of birthdays to tell the story of a life shaped by family, relationships and everyday moments. Beginning with her 17th birthday and moving through 90 years, Ernestine\u2019s story unfolds around a single tradition\u2014a cake baked year after year\u2014as five generations come and go.<\/p>\n

\u201cBirthday Candles\u201d will take place at 7:30 p.m. from April 14-18 in the Fine Arts Center\u2019s Dorothy Hackett Ward Theatre, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Saturday, April 18. Tickets can be purchased online by clicking here<\/strong><\/a> and through the UTC Fine Arts Center Box Office\u2014in person or by phone at 423-425-4269. Tickets are $23 for general admission, including service fees, and $18 for students (with proof of student ID) and seniors.<\/p>\n

The UTC Fine Arts Center is located at the intersection of Dr. Roland Carter Street (formerly known as Vine Street) and Palmetto Street on the UTC campus. Parking is available in the adjacent Lupton Hall Parking Garage (700 Vine St.).<\/p>\n

Written by playwright Noah Haidle, \u201cBirthday Candles\u201d premiered in 2018 and later opened on Broadway in 2022, starring Debra Messing in the lead role.<\/p>\n

Told through a series of birthday gatherings, the play returns again and again to Ernestine\u2019s kitchen, where a cake baked from her mother\u2019s recipe anchors the passage of time. As the years unfold, the audience watches Ernestine fall in love, start a family and navigate the milestones and losses that shape a lifetime.<\/p>\n

Through these encounters, the story explores how ordinary routines\u2014like baking a cake or celebrating a birthday\u2014help hold a life together even as everything else changes.<\/p>\n

The UTC Theatre Co. production is directed by Associate Professor Anne Swedberg, coordinator of UTC\u2019s acting concentration.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a very sweet play\u2014not saccharin sweet\u2014but it reflects a lot on life, the passage of time and the relationships within families,\u201d Swedberg said. \u201cThere\u2019s a sense of continuity in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Swedberg said the structure of the play draws directly from Thornton Wilder\u2019s 1931 one-act play \u201cThe Long Christmas Dinner,\u201d a connection playwright Haidle has openly acknowledged after receiving the blessing of the Wilder estate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got a sense of \u2018Our Town\u2019\u2014that idea of paying attention to the tiny details of everyday life,\u201d she said, referring to Wilder\u2019s 1938 Pulitzer Prize-winning play. \u201cDon\u2019t let life just rush on by, but take the time now and then to stay in the moment and appreciate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Theatre education major Ajaya Kennedy takes on the demanding lead role of Ernestine, a character who remains on stage from beginning to end.<\/p>\n

Swedberg said Kennedy was cast not only for her performance ability but for how she connects with the rest of the ensemble.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe never leaves the stage,\u201d Swedberg said. \u201cShe is the anchor\u2014the tent pole\u2014and everything moves around her.<\/p>\n

\u201cErnestine is a very loving and nurturing human being, and Ajaya has those qualities just innately. She relates to the other actors and embodies those relationships across the different stages of Ernestine\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full \u201cBirthday Candles\u201d cast is comprised of the following UTC students:<\/p>\n