What we do
And why?
We are Liam McKenna (BA, MA) and Polly Preston (BA, MA), AKA Fire Donkey, AKA an absurdist multimedia alternative comedy theatre group aiming to entertain through a series of weird presentations, contemporary dance, puppetry, music, and generally making stuff up and seeing how far we can stretch out a joke.
You might be here because you've heard of our “gleefully absurd” cult seminar Church of Phil, which is about a cult called the Church of Phil, who live on a caravan holiday park in Pembrokeshire and have a lot of issues to deal with, namely involving an obsession with the child actor from a 90's pharmaceutical advert. It's a long story. If you haven't seen it yet, we've been touring it since 2017 and the "Philniverse" keeps expanding. We've been performing all over the UK at festivals, from Edinburgh Fringe, to a barn in Pembrokeshire and of course our favourite, Stroud. We run the highly recommended, must-see St Davids Comedy Tour, and also started the cult phenomenon of Monk spotting.
If you would like us to appear at your theatre/comedy club/festival/living room, or commission us to make a film for you/perform a presentation or whatever it may be, do get in touch!
Liam, Polly & Sebastien
Fire Donkey HQ
The Gang
Get to Know Us. Or Not, You Decide
Liam McKenna
Writer, 'actor', fool
Liam spent 2 weeks at Rada before pursuing a higher standard of acting. His talent led to a leading role in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats, which he performed in French despite not speaking the language, nor being requested to do so by the director.
Offstage, Liam was running a sophisticated pyramid scheme selling shares in washing powder to old people until he was accused of embezzlement.
Following a brief hiatus in Argentina, Liam returned to the west end with aplomb, starring in his own updated version of Macbeth, 'McKenna', which The Times hailed as 'a return to form'.
After recently turning to veganism, Liam believes it is not at odds with his views to run an abattoir. He plans to open the world's first "sustainable slaughterhouse" later this year.
Polly Preston
'Actor'', Props, Costume, Comedic hero
Wales's youngest qualified chiropodist at 14, Polly gave up the daily grind of treating fungal foot infections to enrol at clown college. She hasn't looked back since.
Her versatility is her main strength (plus her ability to give the illusion she is trapped inside a box) and has seen her perform a slew of challenging roles on stage with the RSC and later with FDP. She turned down the role part of Mufasa in The Lion King to tour with the Church of Phil team.
Credited with inventing the literary technique of pathetic fallacy, Polly has won all the applicable awards (though her Olivier Award for her portrayal of Ban Ki Moon in her one woman show Fly Me To Ban Ki Moon remains in contension.)
Outside of theatre, Polly is a dedicated charity worker, encouraging under-priviledged children to take up water skiing.
Sebastian
Apprentice Tech
Full-time unpaid intern Sebastian joined the FDP team on a probationary period in 2014 and there are still some doubts over their commitment to the cause.