Award-winning filmmaker Ken O’Sullivan will soon embark on a tour of Ireland with his brand-new live show Stories from the Sea, which will come to The Everyman on Saturday 26 September.

In this new show, Ken O’Sullivan brings us on his journey exploring the North Atlantic Ocean and seas around Ireland, with stories, video pieces and personal insights into his experiences.

Ken kindly accepted to do an interview to give us some insights about the show and his passion for animal life on our shores.

You’ve described Stories from the Sea as a mix of film, storytelling and personal memories. What can audiences expect from the format, and how is it different from watching one of your documentaries?

It’s a live show and I absolutely love it because you’re interacting with the audience. Essentially, I’ll show some videos and tell the stories behind them, I’ll talk about what’s motivated me to become a natural history filmmaker over the last 20 years, and show videos of me freediving with sharks, large whales, dolphins, killer whales. People love to hear the stories behind that and of course the conservation aspect is important.

I love the shows because when you make a documentary you might spend three years making a series and it’s all kind of distilled down into two or three hours, whereas with the live show you’re interacting with people, you’re getting feedback from people, we do questions and answers at the end.

After years of making award-winning television documentaries, why did you decide that now was the right time to create this live stage show?

I just love doing the shows and we’ve had pretty much full houses. It’s been three years since I did the last tour and I just felt it was a good time because we have a lot of new material from two natural history series – one in particular being about dolphins, who are very popular with the public. It surprises a lot of Irish people to know that we have these animals in Irish waters, as well as their cousins, killer whales and pilot whales.

I had a quiet window, so I decided to do another tour. The Everyman was fantastic the last time, with a nearly full auditorium.

Is there anything specific you would like audiences to get out of the show?

Education and awareness are everything for me. I’ve spent most of my life telling people stories about the amazing animals and habitats on our shores. Hopefully, people who become aware will then try to protect them because many of these animals are in serious trouble. For example, thousands of dolphins are being killed every year and other thousands of them are really struggling because of the loss of fish, their prey, and of habitat destruction.

I donated all my work to the school curriculum a few years ago and it’s now on the junior cycle curriculum, meaning every teenager in Ireland gets to learn about the basking sharks, blue whales, blue sharks, etc that live in our waters.

You’ve spent more than 25 years exploring Ireland’s seas. Was there a particular encounter or moment that made you think, “I have to tell these stories in person”?

I learned to dive in Australia. When I came back to Ireland after the millennium, I started snorkelling and freediving off the coast of Clare. I just saw this beautiful, colourful world. It was hypnotic – kind of like Alice in Wonderland – and I thought to myself “I really want to document this”, so I bought a camera and started filming. Then I said to myself that I was going to make a documentary because it’s just so beautiful. And at that point in time, no one had really documented it other than Éamon de Buitléar in the 70s. It’s been very new to a lot of people. And Irish people discover the variety of life we have in our waters. It’s gratifying to be able to tell those stories.

Have you had any scary moments out at sea?

I’m always respectfully afraid anytime I get into the sea because it’s not a natural place for us to be. And anytime I get out of the sea, I always turn and face to sea to give thanks for safe passage.

The only time I’ve almost had a really bad accident was with a boat driver in Dingle Harbour, who almost drove over me, even though we had told him there would be divers there.

There’s no animal in the sea that wants to hurt us. If a jellyfish stings us, it’s because we’ve touched them. If a weaver fish puts its spine into us, it’s because we’ve walked on it. None of these animals want to do us any harm.

And what was your most magical moment?

I’ve had so many! I’ve been blessed. Once, I was within a couple of metres of a blue whale, the largest animal that exists – it’s just incredible.

I have to say, I do love jellyfish. I just find them kind of hypnotically and elementally beautiful and colourful. I’ve been in a show of about two kilometres long of jellyfish – it’s just amazing to see those colours.

Your work has helped people discover just how extraordinary Ireland’s marine wildlife is. If someone comes to Stories from the Sea knowing very little about the ocean around our coastline, what’s the one story or image you hope stays with them long after they leave the theatre?

It’s a completely different show from the last time. If somebody hasn’t seen any of my work or they don’t know much about the sea, you know, we plan it in such a way that it’s educational, that they don’t get left behind.

The one thing I hope people would take away is that we have beautiful, largely unpolluted seas in Ireland and I’d like people to just enjoy them – whether that’s a walk on the coast, a walk on the beach or to go sea swimming.

Stories from the Sea is on at The Everyman on Saturday 26 September.