Telling Stories That Live in the Tension from Fire Exit Theatre

Featuring Val Lieske, Artistic Director of Fire Exit Theatre

Some stories are easy to tell.

They resolve cleanly. They fit neatly into categories. They offer answers.

And then there are the stories that don’t. The ones that sit in the tension between belief and doubt, certainty and questioning, faith and lived experience. Those are the stories that don’t just pass through us. They stay! And they are the stories that draw Val Lieske in.

As the Artistic Director of Fire Exit Theatre, Val has built a space for narratives that don’t comfortably belong anywhere else. Stories that might feel too raw for the church, and too spiritual for traditional theatre. Stories that ask more than they answer.

Stories that stay with you.

The Long Way Into Calling

Val’s path into the arts wasn’t linear, and it certainly wasn’t guaranteed.

Like many artists, her love for storytelling began early. Sparked by a fascination with actors and the world they created. Through school drama and church productions, she found herself drawn to the stage, even as the possibility of pursuing it professionally felt out of reach.

Without the financial support to attend theatre school, she built a career in banking and, for 13 years, had a life of stability and predictability. But the pull toward storytelling never faded.

It wasn’t a single moment that changed everything, but a series of shifts, unexpected events, including the loss of her job, that slowly redirected her path back toward the arts.

For years, theatre had lived on the edges of her life. She performed when she could, took on opportunities as they came, and held onto it as something she loved, but not something she believed could fully sustain her.

In those earlier years, like many young artists, the dream was tied to something more visible: Recognition. Success. The idea of being seen.

But as she continued creating, often under uncertain conditions and without guarantees, something deeper began to take root.

“It went from something that could make me famous… to something that brought me great joy and deep community.” The work became less about being seen and more about connection. About meaning. About being part of something larger than herself. That’s when it stopped being something she hoped might work. And became something she knew she had to do.

Building Space for the Stories That Don’t Fit

The idea for Fire Exit Theatre came from noticing something others overlooked.

Val was encountering scripts that didn’t seem to belong anywhere. They carried spiritual themes and deeper questions of meaning, yet also held a raw honesty that made them unsuitable for church settings. At the same time, traditional theatres often avoided them for being too overtly spiritual.

So the stories disappeared. They fell through the cracks.

Instead of accepting that, Val created a space for them.

Fire Exit Theatre became a kind of neutral ground, a place where people could encounter stories that challenge, provoke, and invite reflection. A place where audiences could wrestle with ideas they may not fully understand or agree with.

Because for Val, theatre isn’t just performance. It’s a place where people come to feel something they didn’t expect.

Living and Creating in the Tension

Choosing this path has come with its own kind of weight.

For years, Val found herself navigating two worlds that didn’t always know what to do with each other. In the arts community, her faith could feel like a barrier. In her faith community, her art could feel misunderstood.

That in-between space was often exhausting.

There were seasons where the financial uncertainty, self-doubt, and pressure to sustain the work made walking away seem like the easier option. And yet, she stayed. Not because it was easy, but because something deeper kept calling her forward.

Today, that tension hasn’t disappeared. But it has become part of the work itself. A space not of conflict, but of curiosity. Her stories emerge from that place, shaped by lived experience, careful observation, and a willingness to sit with questions that don’t have easy answers. “I want to tell stories that matter… I want people to leave just a little bit different.”

And behind that work is something less visible, but just as essential: discipline. For Val, creativity isn’t something you wait for; it’s something you tend to. It’s found in staying engaged with the world. In seeing other art. In getting outside and noticing beauty. In conversations, in rest, and sometimes in stepping away entirely.

When she feels stuck, the solution isn’t always to push harder. Sometimes it’s to move! Go for a walk, cut the lawn, or shift her environment just enough to reset her mind. And just as importantly, she allows herself the grace not to be producing all of the time.

Because creating isn’t just about output.

It’s about staying open long enough for something meaningful to emerge.

Why It Matters

Val’s work and the work of Fire Exit Theatre are about more than theatre. It’s about creating space.

For questions.
For tension.
For conversations most people avoid.

In a world that often pushes toward certainty and simplicity, her work invites something different: to sit in complexity, to engage with tension, and to consider perspectives beyond our own.

She believes that even the difficult parts of our lives are not the end of the story, but the turning point, the moment that can shape who we become next. And part of that work means being willing to explore the conversations many avoid.

“I notice that there are a few things that are ‘off-limits’ in the arts. I can view art about sexuality, violence, politics, greed, addiction and abuse. But if I am interested in exploring the idea of a personal God, people are quick to be offended. Every one of us has a theology, a worldview that shapes all of our decisions, and I am deeply interested in how people came to theirs. And want to explore this.”

Her work doesn’t aim to resolve that tension.

It makes space for it.

“God is the best storyteller,” she reflects, “and I hope my relationship with Him makes me a kind and curious creator.”

At its core, this is what Val is building.

Not just theatre.

But a space where stories can exist fully: unfiltered, honest, and human.

You can learn more about Fire Exit Theatre by visiting their website and connecting with them on Instagram.

And want to learn more about other artists, please visit the VISIBLE blog.