Connemara Voices:
Stories of Ireland and St. Paul
Description of show:
Connemara Voices: Stories of Ireland and St.Paul is a narrative, devised multimedia performance. Audience members will be invited to explore the history of the 1840’s fraught immigration of Connemara residents by Bishop Ireland to St Paul. The performance includes actual stories, songs, and history of the lives and times of these immigrants, a contemporary video poem and 3 acts. Come explore this unique one-hour show of true stories from this complex era of Irish- Minnesota immigration.
The mission of Celtic Phoenix Theatre is to create innovative, original performances, using devised theater techniques for audiences of all ages. We aim to preserve the rich Irish storytelling tradition by retelling and sharing new and old works of Celtic myths, poetry, stories, songs, and history in multimedia performances. We use local, homegrown, organic Minnesota actors. Productions include shows partnered with Tir na nOg Children’s theater. These shows are created with and for children. Drawing from the rich connections between Ireland and Minnesota, we hope our work can preserve and deepen the bridges between our shared histories.
Originally Founded in 2018 by Sarah Cromer Kiani and Patrick O’Donnell, Celtic Phoenix Theater became a rich combination of O'Donnell's years of directing and involving twin cities adult community actors in historical Celtic theater shows and Sarah Kiani ‘s expertise in directing devised theater and her numerous productions of Celtic mythology themed children's theater classes and works in the Midwest. Celtic Phoenix theater has performed the last several years at the Minnesota Irish Fair and previously Kiani’s Tir na nOg children’s theater has performed at the Irish fairs of Minnesota and Iowa for over 18 years. Kiani's recent productions include Move Along Stories, Songs and Modern History of Irish Travelers, Rocks of Connemara video poem, Celtic Camelot show, and Enbar Horse of the Sea, a short film. Celtic Phoenix Artistic Director Sarah Kiani continues to create productions that incorporate new work with historical work to provide audiences with immersive multi-media experiences in all things Celtic.