Irish Fest is the largest Irish festival in the country.  Milwaukee first produced theater at Irish Fest in 1983 with a production of The Death of Cuchulainn by W. B. Yeats. This year Milwaukee Irish Arts returns for its 40th year to produce all theater performances at The Theatre Pavilion. Irish Fest is the only local ethnic festival that presents theater.  Your ticket to Irish Fest includes free entry to The Theatre Pavilion. Here are the entertaining shows to be presented this year Friday, August 18 through Sunday August 20

The Wheelchair on My Face

Author: Sonya Kelly

“Part memoir, part theatre and part stand-up comedy” (Irish Independent), this delightful story of how a seven-year-old overcomes stigma was originally produced by Fishamble: A New Play Company in
Dublin.

Cast and Crew

Sonja – Amy Callahan
Director – Lindsey Gagliano

Bedtime Story

Author: Sean O’Casey

O’Casey’s time-honored comedy tells the tale of John Jo, who has
spent a night with the seductive Angela. Full of remorse, and dreading
the ruin of his reputation, he tries to get rid of her, fearing that his
landlady might find out. A play by one of Ireland’s great playwrights.

Cast and Crew

John Jo Mulligan – Nate Press
Angela Nightingale – Madeleine Craig 
Daniel Halibut – George Sheppard 
Miss Mossie – Sarah Mankowski-Lathrum 
Director – Amanda J. Hull

In the Shadow of the Glen

Author: J. M. Synge

Synge captures the bitter humor and biting wit of peasant life in this classic one-act from 1903 set in an isolated Wicklow farmhouse, where long-suffering Nora Burke is tending to the corpse of her ornery
husband. But not all is what it seems in a wild twist of this tale. Yeats said that Synge was “the greatest dramatic genius of Ireland.”

Cast and Crew

Nora Burke – Libby Amato
Dan Burke – Eamonn O'Neill
Tramp – Eamonn de Cogain
Michael Dara – Nate Press
Director – James J Gallagher

Tiny Plays

In an innovative collaboration with Dublin’s Fishamble: The New Play Company, an eclectic collection of Tiny Plays by contemporary Irish playwrights with themes ranging from humorous to heart-wrenching to thought-provoking. Each play is about 5 minutes long. We are presenting two sets of plays.

Tiny Plays 1

Poster Boy (Antonia Hart)
Calling Time (Michael West)
Debris (Evan Lee D’Alton)
Soulmates (Maeve Binchy)
Straight Talk (Keith Farnan)
Somewhere (Mark Cantan) (scene changes)

Tiny Plays 2

Between Us We Have Everything (Karl O’Neill)
It’s a Lovely Day, Bill Withers (Jody O’Neill)
Ode to Life (Richie O’Sullivan)
Naked Photographs of my Mother (Brendan Griffin)
Unrequited (Michael Cussen)
Where Will We Go? (Dermot Bolger)
Somewhere (Mark Cantan) (scene changes

Cast and Crew

Actor – Brittany Boeche-Vossler
Actor – Isaac Brust
Actor – Kevin Callahan
Actor – Kyle Connor
Actor – David Ferrie
Actor – Laura Monagle 
Director – Mitch Weindorf
Assistant Director – Brittany Boeche-Vossler

Schedule of performances:

Milwaukee Irish Fest Information:

Main Website: https://irishfest.com/Milwaukee-Irish-Fest

For ticket information to Irish Fest go here:  https://irishfest.com/tickets.htm