Irish Fest is the largest Irish festival in the country. This year Milwaukee Irish Arts is producing 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 15 through Sunday August 17

A Night in November

Author: Marie Jones

Irish actor Alan Smyth reprises his tour de force performance in A Night in November about one of the most explosive nights in The Troubles.

It’s November 1993, and Northern Ireland faces the Republic of Ireland in a World Cup qualifying match at Windsor Park in Belfast. The game is made all the more consequential since it occurs just weeks after the Shankhill Bomb, and The Greysteel Massacre. Multiple roles are masterfully performed by Smyth, who according to Irish Arts and Entertainment, “inhabits each of the characters with such care and specificity, the audience is almost unaware they are watching a single individual…”  The audience cheers on the teams in the rousing finale to this provocative piece of theatre.

Two shows only – not to be missed! Recommended for mature audiences

Cast and Crew

All 23 Characters – Alan Smyth
Director – Tim Redmond
Stage Manager – Devin Harris

Keith Corcoran – Donegal storyteller

Author: Keith Corcoran

Keith Corcoran, author and tour guide from Donegal, is also known as a seanchaí, following in the ancient Irish tradition of storytelling. His wise and engaging voice is the voice of millennia of oral storytelling. Keith has researched a range of wondrous, mystifying, and sometimes frightening tales from County Donegal – located on Ireland’s remote Wild Atlantic edge. His strange stories include ship-sinking witches, haunted islands, banshees and phantom hitch-hikers as well as enchanting Celtic legends. His new book, Finding Fairy Mysteries in Donegal, available in the Cultural Village, investigates fairy folklore and how this ancient belief system may yet prove relevant in developing a deeper sense of connection to our world.

Cast

Shanachie– Keith Corcoran

No Place

Author: Aoife Meagher

House hunting in the Dublin housing crisis? Good luck! A realtor’s efforts to sell to an eclectic range of buyers at an open house produces hilarious results and universal themes in No Place. This new work swept all the major awards at the Bray One Act Drama Festival earlier this year.

Cast

Alice - Chloe Attalla
Donnacha - Matthew Torkilsen
Old Man/Dad/Landlord - A.J. Magoon
Old Woman/Mom/Son - Caroline Norton
Director – Bo Johnson

Willow

Author: Catherine McKiernan

Set in a small seaside town in the west of Ireland, Willow is a tale of love, loss and longing. Over the course of one day in 2019, the revelation of an enormous secret between two old lovers suddenly changes everything for one man. A family struggles to find and give forgiveness and to cope with the loss of what might have been. A fierce reminder that: ‘Our truth may not always be the truth.’

Cast

Mags Halligan - Leslie Fitzwater
Anna O'Farrell - Amy Callahan
Sean Halligan - Kevin Callahan
Andy Halligan - George Sheppard
Director – Amanda J Hull

Spreading the News

Author: Lady Gregory

Fake news is nothing new! This classic farce was written by legendary Irish literary figure Lady Gregory for the opening night of the Abbey Theatre in 1904. Spreading the News finds the gossipy residents of a small Irish village consumed by a simple misunderstanding that snowballs with lightning speed, ending with accusations of infidelity – and yes – even murder!

Cast

A Removable Magistrate - Eamonn O'Neill
A Policeman (Jo Muldoon) - Ted Tyson
Bartley Fallon - Eamonn De Cogain
Mrs. Fallon - Libby Amato
Jack Smith - Nate Press
Mrs. Tarpey - Margaret Casey
Mrs. Tully - Sarah Mankowski-Lathrum
Tim Casey - David Ferrie
Sean Early - Tawnie Thompson
James Ryan - Robin Christiansen
Director – James J Gallagher

Schedule of performances:

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

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

Milwaukee Irish Arts on Facebook:

https://facebook.com/milirisharts