A story about re-membering: Two Irishmen leave the shore of Northern Ireland to search for a new sense of belonging; a letter written back in 1864 is found in an old trunk; a woman wakes up from a coma, inside a moment of time when she was a 15 year old girl…
Circle Song is a memory piece. Not quite play or monologue, not quite story-telling, it is spoken to the audience from a narrator’s perspective across an arc of time. Sometimes it is from the voices of people, re-imagined in the past, who left the shores of Ireland and England to begin a life in South Africa. But it rests on the story prompted by a real life event: After a severe brain operation, my mother wakes to the world as a fifteen year old version of herself. CIRCLE SONG garnered a Silver Ovation award at the National Arts Festival 2025 ‘Circle Song’ is an exploration of time, memory, family history, and the interweaving of personal and historical narratives. It uses fragmented memories, overheard conversations, and historical anecdotes to construct a multi-layered story. The structure moves between personal recollections and broader family history, spanning generations and geographical locations, from Ireland to Africa, and explores the impact of these migrations on subsequent generations, connecting their identities and experiences to the past. QUOTE FROM THE PLAY: “…this is not ‘simple geography'. It’s a journey from the known into imagined geographies - a mythical journey. Away from where the bones of their people are buried.”
(post Theatre Arts performance) Photo Credits: Jonathan Rees
Audience response:
"It is a work about longing and belonging and memory. Remembering everything about who it is we are. He invites you to perform your own remembering; igniting your own memories and snap shots as he tenderly performs a tribute to his own lineage and loved ones. This piece has the same magical nature I first remember feeling about Paul Slabolepszy’s Elvis du Pisanie. It is a beautifully crafted work and needs to be produced by one of the major Theatres. Be the first to show this piece to the world. It needs to be seen". Kate Normington
BROCHURE: https://circle-song-yourstory.my.canva.site/
AUDIO INTERVIEWS: https://circle-song-yourstory.my.canva.site/audio-interviews