CIRCLE SONG
Schedule
Thu, 25 Sep, 2025 at 04:00 am to Mon, 29 Sep, 2025 at 12:00 am
UTC+02:00Location
59 Dorset road, Parkwood, 2052 Johannesburg, South Africa | Randburg, GT
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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
Wirtten and performed by: Ashley Dowds
Directed by: Caroline Calburn
Performance dates and times:
Wednesday 24 September @19:00
Thursday 25 September @ 19:00
Friday 26 September @ 19:00
Saturday 27 September @ 19:00
Sunday 28 September @ 15:00
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Where is it happening?
59 Dorset road, Parkwood, 2052 Johannesburg, South Africa, 59 Dorset Rd, Randburg, 2193, South AfricaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
