Kathleen Welch is Bringing Dark Celtic Mythology to the Toronto Stage with Siofra
About this episode
Kathleen Welch discusses her play Siofra and the intersection of horror theatre and Irish mythology.
Read transcript About This Episode: Kathleen Welch is a playwright, composer, director, and actor, and one of the founding members of The Spindle Collective; the Toronto-based company making some of the most compelling horror theatre in Canada right now. She joined Phil to talk about Siofra, Spindle Collective's latest show, which opens at the Red Sandcastle Theatre on June 17th. Rooted in the Irish mythology of changeling babies, Siofra is the second in a trilogy of folklore-inspired horror plays that Kathleen has written with Spindle Collective co-founder Natalia Bushnik. The conversation moves through the rich terrain of folklore and what makes it such fertile ground for original storytelling — from Romanian demons to Germanic winter witches, and now to the west of Ireland in the 1860s. Kathleen talks about the collaborative writing process she and Natalia developed during COVID, why writing with a trusted partner makes all the difference, and how Siofra surprised even its own creators when the humor started emerging in rehearsal. Kathleen also talks about the Dead of Winter Festival, the horror theatre festival she and Natalia launched in partnership with Eldritch Theatre…
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