New theatrical experience The Enchanted Island explores loss of familiar surroundings due to climate change in a playful, immersive manner.

The Enchanted Island, an immersive theatrical experience created by Aran Islands based theatre-maker Jenni Nikinmaa, premieres in Birr August 9th, 2023. The play, performed by actors Ali Keohane and Jenni Nikinmaa and featuring the voices of Mikel Murfi (The Man in The Woman ́s Shoes, I Hear You and Rejoice) and Tonya Lenhart is a walk-through adventure that takes us on the legendary vanishing island, Hy-Brasil.

The show is set outdoors, where the magical island appears like it used to when humans still believed in magic. Hy-Brasil used to travel around the west coast of Ireland, seen from Cork to Rathlin but rarely reached. This time, the island is seeking us out because its inhabitants are worried about climate change and rising oceans. Set within the landscapes that are doomed to disappear underneath the waves if we do nothing, the show talks about loss related to upcoming changes in a playful, evocative manner.

Combining binaural sound design that brings the audio characters like Seagull-John and fairy Emer alive as if they were present in our reality with more traditional acting, The Enchanted Island is a celebration of theatrical possibilities. The play is meant first and foremost for the adult audiences that have lost their belief in magic – the imaginative use of technology and familiar surroundings challenges that which we tend to take for granted.

A work-in-progress version of the show was presented as part of Galway Theatre Festival 2023, and a preliminary show was seen in Longford on 21st of July as part of the Cruthu Arts Festival. In 2024, The Enchanted Island is set to appear, like the legendary Hy-Brasil, in multiple places around the west coast of Ireland.