solosirens Team

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Jenny Macdonald is a theatremaker and facilitator. Her most recent production, ‘The Tightrope Walker’ has been presented at Rua Red, The Civic, Clondalkin Towers Direct Provision Centre, and the Samuel Beckett Theatre, TCD. Her play ‘Enthroned’ premiered at First Fortnight Festival and has since been presented by the New York International Fringe Festival, Town Hall Theatre, Galway, glór, the Civic, and First Fortnight online in 2020. She was Writer in Residence at the Irish Hospice Foundation, 2022-2023. In 2019, she founded SoloSIRENs, an intercultural collective of female-identifying artists in residence at the Civic, Tallaght. With SoloSIRENS, she aims to create more just, sustainable, and caring models of making and presenting theatre. For SoloSIRENs she has devised and directed, “Careground” (Civic 2023), “Cessair” (Civic, 2021), "Dear Ireland III" (Abbey Theatre, 2020), and "Falling" (Civic, 2019). In 2023, she was a performer in Siog by Freshly Ground Theatre presented by the Civic in Tymon Park. She has created numerous theatre projects with community groups in South Dublin County including Doors to Elsewhere (Tallaght Community Arts), residents of Clondalkin Towers direct provision centre and Clondalkin Intercultural Centre. She is an Associate Artist with the Abbey Theatre where she co-facilitates theatre-based trainings for physicians in collaboration with the Royal College of Physicians Ireland. She is a lecturer in Socially Engaged Theatre at Trinity College, Dublin and a mentor to many emerging artists and companies.

 Jennifer is a producer and project coordinator. She has worked as an Associate Artist with Tallaght Community Arts for over twelve years and has been producer of SoloSIRENs since 2019.  From 2021 to date she has been coordinator of Creative Places MacUíllíam. She conceived and directs ACT UP! Festival of theatre directed/performed by young people.  Her work as producer/coordinator includes As If By Chance, Cessair, SoloSIRENs Festival, Where in this World, The Great Rope of Tallaght, Gaza Monologues, Aeridheacht -Taking the Air, and Creative Campus. She has also produced international exchanges for young people from Dublin  Dublin with Masters School, New York and OTeatrao, Portugal. For the Arts Council, she produced Shukuma Mzansi, a visit of South African participatory theatre makers to Ireland in 2018.  In 2019, she was a delegate on Voices of Culture: Gender Equality with the European Commission. She is a theatre artist with Doors to Elsewhere, a theatre ensemble for adults with a disability. 

Martha Knight is a theatre maker, sound designer and composer from Tallaght, interested in the overlaps between theatre, sound and sound technologies, music, and participation. She is a core artist with SoloSIRENs, and also with Freshly Ground Theatre, both currently in residence at the Civic. Her solo piece 'The King of All Birds' premiered in the Project Arts Centre at Dublin Fringe 2023. She is Druid Theatre's Marie Mullen Bursary recipient for 2024. Her recent work as a sound designer includes 'Tempesta' (Cork Midsummer Festival/Sugarglass Theatre); 'Sea Legs', 'Sióg', 'This is a Blank Page' (Freshly Ground Theatre); '3 Winters' (TU Dublin); 'Cessair' (SoloSIRENs); 'The Citizen’s Wife', Ulysses 2.2 (Landmark Productions/ANU Productions/MoLI); 'Tarry Flynn' (Livin’ Dred). She was the associate sound designer for 'The House' (Druid Theatre); 'Bedbound' (Landmark Productions/Galway International Arts Festival); and 'Minseach' (Sibéal Davitt). 

Sorcha is a theatre practitioner from Derry with a passion for using drama as a tool for social change. Having trained as an actor at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama she has toured in shows all over the UK and Ireland, the US, Belguim and Germany.  A professional clown and stiltwalker, Sorcha is currently studying for a masters in Trauma Studies from UCC.

Along with her friend Gemma Walker Farren she is also part of MakeyUppers, a comedy storytelling duo who create sketches, shows and facilitate projects on social issues they are passionate about. Their show 'Alternative Bedtime Stories' received 5* reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2018, and has toured the UK and Ireland.

A regular at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, she has worked in all aspects of theatre, including as stage manager/co-producer of 'Iraq Out Loud', a continuous 284 hour reading by over 1,200 people of the Chilcott Report into the Iraq War, which won the “Spirit of the Fringe” panel prize award in 2016. 

Ciara is an award winning theatre maker since 2013. She studied Technical Theatre in Inchicore College of Further Education graduating with her HND with distinction. She was lead festival technician for both SoloSIRENs Festivals in the Civic, Tallaght. As part of this she was lighting designer for Jenny Macdonald’s ‘The Tightrope Walker’, Tatiana Santos’ ‘Thread’, Nicole Rourke’s ‘Baggage’ and the SoloSIRENs Collective productions of ‘Falling’ and ‘Careground’. Two of her productions went on to do a national tour as well as First Fortnight including ‘Baggage’ and Jenny Macdonald’s production of ‘Enthroned’. Ciara was also the Lighting Designer for the sold out show ‘Cessair’ produced by SoloSIRENs in the Civic. Other light and sound design projects have included ‘MOOP’ by Game Theory (Dublin Fringe Festival), ‘Gusto’ by Billy McGrath (Project Arts Centre), several productions for Mouth on Fire which included a piece performed in Aras an Uachtarain, ‘Yellow’ by Jody O’Neill (Draiocht & The Granary). Ciara designed lighting and sound for ‘In Her Shoes’ (Smock Alley Theatre). Ciara has been employed by ICFE as Lighting Designer for Paul Meade’s production of ‘Julius Caesar’ and Helene Montague’s production of ‘The Four Friends’ (Smock Alley Theatre). Prior lighting and sound projects include ‘Temptress’ Speckintime (Viking Theatre, The Whale), and ‘Signal Man’ Witchwork (The New Theatre).

Pai Rathaya is a Thai theatre designer based in Bangkok who has worked as a set and costume designer. Her work spans theatre, opera, musical, and dance. She graduated with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture and Master of Dramatic Arts from Chulalongkorn University. In 2018, she moved to Dublin to study MFA stage design at the Lir Academy and graduated with distinction going on to win The Irish Times Theatre Award for set design. She was set designer for SoloSIRENs' production of 'Cessair' in 2021.

Sailí Áine Ní Mhurchú is a freelance performer and artist. Currently working as a production assistant for Creative Places MacUíllíam with Tallaght Community Arts, she has experience in stage management, organising workshops and outdoor events, and designing social media posts. A graduate of TUD Conservatoire Drama Performance bachelor’s degree, Sailí Áine is a qualified drama facilitator, creating devised pieces with children, teenagers and young adults. She is fluent in Irish, exploring bi-lingual and multilingual theatre. Sailí has been a member of the SoloSIRENs Collective for over three years.

  Michelle is a theatre maker/facilitator from Tallaght and core artist in Freshly Ground, company in residence at The Civic. She has directed all the company's productions including Siog, YPCE project Award 23. Michelle leads the planning/delivery of community/education strands of Freshly Ground's work such as playMAKE, Cruinniu na nOg 23, Play by Play (Agility 22) and Anam Og (St Patricks Festival x Tik Tok Creative fund) She is currently co directing the Early Years Irish language commission with Freshly Ground and Aras Chronain. She also deigned and facilitated Fighting Words Dublin’s first pilot Early Years storytelling program last year. Michelle is particularly interested in participatory Arts and is a facilitator for Doors to Elsewhere Theatre Collective and Double Take Arts Studio. She is currently directing SoloSIRENs primary school program exploring care with students and is the director of ACT UP, Tallaght Community Arts performance festival for second level students. Michelle received a YPCE bursary 23 to build her artistic capacity in creating theatre experiences with and for children with additional needs.