North Star

“Wherever else I feel myself to be a stranger, I will remember I have a home in Belfast”—FREDERICK DOUGLASS

In 1845, only seven years after escaping slavery, the abolitionist Frederick Douglass journeyed across the Atlantic to Ireland, where, in Belfast, he felt so welcomed that he declared of the city: “Wherever else I feel myself to be a stranger, I will remember I have a home.”

Inspired by Douglass’s historic visit and galvanized by racial tensions in the aftermath of Brexit, the celebrated Belfast-based artist and DJ Kwame Daniels set out to create an artistic production that would bring the people of Belfast closer to Black cultures. His North Star, a flagship project of Belfast 2024, the city’s largest cultural program to date, melds music—jazz, gospel, classical, hip-hop and electronic—with spoken word and storytelling for a large-scale, immersive theatrical experience featuring artists and young people from the community responding to the question: What makes a place home to new people, to new ideas?

This is a show about belonging like nothing you’ve ever seen. Join us.

Created and directed by Kwame Daniels

Musical compositions by Kaidi Tatham, Winnie Ama, Leo Miyagee, and Hannah Peel

Arrangements and music supervision by Kaidi Tatham

Choral arrangements by Jennifer John

Text and spoken word by Nandi Jola, Colin Salmon, and school pupils of Belfast and New York City

Produced and presented by Irish Arts Center and Solab 
 in association with the Lyric Theatre, Belfast 

A Belfast City Council via Belfast 2024 and Belfast Stories commission  

PERFORMERS

Kaidi Tatham, band leader, keyboard
Nandi Jola, poet
Winnie Ama, singer-songwriter
OneDa, hip-hop artist 
Colin Salmon, actor
Oli Savill, percussion
Rick Swann, trumpet
Joseph Leighton, guitar
Ben Flavelle-Cobain, bass
Elijah Revell, drums 

Yoojin Park, violin
Sandra Billingslea, violin 
Mira Williams, viola 
Veronica Parrales, cello 

Olive Fretts Howard, viola u/s 

Joe Chappel, choir director
Carrington Symone, choir 
Garan Salandy, choir 
Joshua Soto, choir 
Sanju Ebanks, choir 
Victoria Eggleston, choir 
Joanelys Rosado, choir 
Jordanna Peronico, choir 
Additional artists to be announced 

CREATIVE TEAM

Creative associate director, Graham Ginty 
Producer, Sharon Matchett 
Sound design (New York) by Seth Huling 
Lighting design by Aimee Williamson 
Video and photography by Macy Stewart 
Projection and video design by James Cunningham 
Lead teaching artist and student coordinator, Jennifer Cendaña Armas 
History consultant, Christine Kineally 

Original creative producer, Rachael Campbell Palmer  
Original music direction by Si Francis 
Original sound design by David Sheppard and John Best 

SPECIAL THANKS 

Christopher Preston Thompson, choir consultant 
Helga Davis, choir consultant 
Ms Koinakis, Ms Disunno Seibert, and fifth-grade students from class 504 at PS69Q   
Ms Silva and tenth-grade students from The Urban Assembly School of Design & Construction  

GROUP PACKAGES AND TICKETING OPTIONS

Bring your friends, family, and colleagues for a night of theatre and hospitality at Irish Arts Center. Learn more about group packages here.

Interested in bringing a group of ten or more, or a student group? Email ciara@irishartscenter.org for more info!

Presented with generous support from Culture Ireland, the Northern Ireland Bureau, Tourism Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland, The Covillo Lynch Foundation, the British Council of Northern Ireland, and Jeanne Donovan Fisher.