The Music of What Happens: Stories of the Great Irish Hero, Finn Mac Cool 

Jennifer Cayley, Ellis Lynn Duschenes, Kim Kilpatrick, Marie Victoria Robertson and Anne Schmitz, and musician Kluane Takhini with The Music of What Happens: Stories of the Great Irish Hero, Finn Mac Cool

Sunday, March 9, 2025 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm ET | Blackbox Studio, Arts Court (2 Daly Ave) and On Demand. Tickets $33.

Warrior, lover, hunter, poet, Finn Mac Cool stands tall in the storied history of Ireland. Beloved captain of the Fianna, he leads that glorious band as they ride out to protect the green isle from all manner of threats. When Finn and his companions gather around a fireside in the deep woods or meet in the feasting hall of a king after a long hunt, magic shimmers and shifts about them. Love and jealousy, loyalty and betrayal, transformation and trickery are never very far away. Live for the time of listening in Finn’s world; run with the great hunting dogs, meet the strange and powerful people of the Shee, travel to the land of the ever young, laugh at impossible delusions and weep as it all comes to its inevitable end.

About the Storytellers:

Jennifer Cayley has been telling stories for more than three decades now, anywhere people want to listen. Venues have included the National Arts Centre, a community centre in mid-Wales, a tiny club in Melbourne Australia, a garden in Hawaii, festivals and schools all over Canada and beyond. The traditional folk and fairy tales, along with the foundational myths and epics, are Jennifer’s particular passion. She loves the image-filled silence a powerful story can create in the space between the teller and listener.

Ellis Lynn Duschenes, a founding member of Ottawa Storytellers, has been telling for almost half a century. As a creative and dynamic primary teacher, she also brought her passion for stories to the classroom. The old traditional stories have always been the foundation of her work, with Homer’s Odyssey holding a particularly special place in her repertoire. Over the years, the strength, the wisdom and the beauty of the old tales have often served her as valuable guide posts along the way.

Kim Kilpatrick first became enchanted with the art of storytelling while attending the Ottawa Storytelling Festival and Beginner’s Workshop in 2001. She has worked to become a professional storyteller ever since. Kim enjoys telling stories of all genres to audiences of all ages, she is proud to be a storyteller with a disability.  Although Kim is well known for her autobiographical material (she has created four one woman shows since 2011) she also loves telling wonderful old stories.  She was part of the Ottawa Storytellers performances of the Odyssey in 2012 and the Iliad in 2014 and (given her Irish heritage) is particularly drawn to this wonderful material.

Marie Victoria Robertson is a theatre performer who is now deeply immersed in storytelling. She brings her boisterous performance style to myths and legends and enjoys nothing more than to make the audience chuckle and gasp. In fact, she was voted Audience Favourite at Pittsburgh TELL’s Folktale Fight 2022. A member of Ottawa StoryTellers since 2018, Marie hosted (un)told from 2021 to 2022 and currently hosts StoryTelling Open Mic. She has performed at the National Arts Centre, the Shenkman Arts Centre, numerous Fringe festivals across Canada, Children’s Festivals, and even the occasional pub (after all, the best stories are shared over pints!)

Anne Schmitz thought that she was a writer and that the world is a story, but could not quite feel the story live in her pages. In 2011 she joined Ottawa Storytellers and found that pages are not necessary. Anne supposes that stories are how humans learn and shape our world with both good and ill will. In her telling, sometimes she uses the ingredients of her varied life experiences or her family’s history; sometimes, she likes to make word pictures of the oldest of tales. Anne works to ignite in others her love of the spoken.

About the Musician

Kluane Takhini is an award-winning, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer. He plays a multitude of percussion instruments, guitar, bass, harmonica, flutes, keyboard, and many more from his exotic collection. He has played and recorded in international settings across Canada, USA and Europe from local pubs to 500,000 person festivals (Berlin).

He has toured and recorded many “world music” albums (before it was called that), playing in unique artistic venues as diverse as grand churches, water reservoirs under Munich, an island where 100,000 doves were released at the climax of the performance and the first-ever “simulcast”, live satellite, intercontinental concert. To find out more about Kluane, visit www.kluanetakhini.com

On Demand Ticket Holders
The show is not live-streamed. The Music of What Happens: Stories of the Great Irish Hero, Finn Mac Cool  will be recorded and made available on YouTube starting Monday, March 10. Ticket holders will be able to enjoy the performance for one week. This allows you to watch (or re-watch) the event at your leisure! A link to the recording will be sent to on demand ticket holders on Monday, March 10.