- [Announcer] Live from your public media studios, WVIA Presents "Keystone Edition Reports," a news and public affairs program that goes beyond the headlines to address issues in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.

This is "Keystone Edition Reports."

And now, Moderator Julie Sidoni.

- Welcome to "Keystone Edition Reports."

I'm Julie Sidoni, the Director of Journalism at WVIA.

Our region is a melting pot of ethnicities, and this month, it's all about the Irish.

A theater group is hoping to strengthen Scranton's artist ties with its sister city in Ireland.

The cultural exchange program is the focus of this "Keystone Edition Reports."

Early March has its own personality here in Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania.

People start thinking green, not just because we're on the cusp of spring, but because so many people here celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

Indeed, there is a rich history of Irish immigration to the area, and each year, Ireland and Irish culture is celebrated with dancing and traditional foods, not to mention the many parades in the area.

But this year, there's a new tradition to celebrate.

Scranton Fringe Festival announced a cultural exchange with Scranton's sister city Ballina in County Mayo, Ireland.

Locals say the partnership will strengthen the relationship between the two cities, which began in 1990.

On this program, we'll talk with artists from Scranton Fringe about their traditions, what they're planning with our Irish friends from across the pond, and how and where you can celebrate Irish heritage, whether or not you have Irish roots.

And joining us are WVIA News Reporter Haley O'Brien.

Haley, it's really good to see you here.

Thanks for all your work on this.

Connor Kelly O'Brien, no relation that we know of, co-founder and Executive Director of Scranton Fringe.

And Maureen McGuigan, the Director of Arts and Culture for Lackawanna County.

And I love that job, but I wanna talk more about that job in a few minutes.

I think you do wonderful things here for this area.

But before we discuss this new cultural exchange program, Haley explains how Scranton and Ballina became sister cities.

(gentle music) - [Haley] It all started in 1990.

The late Jimmy Connors, who was mayor of Scranton at the time, visited County Mayo in Ireland to find relatives.

A large amount of Irish-Americans in Scranton have roots in Ballina, County Mayo.

And so that became Scranton's sister city.

Connors and his family formed a friendship with the late PJ Downey, Lord Mayor of Ballina at the time, a friendship that lasted beyond their lifetimes and continued in the next generation.

Mags Downey Martin is PJ's daughter.

- It was a blessing that it started, and it's a blessing that it has continued and that the friendships have remained the same and solid.

- [Haley] More and more people from Scranton connected with their Irish roots and visited Ballina over the last 35 years.

The city of Scranton invites a delegation from Ballina to March in the Scranton St. Patrick's Day parade every year.

- I've gone over and back many, many times, and I just cannot get over the amount of like-minded with the same kind of sense of humor, the same look, you'd nearly say there are people I know from home in Ballina and County Mayo.

- [Haley] The connection will continue now with a cultural exchange between Ballina Arts Center and the Scranton Fringe Festival.

The group will present an original production of "Ulysses of Scranton" here as part of the Scranton Fringe Festival, and then to an audience in Ballina.

- First, let's get to this, Ballina.

I wasn't even sure if I was pronouncing that correctly, Ballina.

Haley, talk a little bit about some of the reporting you've done.

I mean, that was a great interview.

How did you find all these people?

- Yeah, I found this to be a really cool story of people staying connected with their roots.

I mean, this is generations ago.

In the late 1800s, a lot of people came from Mayo, this area near Ballina.

- Ballina.

- They came to Scranton.

And so it's interesting learning all these years later that people in this area are connected and there's a sister city committee.

So usually around St. Patrick's Day, Scranton will invite Ballina, their delegation to come over here, and Ballina will do the same.

- So it's been going on for a couple of years, it sounds as, or more than a few.

It sounds like it's been going on for quite a while now, at least these strengthening ties.

- That's right.

30 years.

- So I would love to know about how Scranton Fringe in particular got involved.

And Connor first, go ahead and explain to people who might not know about Scranton Fringe Festival, what it is.

- So we are, in the easiest way to describe it, we are an open accessible multi-genre arts festival, theater, comedy, music, film.

We just celebrated our 10th year this past fall.

- [Julie] Congrats.

- We're about to open applications.

We're very excited.

For our 2025 festival, anyone can apply to participate.

The Fringe Festival movement actually began in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1947.

And there's a rich history all its own in that conversation.

But we're really excited at Scranton Fringe to be expanding our programming to be producing not only the work of others, but our own main stage productions, much like what we're going to be sending to Ballina later this year.

- [Julie] In the earliest stages of Fringe, what was the hope for Fringe?

What does Fringe try to do for a community?

- Ultimately, the best way to describe it is we are trying to give artists, creatives, cultural producers, other arts nonprofits a platform to do what they want to do.

There's often a misconception that something at the Fringe Festival has to be edgy or avant-garde.

And we love that and we welcome that.

It can also be a family-friendly puppet show at the Children's Library.

It's what does the artist want to do, what do they need support with, and where are they not getting a platform elsewhere?

- [Julie] Hmm, and why did you feel like it was so important to do that here in Scranton?

- I am native of Scranton.

I lived away for several years in New York.

I was also a working touring actor, so I went to many other Fringe Festivals and theater festivals.

And I saw not only what it did for its artists in their community, but what it did for its audiences.

And so once I was more back in Scranton full-time, even before then, actually, it was really obvious, not only could we benefit from one, but we had all the foundational resources that would allow one to grow and thrive as it has.

And so I co-founded the Fringe with Elizabeth Bowen and we've been there for now 11 years.

- That's wonderful, congrats.

- Thank you.

- Now let's talk a little bit about, particularly now the sister city.

You were there in Ireland in 1990?

I mean I know you said- - Yeah, no, I know, the years are going by, but we were there at one point, and I don't know if it's exactly when Mayor Connors at the time was over there for the announcement, but he was with some of the sister city people, either when it became a committee or they were thinking about it.

So yeah, we just happened to be there because I've been going to County Mayo since I was eight, so it's a big part of my life.

But yeah, that was really neat.

I have some footage at home of him being in this Ballina center talking about Scranton and Ballina's relationship.

- So what's it like there?

Tell us a little bit about it for people who've never been, I've never been to Ireland, I've always wanted to go.

- Still time to get there.

- Still time.

- Everyone's Irish, on St. Patrick's Day and beyond, I like to say.

But County Mayo is just a wild, rugged, beautiful place.

Like I can't describe it.

It's green hills running down to the sea.

It's kind of like that classic Ireland.

And it was als one of the hardest hit, as you mentioned, from the potato famine.

So unfortunately, some of the rugged landscape led to kind of a hard existence.

So a lot of people had to leave, but it's just kind of full of these small towns and that sort of, I think the Ireland that sometimes we're searching for.

Although I think it's interesting to see a country evolve too, but I think that's where a lot of the mythical mystery about Ireland and the storytelling and the small towns, I mean, it was sometimes referred to as God Help Us Mayo and Back of the Beyond because it was so rural.

But I think what's really interesting in modern times, and as I've gone there over the years, cultural tourism, it's like people rediscovered this magical place as a place to go and relax and I think reconnect to nature.

And now there's hiking trails, and County Mayo's big, it's the second largest county in Ireland, but all of the towns have that kind of identity of the Western Ireland.

- Also talk about the show that you're going to be, I mean, we heard a little bit about it in Haley's story, but what's the show?

Why was that one chosen?

A little bit about how that's going to work.

- Yeah, so the name of the play is "Ulysses of Scranton," which will premiere or preview whatever you wanna say first here in Scranton during the Fringe Festival in early October before we take it to Ireland in late October.

It is a loose loving adaptation of James Joyce's classic novel "Ulysses" through a Northeast Pennsylvania lens.

We've been developing it for a while and we've been in contact, I originally contacted the Director of Arts and Culture for County Mayo itself over a year ago to begin this partnership and this conversation.

And that's part of how this sort of evolved, and this project and this opportunity just kind of felt like a perfect marriage.

So that's the show we're gonna be workshopping and we're rehearsing this summer to premier here and then take to Ireland.

It's really quirky, it's gonna be really fun and loving.

There is definitely a message.

We are adapting the book of "Ulysses," if anyone's read it or had to read part of it in school.

It is one of the hardest novels.

- [Julie] Not an easy read.

- No, and not an easy adaptation.

We really in theater chose our projects poorly, but we're really excited.

And so the kind of beauty of that is that there's so much material to pull from, and it's impossible to cover everything in the way we're gonna cover it.

So we can kind of do whatever we want.

We're taking the core elements of the narrative, layering it on top of layering it with our own stories and Scranton in particular, I'm really excited to be revisiting this through the lens of the Irish immigrant experience specifically as we talk about from here to there, from past to present.

And also comparing that to what we're seeing play out at the national level.

You know what I mean, in that broader, more complex conversation.

So we're really hoping, with, you know, while handling it with as much respect as humanly possible.

But we're really excited and we're really hoping to just make it ultimately a really fun, exciting, engaging piece of theater that everyone from young to old traditional theater lovers to people who really don't think theater's for them can access and enjoy it.

- That's an interesting point.

If you could say a little bit more about that.

Are you trying to say, "Hey, you might think theater is this thing, but try this over here?"

- Yeah, I mean that's kind of a value of Fringe Festival itself because when you have so many things at a festival happening between theater and new and old, traditional, edgy and experimental, super squeaky clean and family-friendly, the idea is that you probably already are a theater lover.

You just don't love the work of theater that you've necessarily been exposed to or were forced to go exposed to.

Maureen herself is also coming along with us to do her own one-woman show that she had participated as part of Fringe before.

And it's what I love about Fringe Festivals in general, while we welcome all types of work, and obviously "Ulysses of Scranton" is an adaptation of a classic novel, it really empowers not only the actors and the designers and we're an all professional crew, but the actual writers and creators of that, like Maureen and many other artists who create and perform their own material and their own work.

- What were we seeing there, just out of curiosity?

I know we saw a video , that was a one-woman show you did last year, right?

- Yeah, yes, well two years ago, I did at the Fringe, and then they invited me to perform it again last summer, which I'm absolutely grateful for.

And that's one of the wonderful things about Fringe.

It gives the people opportunity to test things out and improve them.

So yeah, my show is called "Remember You Must Die," a comedy.

So it has a little bit of that Irish tragic sense of life in it, but also that humor, I hope.

So I think I wanted to pull my creative hat out after as much as I love my administrative work.

So I started scripting this and it's kind of like auto fiction, but it was so cathartic and enthralling for me to work on this show and be able to perform it and keep refining it and just having the opportunity after we had kind of talked about ideas of connecting the two countries because I've always had that in doing a larger cultural exchange.

We did a small one years ago.

But it just was kind of a dream come true because Ireland has meant so much, it means a lot to a lot of people.

But I think it being in my memories and being a big part of my family and our identity, I just feel like it's a really great gift to go over there and be able to showcase it.

- Connor talked about that immigrant experience.

Why do you think that is such an important message right now?

- For many reasons.

I think for me, people have had to flee places.

I mean, like I said, our families had to leave County Mayo because of some British oppression and the potato famine.

So for me, who's ever coming to America is coming for a better life.

And it's the same story.

And I think we need to tell those stories and support one another and help people not forget their heritage, but celebrate it, but then become part of this great tapestry that is America.

I mean, I just love hearing everybody's stories no matter what your background is.

So I don't know if you have thoughts on that I think.

- No, I echo that.

I mean, the lesson I was always taught with theater is that the best work of theater or the best story, the best form of storytelling is when it can simultaneously be super specific and then yet universal at the same time.

And I think that with theater and with a story like this, no matter how honed in and specific a narrative and a unique story you want to tell, whatever the medium, theater, journalism, music, poetry, the themes are universal.

The experiences are universal.

And then within that, that's where you find commonality between culture, between you and your neighbor.

And I think to deny, and I'm speaking as myself, I think to deny the narratives that we're seeing pushed on the national stage right now about immigrants, and I think ultimately what we need, the very fact that we're not calling them human beings, the very fact that we're labeling that as some kind of subcategory, I'm speaking just as myself, is so disheartening and distressing.

And so I think that what our little dog and pony show is gonna do, but I think that theater and art can be a vehicle to that as long as those that are creating it and the audience experiencing it are coming at it from an open place and a willingness to accept that this, to steal a word that Maureen used before, this mystical, heartwarming narrative from my own family's background and ancestry is playing out again, again, and again every day.

But maybe you're not viewing it that way.

- Well, and if you don't mind, as you were talking, I think kind of what I've alluded to there, there is Ireland, based on history, but also in our imagination, and I'm not saying that's wrong, but then I think we have to also understand that Ireland is different now too.

When you go to County Mayo now, you'll see a lot of Polish names like, so the story of migration and emigration, there isn't one perfect identity, it changes, and place and land become about who's living there.

We all have that.

- It changes.

- It changes, so I think that's another thing we have to remember that no country is static and that's a good thing because otherwise we wouldn't evolve and connect and grow as society.

So I just think people don't often think about that.

I think when they go to some places, they might have an idea in their head- - Of what they're about to see or experience, and that might be different.

- Right, and some of that probably still exists.

Again, celebrating history, but also be open to see what's new.

- A big conversation topic with the Ballina Arts Center when we engaged in this partnership was, while tradition and the musical group that they were gonna send here in spring of 2026, which they haven't identified what the group is yet, is likely going to be rooted in some kind of Celtic musical tradition.

But we very much wanted that music and our theater, even if it pulls from the roots, we're adapting a classic Irish novel obviously.

But we wanted to very much be about the arts and culture scene and the greater conversations of now, and not presenting just the stereotypical what may feel good, but to Maureen's point, isn't entirely honest, and also is just limiting.

Now is much more exciting.

- I was gonna ask what they are bringing to Scranton or what show they would bring to Scranton in exchange.

- They're gonna be sending a County Mayo musical group.

They are literally narrowing it down as we speak.

So I don't unfortunately have the specific name, but I know that a big factor for them was engaging artists that were doing exciting work, work that both honored and pulled from the Celtic sounds that you may consider in your head more traditional, but we're reinventing them in new ways and presenting them in new ways.

And so our hope in spring of '26 when they come here, and we'd love to come back and talk about then, is that they're gonna be able to engage not only different audiences, those that love the traditional and maybe are willing to see it reinvented a little bit, but also entirely new audiences that would never think about.

Again, to Maureen's point, that arts and culture change, art forms change, that group and every musical group in county Mayo, Ireland is not working with fiddles.

You what I mean, like all the time.

And that's wonderful.

- We're gonna talk a little bit more about St. Patrick's Day in general.

We're gonna talk to you more in just a few minutes here.

But we know that St. Patrick's Day is celebrated all month long in Northeast and Central Pennsylvania.

We're gonna check out some of the bigger parades and the celebrations happening right after this short break.

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Now I love this statistic here that you found, Haley, in your reporting that according to the US census, 25% of Lackawanna County's population is Irish, which makes it the most Irish county in Pennsylvania.

I never knew that.

Talk about that a little bit.

What did you find in your reporting?

- Yes, well I grew up in Scranton and I grew up going to the St. Patrick's Day parades.

I'm sure you both did as well.

And it's always been said that Scranton has one of the largest St Patrick's Day parades in the country.

So I had to look into that.

And it is well-reported that it is one of the largest in the country here in Scranton.

And of course that's because of the heritage in this region.

So that's the history of it.

Many of these people came from Mayo, and it was kind of a word of mouth situation where there were jobs here in the coal mines and working on the railroads.

And so a lot of people ended up here in the Scranton area.

And so Lackawanna County, 25% Irish.

- You would think there is a big population, but I would not have guessed it was that high to be honest.

So any other counties stick out, not to put you on the spot here, but what other counties stuck out at you?

- Near the Philadelphia suburbs.

But what was interesting about Lackawanna County is the second largest ethnicity is Italian, close behind Irish.

- I guess that bears out as well.

You can see the different festivals and things going on celebrated here.

So yeah, I mean we've talked about from your professional standpoints, of course, some of what's going on, but personally, I'm the person here who did not grow up in this area, didn't even know really that St. Patrick's Day was such a thing until I get here.

What are some of your experiences in just watching what happens to this area in the month of March?

Give that to either one of you.

- Well, I do love it because it brings everybody, everyone loves the parade.

So I made that joke before, everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day.

But I do like that spirit.

I danced as a kid, so it's wonderful to see all kinds of people dancing and the music.

I think it captures that there is a certain Irish quality that is about art, culture, music, community, celebrating.

So I just think it's a nice, I don't know, it just makes us happy, a parade makes you happy and celebrating that culture, but everybody rallies around it.

- I always loved the parade as a kid.

I'll be very honest though, I didn't really appreciate my Irish cultural heritage until I started getting more into my like late 20s and now in my early 30s.

And really for me, it was the Irish Theater, the Irish storytelling tradition, Irish literature that really brought me into it.

And honestly, we joke about this at Fringe for several years that we're an arts festival in Scranton.

We always were open to anything and anyone could come to, and we've had Irish plays performed in the festival before, but we never really directly embraced that because I think for a lot of us it was kind of that, you know, you take for granted what's in your backyard mentality.

And it wasn't until time went on it's like, no, like this is something worth celebrating and we're looking into and reanalyzing.

- Also, I know we're focusing quite a bit on Scranton, but there are other parades and celebrations in the area.

I think we have some information about that as well.

I know Schuylkill County has a lot of celebrations.

There's just a few of them that we could find, Haley, more than you thought, Connor?

What about you?

Did you have a good time sort of researching all that goes on here?

There's a lot of partying to be done, if you wish, in the month of March.

- Yes, I've learned over the years, my family, we love to partake in the Irish celebrations, but it's just too much for us to be able to partake in all of them.

So we have to pick and choose.

My nephew's birthday is in March, so that just makes it even more fun.

We just love to do it all.

- Mine is as well.

I used to joke that everybody did nice parades for me for my birthday.

It was so kind, just so kind of them.

I also wanna give you a moment to talk about the fundraiser for Scranton Fringe, Connor.

I know that that is coming up as well.

- Yes, we have some wonderful supporters between Ireland and here in Northeast Pennsylvania that are making this project happen.

But it does not come cheap.

And we as an organization are still fundraising to make that happen.

Sunday, March 30th at Stirna's restaurant from four to 6:00 PM.

It suggests a donation of $35 per person.

But anyone can come.

If you can't quite afford that price, we'd love to have you.

You are willing to give more.

That is wonderful and welcomed, but we're really excited.

We'll have live music, food, there'll be drinks.

It's gonna be a really nice opportunity to mingle with some of the actors that'll be in this project and learn more about it, there'll be live music.

So it's kind of both a fundraiser and sort of a kickoff to our awareness raising.

- Will people from there be over with us to celebrate in Scranton and Wilkesbury, some of the performers from the show?

- Correct, some of the actors from "Ulysses of Scranton" will be there.

That'll be I think when we're officially announcing who's in the cast and crew and stuff like that.

Not only to entertain and get to network and mingle, but to ask us questions, and we're happy to answer anything.

Whether it's about the work itself, the process, what the funds are going towards, which is primarily not only launching this new work of theater, but the travel costs that are related, et cetera.

So we're really, really excited.

We're so excited to be helping bridge this cultural, not divide, but to strengthen this cultural program and partnership we already have with this area.

I mean, the funny thing has been, I've lately been getting text messages from people here that have been getting their updates from press coverage in Ireland about this.

- So Ireland knows what's happening in Scranton.

- Yes, yes, they seem to be really on the up and up, which is just really exciting to see that they're friends there.

And it also is just further evidence how much ties there still already are and have existed over these years.

So we're just very proud and grateful to be a small part of that.

- Just some last minute thoughts here.

We have just about a minute and a half left or so.

Maureen, just a thought about from an arts standpoint, how much fun this month might be for you here?.

- Oh, you mean for the day or the show- - No, the show.

- The show, sorry.

Both months.

- [Julie] We're smashing it all together here.

- I think I love global friendship.

That's what it is.

We're reminded of how small the world really is.

And I just think how exciting Irish culture, to Connor's point, is so much literature and theater.

And to have two modern shows created by people in Scranton to go and perform and then to bring over their artists.

Like that's a really rich, memorable experience that's so unique and will bring our two countries closer.

And even if you aren't, your family isn't of Irish heritage, now you've made a friend across the pond with a whole other town.

So I just think it's a really beautiful project.

- Maybe it'll spawn other cities too to head across the pond and say, "Let's set up something new here."

Who knows.

Haley, we'll end with you.

Thank you for your work on all of this.

Any surprises that you found in your reporting?

- You know, it's been great to learn about Ballina.

I just love learning about different towns and places, and the people I've talked to say that people in Ballina know about Scranton.

So I can't wait to visit and tell people I'm from Scranton.

- Well Haley and Connor and Maureen, thank you so much for coming.

We hope it was an enlightening conversation.

I certainly learned a lot.

We did cover a lot on the show.

We always do.

in 26 minutes.

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(bright music)