“I know I will always have a home in Belfast.” Frederick Douglass said those words after his 1845 visit to the city, and now that history is being carried to New York in North Star, a new immersive production at Irish Arts Center running June 3 to 21.
Created and directed by Kwame Daniels in partnership with Solab, the standing-room performance brings together artists from Belfast and New York, along with students whose own words shape the show. North Star looks at Douglass’s time in Belfast not as a dusty historical footnote, but as a living question: what makes a city feel like home?
A story of welcome, retold through North Star
The production draws on Douglass’s stay in Belfast after he escaped slavery and published his first memoir. At the time, he was vulnerable to re-enslavement and travelled to Ireland while speaking for abolition. In Belfast, he found support, friendship, and a sense of ease that stayed with him. That visit later helped inspire the name of his newspaper, The North Star.
On stage, North Star blends live music, spoken word, and choral performance. The sound moves through jazz, hip hop, soul, classical, and contemporary styles, with contributions from Kaidi Tatham, Winnie Ama, Hannah Peel, and others. Actor Colin Salmon and poet Nandi Jola are among the featured performers.
Just as important are the young voices at the center of the piece. Students in Belfast and New York were asked a simple question: Does your city feel like home to you? Their poems are part of North Star, giving the production a warmth and immediacy that goes beyond history.
- Runs June 3–21 at Irish Arts Center in New York
- Created by Kwame Daniels and Solab
- Inspired by Frederick Douglass’s 1845 Belfast visit
- Features artists and students from Belfast and New York
There’s something quietly lasting about the idea at the heart of North Star: that a welcome offered nearly 180 years ago can still light the way. In Douglass’s words, Belfast was a home. This production asks who gets to feel that way now.
Image Courtesy: IrishCentral
