Haunted Castle: Memento Mori

Haunted Castle: Memento Mori returns to the Irish Cultural Center and McClelland Library on Wednesday, October 21, for a run that spans two weeks. It's a site-specific production brought to Phoenix by the Ronin Theatre Collaborative, and it doesn't happen inside a theater—it's staged outdoors on the ICC campus at 1106 N Central Ave.

The show is built around six intertwined plays drawn from horrifying Irish legends, with scripts by Amon Dov Darling-Bond, Benjamin 'Bendi' Donnel, Jonathan Gonzales, Shannon Labadie, T.D. Lang, Kelsea Ray, and Antoinette Stallings. The production frames the ICC grounds as a 'thin place where the dead sing and spirits walk,' a spot where ghosts trapped in eternal repetitions of their suffering become visible to the living. That framing sets the tone for the whole evening: six stories that weave together rather than standing as separate pieces.

It's strictly for ages 16 and over, and each time slot is limited to no more than 15 people, so you're in a small group rather than a crowd. The whole experience runs about two hours. Ronin Theatre Collaborative is supported in part by the City of Phoenix Office of Arts and Culture, and the Irish Cultural Center's broader mission is to link Arizona with Ireland and other Celtic cultures through history, music, art, dance, crafts, and language.

There are six dates to choose from, all starting at 7 PM: Wednesday, October 21; Thursday, October 22; Friday, October 23; Wednesday, October 28; Thursday, October 29; and Friday, October 30. Tickets are $35, with a discounted price of $32 for ICLF members, military, and students.