Here’s Our Top Picks For The Dublin Theatre Festival
Dublin Theatre Festival is back. This year’s programme will allow audiences to discover work that challenges assumptions, provokes conversation and celebrates the power of theatre to connect, inspire and expand everybody’s understanding of the world. The lineup is packed full of amazing performances, but here are our top picks.
La Paroble du Seum [Parable of the Sour]
This is a French performance with surtitles which starts by looking at the mess we’ve made and the skills required in order to survive it. Rébecca Chaillon brings together performers “on the margins of life” for a show which brings together text, strong visual imagery, stunts, lots of water and BUTTER. In the production’s own words, this is “a parable of venom and anger which seeks to spark dreams, laughter, empathy, and revolt against the coming fascism.”
When: 8-9 October, 6.30pm and 10 October, 6pm
Where: Project Arts Centre (Space Upstairs)
Get your tickets here.
The Brotherhood TRILOGIA CADELA FORÇA – Capítulo II
This play from internationally acclaimed director Carolina Bianchi explores masculinity as a brotherhood that renders men untouchable within a system of violence against women. This is a show which also shows a fascination with male power dynamics. In the productions own words, “It’s hard to imagine a show about patriarchal violence this inspiring – but trust us, you will leave the theatre punching the air and utterly invigorated.”
When: 9-10 October, 6.30pm
Where: O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College
You can get your tickets here.
Lourdes! The Musical
Lourdes! The Musical is fundamentally about miracles, faith and spectacle. When protagonist Matthew receives news that changes his life forever, he runs away from reality and towards Lourdes – a place where a ragtag troupe of pilgrims are staging an amateur musical about Saint Bernadette. In the festival’s own words, this is a “fun night out that will rip your heart out and leave you thinking for days. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll emerge changed from this pilgrimage.”
When: 30 September-2 October, 7.30pm
3 October, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
6-9 October, 7.30pm
10 October, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Where: Civic Theatre
Get your tickets here.
Heroes of Tomorrow
Heroes of Tomorrow is the latest work from award-winning Brokentalkers, created in collaboration with acclaimed theatre-maker and writer Andy Smith. This is a play that tackles the complexities and contradictions of living in today’s world and asks what role artists can play, through the life and work of fictional artist, Jan Hansen. Considering art, power and protest, this is a story of possibility, connection and corruption.
When: 28 Sep, 7.30pm
30 Sep-2 Oct, 7.30pm
3 Oct, 2pm & 7.30pm
4 Oct, 4.30pm
Previews:
25-26 Sep, 7.30pm
27 Sep, 6.30pm
Where:
Project Arts Centre (Space Upstairs)
Get your tickets here.
Let Me In
Let Me In is a new play by Esosa Ighodaro set in contemporary Ireland, where welcome is offered but belonging is negotiated daily. Centred around firefighter Lola, we see that fighting fires doesn’t stop when you get home. Navigating the daily trials of living together, through a lens of comedy, romance, with a looming shadow.
When: 4 Oct, 6.30pm
6-9 Oct, 7.30pm
10 Oct, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
Previews:
2 & 3 Oct, 7.30pm
Where: Dublin Municipal Theatre at Smock Alley
Get your tickets here.
Zinc
‘Zinc’ tells the story of Joseph Rixen, born in 1903 in Neutral Moresnet – a territory without a nation, born of an unfortunate accident of history, whose plentiful zinc reserves had long stoked the ambitions of the great European powers. Like the mineral, Joseph is malleable, exploited, displaced, without ever leaving the region of his birth. Based on the book by David Van Reybrouck, Dead Centre explores the human body as a political space. On stage, the theatre becomes a neutral territory, a place where identity is called into question.
When: 2 Oct, 7.30pm
3 Oct, 2.30pm & 7.30pm
4 Oct, 2.30pm
Previews:
1 Oct, 7.30pm
Where: O’Reilly Theatre, Belvedere College
Get your tickets here.
