e

2016

THEATRE

untitled-design-43

12 – 17 Dec

Reasons to be Pretty
Untold Wants

The Irish premiere of Neil LaBute’s play ‘Reasons to Be Pretty.Who are we when all the cards are on the table?

When excuses and distractions lose their power, what will we have to show? Are we pretty enough?


THEATRE

untitled-design-27

8 – 10 Dec

Bad Sunday + Incensed 
Black Box to Red Carpet Theatre

Two new works of theatre from Black Box to Red Carpet Theatre …. Bad Sunday: Mark Wale’s comedy about a

Sunday drive gone awry takes the audience on a riotous journey from Phibsboro to Howth Head.Incensed: Three women attend one man’s funeral but who are they and how did they know him? What connects them?


THEATRE

untitled-design-26

6 + 7 Dec

Tape 
Fregoli Theatre

Tape tackles questions of motive, memory, truth and perception and this production will be characteristic of

Fregoli’s energetic and captivating style.


CHRISTMAS SHOW

untitled-design-25

5 – 23 Dec

The Snow Queen
Smock Alley Theatre 1662

This new adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale re-imagines this timeless story for the modern

world.


THEATRE DOUBLE BILL

untitled-design-24

21 Nov – 3 Dec

Unshakeable Spirits: Double Bill
Biscuits for Breakfasts in association with NewDay Productions

Two strong willed women, on two different journeys…

both with stubborn Irish blood which compels them to speak the truth and conquer adversity. These two one-woman plays explore their memoirs & inspirational stories in this exciting evening of new writing.


THEATRE/DINNER

Version 2

28 Nov – 1 Dec + 4 Dec

‘Twas the Night Before Murder
Catastrophe Theatre Company

A troupe of professional actors interact with guests throughout a three course meal and reveal clues and

information leading to the identity of the killer.


THEATRE/SCIENCE

untitled-design-23

17 Nov

To Space
Dr. Niamh Shaw

Part comedy memoir and part fascinating space lecture with watercolour-based ghostly landscapes, this

captivating performance explores the beauty, darkness and humanity of space, while begging the question- ‘What do you do with impossible Dreams?’


THEATRE/DANCE

untitled-design-22

15 – 18 Nov

Shadows of the Táin 
Candlelit Tales

Candlelit Tales bring their unique telling of the Tain Bo Cualigne to life with a new and exciting element of

shadow puppetry. Atmospheric, evocative, and lyrically beautiful, audiences will hear this ancient story as it has never been told before.


BOOK FESTIVAL

DBF-2014-EventImages-100x150.indd

10 – 13 Nov

Dublin Book Festival 2016
Dublin Book Festival

Dublin Book Festival present their annual festival, with talks, presentations and speakers on the latest

contemporary literature. Complete with their own festival bookshop and coffee shop, Smock Alley is delighted to be the festival hub.


THEATRE

hugh-oflaherty-thumbnail

7 – 10 + 16 Nov

God has no Country 
Donal Courtney

Monseigneur Hugh O’Flaherty saved the lives of over 3500 people during Wolrd War 2 in Rome. Actor and

writer Donal Courtney transforms his story onto the stage in this new production.


THEATRE

Normal

24 Oct – 5 Nov

Normal
Restless Ecstasy

Sadist, sexual predator, murderer and necrophile, Peter Kurten is a monster by anybody’s definition. But is he

insane? Restless Ecstasy bring Anthony Neilson’s Normal to the Boys School.


THEATRE

TheQuareFellow

17 – 22 Oct

The Quare Fellow 
Money for the Sun Productions

Money for the Sun Productions present Brendan Behan’s, The Quare Fellow. Exposed to gruesome

crimes and in turn corporal and capital punishment, the men wrestle with what it is to be human and at times seem totally desensitized to the imminent ‘topping’ of ‘The Quare Fellow’.


FESTIVAL

imram-lon-leningrad-whats-on

11 – 15 Oct

IMRAM 
Irish Language Literature Festival

IMRAM Irish literature festival is the annual festival that showcases the richness of contemporary Irish literature.

Through a combination of different events which includes prose, poetry and music, the latest of Irish literature is brought to audiences.


THEATRE

untitled-design-48

4 – 8 Oct

Death at Intervals 
Dublin Theatre Festival

Inspired by Nobel Prize winner José Saramago’s darkly humorous novel and developed in collaboration with an

award winning creative team, Death at Intervals combines theatre, music and original song lyrics in an unconventional and touching duet between death and her musician.


EXHIBITION

untitled-design-50

26 Sep – 1 Oct

Through Spanish Eyes
Nieves Fernandez

Light in its variations, intensities and nuances has the power to transfer an aura of mystery and wonder to the

most ordinary face, object or street.


MUSIC LAUNCH

The Weathered Stone

28 Sep

Ergodos

Dublin composer Benedict Schlepper-Connolly launches his new album The Weathered Stone with an

immersive performance of beautiful and intricate compositions.


FESTIVAL

untitled-design-47

10 – 25 Sep

Fringe Festival 2016 
Tiger Dublin Fringe

Fringe is a curated, multi-disciplinary festival and year-round organisation focusing on fresh and innovative

approaches to the arts from Irish and international makers.


THEATRE

Alice Milligan

1 Sep

Alice Milligan: A Girl of Genius 
Aisling Ghear

Aisling Ghéar celebrates the life of one of the most iconic figures in Irish cultural history.


THEATRE

ayli_arclight_smock_thumbnail_100x150

22 – 27 Aug

As You Like It 
Arclight Studio

Filled with laughter and music, Shakespeare’s As You Like It is romantic comedy at its most delightful.


THEATRE/DANCE

untitled-design-44

17 – 20 Aug

The Dream of Eithlinn 
Candlelit Tales

An original dance theatre show, we blend traditional storytelling with live original music, song and

contemporary dance, to steal your imagination away.


THEATRE

webpage-thumbnail_gondla_smock-alley

15 + 16 Aug

Gondla
Meaney Productions

An Irishman is punished for marrying an Icelandic princess. With an ensemble cast of 10 characters and a

live score, this production of “Gondla” is the first since it was staged in Russia in 1920.


THEATRE

untitled-design-42

2 Aug – 3 Sep

Pygmalion
Smock Alley Theatre

Smock Alley presents as its sixth in-house production, Bernard Shaw’s most popular and best loved play.


THEATRE

untitled-design-41

1 – 6 Aug

Eamonn (From Menswear) 
Ill-Advised

Eamonn (From Menswear) is a stylish, political and provocative fashion-infused musical dealing with the idea

of a nation slowly ridding itself of the stratification of race, gender, sexuality and religion.


THEATRE

untitled-design-40

25 – 30 Jul

The Sadness of the Little Sparrow
Les Enfants Terribles

What if you were invited by world famous French chanteuse, Edith Piaf into her dressing room to relive her

earthly journey with all its pain, sorrow, joy, success and many love affairs?


FESTIVAL

untitled-design-39

20 – 24 Jul

Festival of Curiosity 
Various Artists

The Festival of Curiosity takes a brand new, innovative & research led approach to audience participation and

engagement in science, arts, design & technology for all ages and has sold out every year since it’s inception.


MUSIC/DANCE

untitled-design-38

18 Jul

Insight #4 
Tacquin and Jessie Keenan Dance

Taquin are a super-group of three of Ireland’s finest musicians. For one night only, they join forces with three

dancers to present exciting performances of five new musical works and five new choreographed pieces by Jessie Keenan.


DANCE

untitled-design-37

14 Jul

Illuminated Passages
Lauren Spiers

An exciting debut performance of 3 new ballet works by NYC ballerina Lauren Speirs. Performed by a small

troupe of professional dancers from companies all over the world.


THEATRE

untitled-design-36

13 Jul

En Masse 
Ragamuffin Collective

Ragamuffin Collective is delighted to present En Masse, a night of original theatre by The Gaiety School of

Acting’s Class of 2016. The evening will showcase 18 pieces of new writing.


THEATRE

smock-spinning-heart-thumbnail

11 – 13 + 16 Jul

The Spinning Heart 
Articulate Anatomy

This stage adaptation of the award-winning novel is given its world premiere by Articulate Anatomy and

preserves the original structure and narrative style while highlighting, often with a scabrous humour, the toll in human terms of recent times in Ireland.


THEATRE

kinglear_webthumb

10 – 12 Jul

King Lear 
Purplecoat Productions

After their sell out Twelfth Night and five star Hamlet, PurpleCoat return to Smock Alley at the start of a UK

and Ireland tour with Shakespeare’s greatest play, King Lear.


THEATRE/SPOKEN WORD

100-x-150

9 Jul 2016

No Borders
Ireland Calais Refugee Solidarity

No Borders is a theatre event that will raise funds for Ireland Calais Refugee Solidarity.The show will feature a

series of one-act plays, two performances of poetry and a musical performance, all of which deal the effects of war and having to leave one’s homeland.


THEATRE

webpage-thumbnail-tender-napalm

27 Jun – 9 Jul

Tender Napalm 
Good Buzz Productions

A heightened love story filled with poetic intensity and a language that seethes and burns. A couple navigate their

way through the passionate battlefield of a relationship, leaving a blazing trail of destruction in their wake in Philip Ridley’s highly charged play.


THEATRE

ytc_poster_thumbnail

24 + 25 Jun

Moliere| All Rise: A Double Bill 
GSA YTC

A double bill of theatre from the Gaiety School of Acting’s Youth Theatre Company, restoration pieces by Moliere

and a new courtroom drama by Seamus Quinn


THEATRE

untitled-design-35

21 – 25 Jun
Proclamation 
The Gaiety School of Acting

100 years ago the leaders of the Irish Rebellion stood up and declared their resolve to pursue the happiness of

the whole nation;

100 years later, in a new play written and directed by Ronan Dempsey, the graduating class of The Gaiety School of Acting holds a mirror up to Ireland in 2016.


THEATRE

thumbnail

14 – 18 Jun

The Boyz of Harcourt Street
Rocket Octopus

A high­ octane play about three twenty-­something men, D’arce, Fosterson and the Gavmeister, who live, work

and play on Harcourt Street.When the clock strikes five the music kicks in, the ties are loosened and the desks are, quite literally, overturned.


THEATRE

The Trial

14 – 18 Jun

The Trail
No Drama Theatre

Someone must have been lying about Joseph K, for without having done anything wrong, he was arrested.

A man wakes up and is arrested. He tries to find out why and fails. The end.


SPOKEN WORD

Kate Tempest

10 Jun

Kate Tempest
The Gutter Bookshop

One of the biggest names in spoken word, Kate Tempest’s powerful storytelling and unique delivery has seen her cross over between the worlds of poetry and hip-hop, embraced by both the literary and music camps.


DANCE

Down the Milky Way

5 Jun

Down the Milky Way 
Myart School of Dance

MyArt is a unique creative school, which provides both dance and visual art education for children and adults with no age limit.


THEATRE

Insight #3

4 Jun

InSight #3
Irish Composers Collective & Tonnta Music

InSight showcases 20 new musical works presented with visual interpretations, including dance, animation, projection, and simply the physical body in space.


THEATRE

69 Shades of Gay

30 May – 4 Jun

69 Shades of Gay
ZAC Entertainment Group

Aiden’s spending the afternoon going through his smart phone, getting rid of texts, dodgy snaps, phone numbers and, of course, the apps – Grindr, Gaydar, Growlr… But there’s nothing like a mammoth deleting session to send a boy down memory lane. And Aiden has a lot of memories – 68 boyfriends’ worth. And he has some corking tales to share…all will be revealed – and more – in the funny, filthy 69 Shades of Gay.


THEATRE

Malacoda's Bridge

1 + 2 Jun

Malacoda’s Bridge – The Ninth Circle of Hell
The Gaiety School of Acting in collaboration with Southern Illinois School of Music

Raya is desperate to escape. Even her lover, Tam, fails her when she most needs him. Her road is littered with the corpses of those who have come before her. There are plenty of offers of help for a beautiful young woman. Who can she trust?[/one_half_last]


FESTIVAL

International Literature Festival Dublin

21 – 29 May

International Literature Festival Dublin
Various Artists

With readings, discussions, debates,workshops, performance and screenings, the festival creates a hotbed of ideas. Whether it’s the mix poets, writers of fiction and non-fiction, lyricists, playwrights and screenwriters, International Literature Festival Dublin brings new faces and house-hold names together in ways that suprise and inspire. Children’s fiction is well represented and we are spoilt for choice with the calibre of Irish language writers. Come celebrate many specially commissioned events in the City of Words.


THEATRE

Theatre of Menace

20 + 21 May

Theatre of Menace
Purplecoat Productions

Award winning PurpleCoat return to Smock Alley after their five-star Hamlet and Twelfth Night, with an evening of short work by Harold Pinter. See how Pinter’s work developed over his career with a selection of lesser known short pieces that ineviutably shaped his masterpieces such as The Caretaker and The Homecoming, and see exactly why his dark creations came to be known as the Theatre of Menace.


MUSIC

14 Apr

Cords & Cadenzas 
Co-Orch Dublin in Association with Spinal Injuries Ireland

A concert in aid of Spinal Injuries Ireland presented by Co-Orch. “Cords & Cadenzas” features Schuman Symphony No.4, Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer, and Le Tombeau de Couperin by Ravel. Co-Orch is Dublin’s most exciting instrumental ensemble. Comprising some of Ireland’s most vibrant talented orchestral musicians, Co-Orch is an orchestra with a twist. No black tie, no evening dress, n stuffy concert halls – just musicians coming together to play the music that they are passionate about, in venues where they don’t belong.


THEATRE

12 – 14 Apr

Outrageous Fortune
Carol Walsh

Dolores didn’t get the audition. Her lifelong ambition to be a Shakespearean actor and perform on stage at the infamous Globe theatre is in tatters. Years of dedication and sacrifice wasted and boy is she in a rage. Fuming and fired up, Dolores decides to take matters into her own hands… That’s when life and Shakespearean tragedy begins to blur.
OutRAGEous Fortune is a clown show for adults. It is a very human, funny and moving story of ambition, obsession and the desire to live our dreams.


THEATRE

10 + 11 Apr

Pleasure Ground
Fregoli Theatre Company

Pleasure Ground is based the decline of the rural Irish town exploring notions of home, belonging, community and change.
Tivnan’s writing is witty and sharp, and captures the beauty of rural and small town life whilst exploring feelings of sadness and isolation. Fregoli are a young Galway based company formed in 2007 this is their 20th production.


MUSIC

7 – 9 Apr

Music Current
Dublin Sound Lab

MUSIC CURRENT showcases contemporary electronic music through concerts, masterclasses and workshops. Music Current invites composers, performers, and music technologists to participate in masterclasses with Anne Cleare, Jennifer Walshe, Gráinne Mulvey, and workshop selected works. Featuring: Lucy Railton and Adrian Corker performing seminal works by maverick Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi and the Irish premier of Jennifer Walshe’s THE TOTAL MOUNTAIN.


THEATRE

4 – 9 Apr

Slice The Thief
Bitter Like A Lemon

Slice, a funny, charming an everyday bike thief who does what he wants but today he’s taken the wrong bike. 24   hours to get it back or he’s dead. The only problem is that the bike is now in the custody of an even bigger psycho than its rightful owner.


THEATRE

29 Mar – 2 Apr

Julius Caesar
Tartartus Theatre Company

Greed. Deceit. Treachery. Power. What happens when those who placed you at the top of your empire decide the empire is no longer yours?Tartarus Theatre Company presents this adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. Set against the backdrop of modern gangland, this dark and vivid take on the classic promises a richly stylised and textured tale of ambition, corruption and blood soaked deception.


THEATRE

24 – 26 Mar

The Initiative
The Gaiety School of Acting Performance Theatre Company

The year – 1976. The place – Shadyville, USA. In this lawless town, where criminals call the shots, the mysterious Initiative hopes to rid Shadyville of crime forever. The trouble is, Vice wears many masks. In this piece of new writing from the Gaiety School of Acting’s Performance Theatre Company, a macabre dystopia of crime and punishment shows us just how tough it can be to tell the good guys from the bad guys. Who do you trust when no one is what they seem?


THEATRE

16 Mar – 2 Apr

The Wise Wound
Teri Fitzgerald

Meg March is all set to marry local politician John Brooke. He has everything a 19th Century woman could desire- teeth and an income! However, Meg’s sister, Jo, knows that John is not quite as perfect as he first appears. Jo, a playwright and political activist, plots to liberate her sister from a life of marital enslavement.  To do so she enlists the help of her youngest sister and lifelong nemesis, Amy…with explosive results! Even poor Beth with her impending death is causing a bothersome race against the clock for the couple!
Will Meg make it to the church alive for the happiest day of her life?!


MUSIC

16 Mar

Andy Sheppard with Shakespeare Songs
Music Network

‘The great English poet of the saxophone’, jazz virtuoso Andy Sheppard joins forces with drummer Christophe Marguet and pianist Guillaume de Chassy in a musical journey across Shakespeare’s world. Part-improvised and part-written, the music draws inspiration from Renaissance composers Thomas Morley and William Byrd, with the trio unfolding an extraordinary palette of sounds to conjure up everything from star-crossed lovers and brooding Danish princes to the rustling advance of Birnam Wood.


MUSIC

14 Mar

Insight #1 Adrian Mantu & Mihai Cucu
Irish Music Collective & Tonnta Music

Smock Alley Theatre plays host to four evenings of the aural and the visual, brought together. InSight showcases new musical works presented with visual interpretations, including dance, animation, projection, and simply the physical body in space.

In this first installment of the series, Adrian and Mihai have chosen one Irish, one European and one universal piece: Anne Marie O’Farrell (In Mary’s Eye), Giovanni Sollimma (Lamentatio) and Hamza El Din (Escalay. The Water Wheel).


MUSIC / STORYTELLING

IMG2 - Otherworld - Thumbnail (1)

12 Mar

Otherworld – The Story of Tir na nOg
Sam Kavanagh Music

A show for all ages; come and hear about the adventures of Óisín and Níamh, and their journey away from Ireland to the Land of Eternal Youth. Conducted by Sam Kavanagh, The Lalala Choir is a new group of singers who will present their own arrangements of Irish folk songs, performed alongside a unique ensemble of trad and jazz musicians, and featuring the surrealist storytelling style of Ríona Sally Hartman.


THEATRE

Previous Shows

7 – 19 Mar

The Great Hunger
Bare Bodkin Theatre Company

Peter Duffy’s powerful theatrical performance of Patrick Kavanagh’s poetic masterpiece The Great Hunger has been touring for the past eighteen months to popular and critical acclaim including performances in the Irish Cultural Centre in Paris, the Cathedral Quarter Festival in Belfast and in virtually every theatre venue in the country.


FESTIVAL OF NEW WORK

17 Feb – 5 Mar

Smock Allies : Scene + Heard Festival
Smock Alley Theatre | Multiple Artists

In this three-week, multi-production event, artists from all over Ireland came together to mount 85 original works. Smock Alley hosted this festival of new work that helped fledgling performers from all disciplines share their work with the public. Audiences gave direct responses to the shows they saw, which created a freewheeling discussion between the creators and their spectators. A true celebration of innovation and appreciation for the artistic forms.


MUSIC

Thumbnail_CDCO

14 Feb

Love’s Sublime Knot
City of Dublin Chamber Orchestra

The City of Dublin Chamber Orchestra are Dublin’s newest chamber orchestra, whose membership is characterised by talent, intelligence and commitment. Every year, in Dublin and throughout Ireland, the orchestra presents performances of artistic excellence and remarkable versatility of musical styles. The CDCO’s repertoire encompasses the masterworks of the orchestral repertory, engaging the public through inspiring performances of the highest standard.


THEATRE

1 –  13 Feb

Trainspotting
Reality:Check Productions

Tracy Ryan’s critically acclaimed production of Trainspotting returns. Now teamed up with Reality:Check Productions, we present a bigger, better, never before seen version of Trainspotting. The generation defining novel is brilliantly adapted for the stage and tells the story of heroin addict Mark Renton, as he stumbles through bad ideas and sobriety attempts with his unreliable friends Tommy, Sickoy, Begbie and Alison.


THEATRE

25 – 30 Jan

Spandex Blues
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Theatre

Would you help a super-villain? E is a villainess at the top of her game. She’s the scourge of the League of Peace, the baddest bad-arse on the Northside. She’s also been voted Best Boss by Hench-Person Monthly three times in a row. But despite her well-earned infamy, things aren’t looking good. A job’s just gone South and she’s been left reeling. Her goody two shoes super-hero family are up in arms and vow she must be stopped. For the first time in her life, E has no idea what to do…


SHAKESPEARE FOR SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

lear-thumbnail

11 – 22 Jan

King Lear
Gaiety School of Acting

The Gaiety School of Acting – The National Theatre School of Ireland – offers unique opportunity to experience the best of Shakespeare at theatres situated throughout the country in Dublin, Cork, Tipperary, Kerry and Waterford.
The Shakespeare Schools Programme is aimed at Junior/ Leaving Certificate Students, covering Romeo & Juliet and King Lear, with a workshop focusing on original text, relating the performance to the text and designed to directly address the 2015/2016 English syllabus Shakespeare Question.


SHAKESPEARE FOR SCHOOLS PROGRAMME

rj-thumbnail

11 – 22 Jan

Romeo & Juliet
Gaiety School of Acting

The Gaiety School of Acting – The National Theatre School of Ireland – offers unique opportunity to experience the best of Shakespeare at theatres situated throughout the country in Dublin, Cork, Tipperary, Kerry and Waterford.
The Shakespeare Schools Programme is aimed at Junior/ Leaving Certificate Students, covering Romeo & Juliet and King Lear, with a workshop focusing on original text, relating the performance to the text and designed to directly address the 2015/2016 English syllabus Shakespeare Question.


THEATRE

alison-spittle-100x150

14 – 16 Jan

Alison Spittle Discovers Hawaii
First Forthnight Festival

You know that memory that stings? The one that will keep you awake that extra five minutes before you sleep? Alison has loads of them, but she’s found a way around it. Join her as she discovers Hawaii.
What is Hawaii? To some it’s the fiftieth State but to Alison, it’s a place in her head where she buries stuff. It’s her personal coping mechanism.
So join her for a personal stand up hour that tackles Alison’s biggest fears and regrets while trying to find her own personal Hawaii. A hilarious hour embracing the futility of being so self-involved.


STORYTELLING/MUSIC/COMEDY/THEATRE

YerOnlyScreenshot

6 Jan

Yer Only mBan
Maeve Stone and Dan Colley

A Nollaig na mBan night of storytelling, song and cake celebrating the work of women, featuring performances by Olwen Fouéré, The Evertides, Sonya Kelly, Allison Spittle and many others. An intimate night of storytelling, song and comedy. This will be people coming together in the Irish tradition of Nollaig na mBan, to recognise and celebrate the work of women, in the public and private spheres.


THEATRE

The Dead - 100x150

5 – 9 Jan

The Dead
Presented by Dublin Theatre Festival with music by Feargal Murray

Aidan Gillen (Game of Thrones, The Wire) brings James Joyce’s captivating short story The Dead to life alongside beautiful live music accompaniment by composer and pianist Feargal Murray.The Dead is the last of fifteen stories that make up Dubliners, Joyce’s searing exploration of life in Dublin.


THEATRE

globe-thumbnail

3 Jan

Globe To Globe Hamlet
The Globe

In celebration of the 450th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, the world renowned Shakespeare’s Globe will perform Hamlet,known as Shakespeare’s greatest play, at Smock Alley Theatre for the first time.