MUSIC / THEATRE / COMEDY | 20 – 23 Jan
Please Hold
Teatro Nua
Boys’ School
Hold Music, live. It’s just like being on the phone!
A youngish man occupies a liminal space where he composes hold music and plays it live down the phone to those trapped in purgatorial waiting rooms queuing for customer care and technical support. A one-man tragicomedy about art and delusion, Please Hold will take you on a psychological journey into the oft forgotten liminal world of hold music.
THEATRE / COMEDY | 24 Jan
TheatreSports
Grand Stretch
Boys’ School
TheatreSports™ is a high-octane improv showdown, fuelled by spontaneous scene challenges, team spirit, and the rising heat a live audience brings to the game.
Created in the 1970s by Keith Johnstone with Loose Moose Theatre Co., TheatreSports™ took the world by storm in the ’80s and ’90s. Light entertainment be damned! This is true competition that pushes improvisers to take risks, thrilling audiences with the unpredictability of scenes and scores. Win some, lose some — one thing’s for sure: when the spirit is right in this game, failure becomes its own reward.
THEATRE | 27 – 31 Jan
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
No Drama Theatre
Main Space
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tells the story of Christopher John Francis Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands besides Mrs Shears’ dead dog, which has been speared with a garden fork, and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who killed Wellington. His detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.
THEATRE / COMEDY | 5 + 6 Feb
BallyBridgeWater
LemonSoap Productions
Main Space
Bringing together an ensemble cast of 10 of Ireland’s leading performers for a Freshly Squeezed Work In Progress night out like no other, LemonSoap Productions welcome you all to BallyBridgeWater, Ireland’s most famous fictional town.
FESTIVAL | 12 – 28 Feb
Scene + Heard 2026
Scene and Heard
Smock Alley Theatre, 1662
Scene + Heard Festival of New Work 2026 is here! This year, join us for 108 new shows – from comedy, theatre, music, dance, drag, acrobatics (both verbal + physical), to poetry, puppetry, hip-hop, opera, musical theatre and visual art.
Running from 12 – 28 February 2026.
THEATRE | 5 – 14 Mar
HOT MESS
TeoChroí Productions & Muirenn Lyons
Boys’ School
It’s been a year. Twins Polo and Twitch reunite for the night of their twenty-fifth birthday. Their hometown is getting smaller. The only thing there is more of is rust. But there’s a reason Polo left the island. And Twitch doesn’t want to be forgotten.
THEATRE | 13 – 15 Mar
MONSTER
Dark Forest Theatre
Main Space
Being a Mother isn’t easy, it’s hard gruelling work. Being a Mother means losing yourself. Being a Mother is the most difficult job in the world, especially when you are a Mother to a Monster.
A dark tale about motherhood, desire, death and secrets.
THEATRE | 18 – 21 Mar
DO I LOVE YOU?
The John Godber Company
Main Space
Join twenty somethings Sally, Nat and Kyle in this hilarious comedy as they develop a love for, and the people involved with, Northern Soul. What started as a College project has grown into a passion, but the dance steps are exhausting.
This is Northern Soul for a new generation, but with rising costs, unemployment, and small town blues, has anything really changed? Is this 1976 or 2026? The pubs are closing, hospitality has gone, and strikes are everywhere; but when you’re out on the floor.
THEATRE | 23 Mar – 2 Apr
Macbeth
Volta Theatre Company
Main Space
Critically-acclaimed VOLTA THEATRE COMPANY returns to Smock Alley with a new production of Shakespeare’s gripping tale of murder, totalitarianism and how a person loses their soul.
A timeless story about the horrors that lie in wait beyond societal breakdown has non-stop action, suspense, terror, and some of the mightiest language ever penned.
TALK | 22 May
Murder: Staged
Crime Viral
Main Space
Did you know that 90% of people believe they can get away with murder – are you one of them? There will be a live psychopath test to find out!