THEATRE | 7 + 8 Aug
Underdog: The Other Other Brontë
Bridging the Gap
Boys’ School
You know their books but do you know the sisters? The fights and friction, the love and loss. Follow Charlotte Brontë as she navigates the rise to fame and glory for her and the Brontë sisters whilst juggling family, ambition and loss.
THEATRE | 19 – 22 Aug
The Watsons
Dublin Youth Theatre
Main Space
What happens when the writer loses the plot? Emma Watson is 19 and new in town. She’s been cut off by her rich aunt and dumped back in the family home. Emma and her sisters must marry, fast. If not, they face poverty, spinsterhood, or worse: an eternity with their boorish brother and his awful wife. Luckily there are plenty of potential suitors to dance with, from flirtatious Tom Musgrave to castle-owning Lord Osborne, who’s as awkward as he is rich. So far so familiar.
MUSIC | 20 Aug
‘horses’ EP Launch
Cormac Looby & Pádraig Hughes
Boys’ School
Singer-songwriter Cormac Looby and Galway producer Pádraig Hughes bring their horses EP launch tour to Smock Alley Theatre with support from Róisín Gowen. This collaborative project tackles themes of anxiety, growth and loss with heavy influence from artists like Phoebe Bridgers, Samia and Ben Howard.
MUSICAL THEATRE | 27 – 29 Aug
Temple Bar: The Musical
Molly Mew
Main Space
On one fateful St Patrick’s day, Sonny McNamara is tasked with 7 gigs to play around Temple Bar. Everything that can go wrong will go wrong, however the show must go on.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 5 – 8, 11 + 12 Sep
Not My Real Accent
Sadhbh McLoughlin
Boys’ School
From Belgian chocolates to hot chicken rolls, after 10 years Sadhbh can finally pronounce her name right. Well, sort of…
DUBLIN FRINGE FESIVAL| 5 – 8, 10 + 12 Sep
Ratling
Genevieve Hulme-Beaman
The Black Box
Jacky keeps her house immaculate, her routine rigid and her diet exclusively Special K Red Berries. When something sinister scuttles its way into the safe haven of her Donegal home, she is rattled to her bones.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 6 – 9 Sep
Chronically Hopeful
Musici Ireland
Main Space
Blending live music, movement, text and striking visual design, and created by artists living with chronic illness and unseen disability, this immersive performance reveals the hidden, often messy truth behind “I’m fine”.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 6 + 7, 9 – 11 Sep
MERCURIAL
Rosaleen Cox, Serpentine Productions & 19th Street Productions
Boys’ School
Crocodiles. Colin Farrell’s eyebrows. Welcome to a one night stand gone full-on rogue.
A twisted, darkly comedic two-hander about toxic love and our fear of ending up alone, this sharp, warped and hilarious play asks: how far will we go to feel wanted?
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 6 – 9, 11 Sep
SUPLEX
Jaxbanded Theatre
The Black Box
Meet Danu, a trans woman who picked a terrible name, as she traverses the sissy, cissy world of wrestling, confronts shadows from her past, and tries to excel in the sport she absolutely loves, despite it not loving her back.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 8 – 12 Sep
DADDY ISSUES
Brigid Leahy | Presented by LemonSoap Productions
Main Space
Abigail is carrying the cloned fetus of Abraham Lincoln.
Joan is carrying the cloned fetus of Michael Collins.
They are making the future, making change, making…reality television. The cameras are rolling.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL| 8 – 10, 12 + 13 Sep
Mam and Love and Woo
Liam McCarthy
Boys’ School
Mam is worried her son is spending too much time alone.
So worried in fact, she hasn’t left the house in six weeks either.
Coping with the death of a loved one, their quiet lives are upended when a well-meaning community volunteer barrels into their world.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL| 9 – 12 Sep
Dead In Here
Theatre Giovanni
The Black Box
The old world is dying… A group of friends escape to a countryside manor for the weekend.
They dance. They drink. They fight.
They do anything to distract themselves from the absolute state of the world.
But something is listening from below.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 10 – 12 Sep
The Boxes
Yves Lorrhan & Inner Man Community
Main Space
A raw and honest fusion of dance and physical theatre, directed by Yves Lorrhan, who also performs alongside members of the Inner Man community group. This group is dedicated to exploring male identity and social expectations, and this new work puts their lived experience centre stage.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 14 Sep
TenderWRITE
Tenderfoot: Plays By & For Young People
Main Space
TenderWRITE invites you to see the world through the eyes of our youngest artists, playwrights aged 16 – 24, illuminating the here and the bang up to now! Stories to shine light on what it’s like to try to hope for a future when the world all around is spinning. Spinning fast. Spinning furiously. Spinning dangerously out of control.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL| 14 – 16 Sep
This Genuinely Did Happen
Ryan Carrick
Main Space
Join Ryan Carrick as he sacrifices his pride to make you laugh. His debut show is packed with stories so hilarious, awkward and wild you’d think he’d made them up… but every word is true.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL| 15 – 19 Sep
Across The Fence
Thomas Collins
Boys’ School
Jimmy is a Traveller man, Aoife is a young settled girl. Through small conversations, silences and quiet moments, their relationship begins to challenge the divisions between them. As their worlds overlap, questions of prejudice, identity and trust come to the surface.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 15 – 19 Sep
Please Break My Heart
NAF Dance
The Black Box
Taylor Swift. Shakespeare. Jane Austen. Bridget Jones. All made great art from love and heartbreak. So naturally, the next step is to get your heart broken on purpose for material.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 16 – 19 Sep
BUTCH
Crithir Productions
Boys’ School
What is a butch lesbian? What do they look like? Why do they love Subarus so much?
Worry not, YD is here to answer all.
Watch her record her latest and greatest video essay, tracing the history of gender non-conformity and highlighting notable gender-benders of the past as she goes.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 16 – 19 Sep
GRETEL
TAN & JWY
The Black Box
Hansel and Gretel, reimagined for the concrete jungle.
Homes don’t hold. Rules don’t always stick. A sofa appears. A bag must be carried. Two young people navigate a city where survival is learned and protection isn’t guaranteed. Bass travels, the story shifts and the audience begins to question what they believe in.
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL| 17 – 19 Sep
Johnny Hollywood
John Spillane
Main Space
What do cult classics, family favourites and action-packed thrillers have in common? They all need a John Spillane makeover.
Dublin Fringe Festival award winner John Spillane is remaking his favourite films… and casting himself in the lead!
DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL | 17 – 19 Sep
Welcome to Traumatraum
Speckintime
Main Space
A broken dancer’s body won’t move the way it used to.
A boy’s limp threatens to end his dream of playing football for Ireland.
A banjaxed clown has more bulging discs than a weightlifter.
This trio find themselves trapped in a warped trauma dream, where the only way out is head on.
DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL | 24 – 26 Sep
The Horse of Jenin
Palestine Comedy Club
Main Space
The Horse of Jenin tells a universal story of resilience and imagination. This show combines storytelling, mask and stand-up comedy to explore the everyday life of a boy growing up in Jenin in Occupied Palestine, who, like every child in the world, just wants to play and have fun.
DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL | 2 – 4, 6 – 10 Oct
Let Me In
Esosa Ighodaro
Main Space
Lola is a firefighter – in every part of her life. The city is on fire and Lola needs rest, but it’s almost Seán’s birthday and his friends are coming over. Let Me In is a new play by Esosa Ighodaro set in contemporary Ireland – where welcome is offered but belonging is negotiated daily. Told through warmth and humour, with a creeping sense of inevitability.
DUBLIN THEATRE FESTIVAL | 9 Oct
The Rachel Baptiste Programme: First Look
Dublin Municipal Theatre at Smock Alley
Main Space
The Rachel Baptiste Programme is a script development initiative supporting Black Irish theatre makers and writers.
This First Look event offers audiences an early encounter with new work in progress, featuring readings of excerpts by M. M. Coelho, Marcello Fidelis, Dafe Pessu Orugbo and Tierra Porter, alongside a panel discussion with the artists exploring the ideas, process and possibilities shaping these emerging plays.
MUSIC / COMEDY / SPOKEN WORD | 6 + 7 Nov
Thrum
Daniel Kitson
Main Space
There’s a duty to act and there’s a resistance to growth and there’s a new place up the road and there’s a completely redundant volume control. There’s a toilet in Hong Kong and a coffee shop in Melbourne and the passage of light through a building and deliberately making things much more difficult than they actually need to be.
And.
There’s music, more or less throughout, at least two funny voices and upwards of three jokes.