Dublin Theatre Festival
27 September – 14 October
Dublin is setting the scene for some juicy drama. Trotting into town with a thespian pep in its step is the Dublin Theatre Festival. As Europe’s oldest specialist theatre festival, they’ve been at this game since 1957.
As always, the stage will be set for powerful, bewildering, and thought-provoking works from around the world. From Broadway hits to home-grown talent, from white birdsongs for toddlers to the dark heart of Dorian Gray– just not all in the same show.
Shows to bank on
Humour and humanity collide in Deirdre Kinahan’s Halcyon Days. Join her in her exploration of the human spirit in the face of seemingly hopeless circumstance. Inspired by one woman’s inner collision of Ireland and America, in The Talk of the Town, Emma Donoghue (author of The Room) returns to the stage with a dazzling new work about the life and work of a pioneering writer and remarkable woman. Meanwhile Joyce’s Dubliners will be getting the stage adaptation it deserves and promises to be a sharply provocative and relevant affair.
Festival gems
This year's festival is a display of sparkling humour, shocking honesty and bold exploration. We can't wait to see the clown duo Okidok dazzle young audiences, while the older generations are gripped by Zachary Oberzan's perfromance of Your Brother Remember? Kaleidoscope is an intimate evening of music of all genres in the Odessa Club. Public Face III will be for all of Dublin to see: a giant neon smiley above the city skyline that reflects the city's mood. We anticipate one big happy face.
Follow the words
Literary lineage is kind of Dublin’s thing – a visit to the James Joyce Centre will attest to that. The Dublin Writers Museum is the next stop on your literary tradition tour, combine it with a moment of quiet reflection in the The Garden of Remembrance across the street. Lounge with Oscar Wilde in Merrion Square, then strut down O'Connell Street to get your photo taken with a bronze James Joyce, before popping into the iconic Sweny’s pharmacy from Ulysses.
