News that “all scheduled in-person events can no longer happen” earlier this month delivered a devastating blow to all arts events in recent weeks. Yet, in the face of the sudden onset of level-three restrictions in the capital, the team behind Dublin Theatre Festival (DTF) powered through. Holding a festival in such tumultuous times is no easy task, yet DTF has risen to the occasion. While various heart-wrenching alterations have had to be made to the programme, there are still many enticing productions available – all of which break the boundaries of traditional performance in pioneering ways.
The Party to End All Parties
ANU productions is one of Ireland’s leading theatre companies. By pushing the boundaries of performance conventions time after time, it consistently creates innovative exchanges with audiences. In this new show, ANU invites audiences to join the company on a personal and interactive journey through a night that shaped Irish history: April 18th, 1949 – the night that Ireland became a Republic. Inspired by the events of this night in 1949, this piece is set to be intensely enlightening.
The Party to End All Parties will now be streamed live for free on the DTF website and across social media channels on October 8th.
EMBARGO
In September 1920, a tense moment in the Irish War of Independence, dockers and railwaymen refused to transport any armed troops or handle any weapons arriving from Britain. To mark the remembrance of these events of civil resistance, Fishamble is set to stage a site-responsive production in Connolly station and at Dublin Port Company respectively. This politically charged piece will use an industrial setting to tell a tale of poetic passion.
This piece will be shared with audiences online on October 11th at 7pm. All ticket holders will be contacted directly by the box office or by Fishamble with more information. Tickets at €11.50.
To Tell You The Truth
Jo Fong and Sonia Hughes are two artists who live in Yorkshire and Wales respectively. For this piece, they have invited six people to partake in one-to-one conversations. Each day, a film will be released dealing with the contents of these raw and unscripted conversations. Navigating a careful balance between simple answers and complex questions, this piece promises to be thought-provoking.
To Tell you the Truth, will be available online from September 28th to October 3rd at 1pm.
To Be A Machine
Developed and supported by the Science Gallery at Trinity College Dublin, To Be A Machine takes its audience on an exploration of technological possibility. Upon ticket purchase, the company asks each of its audience members to record a 30 second video of their face, so that they can be “uploaded” into the virtual performance. Starring Game of Thrones actor Jack Gleeson, and inspired by a book by Mark O’Connell, this performance is set to exhilarate those interested in the limits of live performance.
To Be A Machine will take place online from October 1st to 3rd and October 6th to 10th, at 7.30pm. Tickets are €12 to €15.
The Great Hunger
This new adaptation of the Patrick Kavanagh poem takes its audience on an open air journey that will bring an epic masterpiece to life. With award-winning Irish theatre makers Caitríona McLaughlin and Conall Morrison directing, this piece is set to be a triumph. Following a number of setbacks after new restrictions, the team have successfully found an apt space for the performance in the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA). The piece will be in open air and will entail a walking distance of 1.7km.
The Great Hunger will take place at the IMMA on October 2nd, 3rd and again from October 5th to 10th. There will be five performances per evening at staggered start times. Tickets are €15 to €30.
Dublin Theatre Festival has made a series of new updates to its programme. In light of the losses suffered from cancellations and postponements, a series of new online events will be streamed as part of the festival, including “A New Ireland Now”, the “Young Critics’ Panel” and “Persians, the Podcast”. The Pavillion Theatre is also hosting “New Plays @ Pavilion Theatre – Striking Back”, as part of the festival. This production will showcase three new plays in rehearsed readings by established playwrights and directors.
Further information about these updates can be found on the Dublin Theatre Festival website.
