| July 26th, 2011 2011 Programme Announced! |
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Today, Tuesday 26th July, Artistic Director Loughlin Deegan unveiled his final programme for the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival which includes 28 shows in 25 venues, running over 18 days from September 29 –October 16 2011 proving once again that Dublin loves DRAMA. The 2011 Festival is the culmination of Loughlin’s five years at the artistic helm and the programme includes a number of world renowned International theatre companies and directors many of whom he has been trying to bring to Dublin for many years. The Festival continues to nurture and showcase the work of young Irish companies alongside many Irish theatrical giants. It also sees the world première of an Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival commission with the support of Irish Theatre Trust. Artistic Director, Loughlin Deegan said: “I am very proud to present my fifth and final Festival programme which includes a particularly strong Irish programme, alongside many international artists and companies whose work I have been endeavouring to bring to Dublin throughout my time as Artistic Director. I am also very proud to present the first new Festival commission in 11 years – Colm Tóibín’s Testament that will be co-produced with Landmark Productions.” John McGrane, Head of Product and Service Sales in Ulster Bank said: “Ulster Bank is delighted to continue our association with the Festival for our fifth year. Each year just keeps getting better - the Festival represents the very best of Irish and international theatre. At Ulster Bank, we understand that the arts make a significant contribution to the communities in which we live and work. Rory McCarthy, Fáilte Ireland’s Festivals and Events Officer, commented: “As the national tourism development authority, Fáilte Ireland is delighted to be supporting the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival –one of a number of key events in Dublin’s busy tourism calendar for 2011. Festivals are an integral part of Irish tourism, and the variety and array of events interspersed into every corner of Ireland give visitors the opportunity to see all that Ireland has to offer. Fáilte Ireland is also working closely with the Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival, Tourism Ireland, Dublin City Council and other key events on the Development of Dublin Festival Season, a long term project to drive significant numbers of international visitors to Dublin each September and October by building international awareness of this culturally rich period in Dublin’s Tourism Calendar.” INTERNATIONAL WORK Each year the Festival gives audiences the opportunity to see many world class shows and enjoy unique Festival experiences. 2011 is no exception and features a wealth of exciting international work. Opening the Festival in the Gaiety Theatre is the spellbinding and breathtaking Donka, A letter to Chekhov, a dazzling feat of aerial acrobatics, multi-media illusion and circus magic. Renowned for astonishing audiences on Broadway with the Tony award-nominated Brief Encounter Kneehigh is one of the most innovative and exhilarating theatre companies in the world and is set to take Dublin by storm with a brand new show, The Wild Bride. Kneehigh, whose Festival debut is well overdue is known for its magical renderings of well known fairy tales and this is a production not to be missed. One of the major international directors Loughlin has been working on bringing over for many years is the world renowned Dutch director Ivo van Hove so it is with great pride that the Festival presents the stark and contemporary production of abandonment and despair, La Voix Humaine from the largest repertory theatre in the Netherlands, Toneelgroep Amsterdam. After stunning audiences at the 2006 Dublin Dance Festival with vsprs les ballets C de la B, one of the most influential dance theatre companies in the world led by the celebrated director Alain Platel, returns to Dublin this year with Gardenia. This flamboyant and defiant tale featuring seven aging transsexuals and transvestites who through feather boas and fake eyelashes, convey the indomitable nature of the human spirit. Other international work includes: 1927return to Dublin with their wickedly twisted new show The Animals and the Children took to the Streetsin their trademark macabre cabaret style. 2010 saw the addition of axis: Ballymun to the list of venues and this year will present Itsoseng from Capetown, a powerful one man performance (Edinburgh Fringe First winner) THE RADICAL MIND A central strand of the 2011 Festival will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Goethe-Institut in Ireland. In The Radical Mind the Festival will present three independent contemporary works from Germany (supported by the Goethe-Institut). In acknowledgement of Goethe’s magnitude as an original and radical thinker, and the ongoing centrality of radical thinking within contemporary German society, The Radical Mind season will focus on leading experimenters and innovators within its thriving theatre scene. Shows will include: She She Pop and their Fathers: Testament, Othello c’est qui and Gob Squad’s Revolution Now! Alongside the main stage shows, there will be two panel discussions, The Radical Mind and From Boston to Berlin?; and music at the Odessa Club with Kaleidoscope. IRISH PRODUCTIONS A commitment to encouraging and supporting new Irish theatre features strongly in this year’s Festival with a vibrant Irish programme strand, the return of ReViewed for the fourth consecutive year and Festival commissions with the support of the Irish Theatre Trust. One such commission reaches the stage in 2011.The Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival is delighted, in conjunction with Landmark Productions, to present the world premiere of a new work by Colm Tóibín Testament, directed by Tony award-winner Garry Hynes. Performed by one of Ireland’s foremost actors, Marie Mullen, this is a provocative and searingly honest play which asks big questions about what we believe, who we believe and why. Following the sell out success Phaedra in 2010 Rough Magic return to the Festival with a fast paced, funny and fantastical new version of the epic Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, reuniting Arthur Riordan, writer of the 2004 hit Improbable Frequency, and directed by Lynne Parker. 2011 will see the return of renowned choreographer Michael Keegan Dolan (Fabulous Beast) who wowed audiences in the past with Giselle and The Bull. Working with leading musician Liam Ó Maonlaí, Rian will unite a company of musicians and dancers to explore the tension and harmony between Irish traditional music and modern dance, inspired by Seán Ó Riada’s seminal recording Ó Riada sa Gaiety. The Abbey Theatre in co-production with The National Theatre of Great Britain presents an exciting new production of Juno and the Paycockdirected by Howard Davies with cast including Sinéad Cusack and Ciarán Hinds. Meanwhile in the Peacock Theatre, the Abbey Theatre will present a new work by Marina Carr, directed by Wayne Jordan entitled 16 Possible Glimpses. Adynamic new play of colliding visuals, words and music reimagining the life of Anton Chekhov. The Gate Theatre will present Hugo Hamilton’s best-selling memoir The Speckled People a profoundly moving story directed by Patrick Mason, cast including Stephen Brennan, Denis Conway and John Kavanagh. Throughout Loughlin Deegan’s five year artistic directorship the Festival has specifically nurtured and showcased many young Irish Theatre Companies. One such company Brokentalkers (Silver Stars 2010) is staging a powerful new show, The Blue Boy following their very successful showing during In Development in 2010. Using their innovative style of performance, multi-media and dance, The Blue Boy gives fresh theatrical voice to recently revealed stories of childhood abuse in Ireland. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS This deeply intimate programme strand focuses on the private lives of Dublin city’s inhabitants not always in the public eye. Centring on issues often ignored - some in the past, some present - Laundry, Trade, Request Programme, and World End’s Lane, give us a glimpse into often forgotten facet of Irish society. Reflecting the every ever-changing physical landscape of the city, the Festival is presenting seven shows in non-traditional spaces around Dublin. From a castle in the suburbs to a grotty guesthouse in the city centre, each site-specific production uniquely tells its own story. These include: The Lulu House(Siren Productions) from director Selina Cartmell composed by Conor Linehan with cast Camille O’Sullivan and Lorcan Cranitch staged in an old historic Dublin House; Set in a city centre apartment the haunting and hypnotic Request Programme presented by Corcadorca and starringEileen Walsh; Laundry the second instalment in a series exploring the social history of Dublin’s North inner-city (first instalment World’s End Lane – can be seen in ReViewed) brings the audience into the world of a former Magdalene Laundry; THISISPOPBABY returns with Mark O’Halloran’s first stage play in 10 years, Trade, set in a rundown guesthouse in Dublin’s north inner city a vulnerable and confused young rent boy sits with a middle-aged client. REVIEWED The Festival is delighted to present the fourth year of the highly successful ReViewedshowcase, an initiative of Culture Ireland, Irish Theatre Institute and Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival. This curated programme is presented during the Festival to an invited delegation of international programmers and presenters from key festivals and venues worldwide; andoffers an opportunity to promote Irish theatre as well as reviving successful Irish work for Festival audiences. This year five very different Irish productions from the last 12 months will be presented. The sell-out comic hit of last Summer, Slattery’s Sago Saga by The Performance Corporation will be restaged in the magnificent surrounds of Rathfarnham Castle; Four of the best shows from the hugely successful 2010 Absolut Fringe feature including the winner of the Spirit of the Fringe award, THEATREclub, with the inventive and hard-hitting HEROIN; World’s End Lane, a provocative and personal journey into a once notorious red light district in Dublin’s north inner city; the gripping story of a father fighting for salvation, Fight Night; and a fresh and human love story I Heart Alice Heart I travels to four different venues in Dublin as part of Festival on Tour. THE FAMILY SEASON Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival and The Ark, A Cultural Centre for Children, join forces once again to present a season of acclaimed international productions for families. The 2011 season features companies from Denmark and Belgium and welcomes back three of the best companies in the world making theatre for young people - Teatret Gruppe 38, Studio ORKA andCarte Blanche. This year’s Family Season will transport audiences to far away worlds in kaleidoscopic tunnels; to a spooky birthday party with a difference in a musty old house; and includes a hilarious new version of a well known tale featuring an exceptionally moody chicken! OTHER EVENTS In Development will feature showcase presentations of works in progress. The Maeve Brennan Project directed by Annabelle Comyn written by award-winning author Emma Donoghue, and Politik from The Company Tear Down the Wallsis Project Brand New will invite six artists to a former industrial space, The Hendron Building to explore the current shift in the physical theatrical landscape with the renewed access of non-traditional spaces as a result of economic change. Other Festival Special Events will include: Thoughts from the Festival , a series of free panel discussions presented in association with RTÉ Radio 1 responding to the various themes and strands in this year’s programme; Rewarding Rewording a series of public interviews on the nature of adaptation presented in association with the Gate Lab; Acting Out, a new programme of Festival workshops presented in association with The Lir; Drama in The Air, in association with RTÉ Radio ‘s Drama on One, a series of public performances of radio theatre at The Mill Theatre Dundrum, aired on RTÉ Radio 1 during the Festival; a symposium considering the changes stages of alternative theatre, Curating Contemporary Performance: Making a Scene; the return of the Young Critics’ Panel, the International Critics’ Forum; the Irish Theatre Institute’s International Theatre Exchange; and the artist development initiatives The Next Stage and the Gate Lab Directors’ Symposium. BOOKING DETAILS: Priority booking for Friends of the Festival from 1pm 26th July (to become a friend contact 01 677 8439) Public booking opens 9.30am 16th August t: 01 677 8899 w: www.dublintheatrefestival.com a: 44 East Essex Street, Temple Bar, Dublin 2 (booking fees may apply) Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pix.ie | BLOG |
Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival receives financial assistance from the Arts Council. Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of its Title Sponsor. Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival is proudly supported by Principal Sponsors Dublin Airport Authority, The Doyle Collection and The Irish Times.
Press information: Sinead O'Doherty / Gerry Lundberg, Gerry Lundberg Public Relations
Tel: 01 679 8476/086 259 1070 pr@gerrylundbergpr.com |
