DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL 2024 Unveils New Program

Experience intimate comedy in a livingroom, lose yourself at a queer cult club night, become a player in an interactive game set on the streets of Dublin, attend a Nigerian wedding, be interviewed live on stage about donating your sperm, spend an evening with an Irish national treasure, or come see an Oscar-winning composer bring new music to the 30th Dublin Fringe Festival in a ground-breaking family show - just a sneak peek into the 30th edition of Dublin Fringe Festival which takes over Dublin city for 16 days and nights, this September:

DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL: September 7 - 22 | fringefest.com

For 30 years Dublin Fringe Festival has been a clarion call to artists to tell their stories and to reflect the issues of the moment, showing audiences how they see the world as it is and forging on anyway to educate and entertain through thick and thin. Its 2024 and there are more stories to tell. For three decades, Dublin Fringe have been shaking up Dublin city with jaw-dropping performances, mind-blowing art, and unforgettable moments. And guess what? This year is no exception! So get ready to dive into the wild, weird, and wonderful - it's the 30th edition of Dublin Fringe Festival!

This year Dublin Fringe Festival hosts 75 events while giving 520 performances in 29 venues, boasting 53 world premieres, 9 Irish premieres and 7 Dublin premieres, where over 500 artists are set to take over the city. Welcome to the 2024 Dublin Fringe Festival, where art defies boundaries, and the possibilities are truly extraordinary.

Dublin Fringe Festival is all about breaking the mold. It's a celebration of art without limits, a playground for artists to experiment, push boundaries, and defy expectations. Here, the traditional takes a back seat, making way for the new, the daring, and the downright unmissable. Festival artists are creating new works and exciting alternative spaces in the city to platform new stories that reflect the times we live in. For the 2024 edition, these creative spirits will bust us out and back into the bigger world, making us think and giving us endless fun tokens to spend during the festival's fortnight. All wrapped up in a beacon of joyous, communal energy.

This year's festival artists will tackle important themes such as family and tradition, mental health, Irish identity, inclusivity in sports, female empowerment, cultural identity and racism, queer shame and resilience, and the housing crisis, to name a few. Experience an intimate comedy show in someone's livingroom, lose yourself at a queer cult club night, become a player in an interactive game set on the streets of Dublin, attend a Nigerian wedding, be interviewed live on stage about donating your sperm, discover the hallucinogenic origins of Western theatre, get lost in the spectacle of AI-generated film, or spend an evening with an Irish national treasure. Witness stories about cancer journeys and the lack of proper widespread abortion care in Ireland. Be a spectator on the sidelines as disco, dance, and GAA collide. Experience world-class new music by an Oscar-winning composer-all taking centre stage and breathing new life into this two-week pop-up Fringe town. Reigniting a stronger pulse in the beating ecosystem that is our city. Let's take a punt and follow their lead!

David Francis Moore, Festival Director at Dublin Fringe, says: "For the past 30 years Dublin Fringe Festival has been driven by a love for the new, the now, the weird and the wonderful. This year, as we celebrate the 30th anniversary edition of the festival, we offer a vivid snapshot of our times and showcase an eclectic lineup of shows from some of today's most exciting national and international artists. These performances resonate with the present moment, breaking boundaries, sparking conversations, and creating a space for communal catharsis. The festival promises audiences unique experiences that are both thought-provoking and entertaining. We invite audiences to immerse themselves in nights brimming with laughter, unexpected twists, and perhaps even a tear or two."

Here follows a good snapshot of this year's festival SHOWS, to whet your appetite:

Cian Jordan and Allie O'Rourke bring us A GOOD ROOM, an intimate interactive comedy show that address's themes of space, community, and the housing crisis, transforming their living room into a temporary venue; Presented by Sunday's Child, Eva O'Connor and Hildegard Ryan's CHICKEN, is a play about addiction, a Kerry cockerel and the harsh truths of reality, both chicken-kind and human-kind; Rising star Sexy Tadhg is a 2023 Radical Spirit of Fringe Awardee and their new show TELEVISION is a theatrical cabaret show based on 1990's television; Alessandra Azevedo breaks new ground with her first immersive solo dance show TERRA. Giving a voice to the Irish-Brazillian community this show is about one woman's struggle to survive in a world that rejected her - until it came to love her; CoisCéim Dance Theatre celebrate 30 years this year too, with their newest production, DANCEHALL BUES. Its over ten years since they presented at Dublin Fringe and this new show by David Bolger investigates the blurred, vanishing line between fiction and fact - and unites two of Ireland's most exciting dance artists, Stephanie Dufresne and Alex O'Neill; Dead Centre return to Dublin Fringe with an adaption of a seminal book by Susan Sontag, ILLNESS AS METAPHOR - which diagnoses the way we speak about illness; Hannah Gumbrielle has a very personal cancer story to tell in her aerial production, MALIGNANT HUMOUR. Join her for every blood test and biopsy in this combo of trapeze and theatre that explores the death-defying circus act that is chemotherapy; Sport meets dance theatre as NAF Dance invite you to an exciting new piece that welcomes a whole new audience to the theatre. HAM SANDWICHES AND DISCIPLINE is saturated with comedy, tragedy and poetic play in motion. The wackiness, passion and intensity come together in encapsulating the beautiful madness of the GAA.

Fringe favourites, DREAMGUN are back with an Anthology and a definitive cut of their best Film Reads with new updated material for new updated times; Felix O'Connor tells his struggles at having to attend a single sex school as a teenage girl in his show BAD GIRL: A ONE MAN SHOW - where he proves you don't have to be good girl to grow into a better man; Funny lady Julie Jay returns to Dublin Fringe with her latest show SMIDIRÍNI - a fully 'as ghaeilge' comedy journey into a millennial's battle to stay relevant; Janet Moran with Once Off Productions set this new play AFTERWARDS in a recovery ward of a UK abortion clinic and highlight the need still for proper abortion care in Ireland; Mark T Cox has been gracing all the Fringe gays over the past few years and in his new show PADDY DADDY, he shares his tales of school scandals, secret affairs, and too many late night kisses in a Ford Fiesta.

Bill Harris brings his site-specific audio experience, ACCESSOR, where you can choose your own adventure game in one of Dublin's most historical streets; and Matthew Sharpe with Tinderbox Theatre Co. sift through a puzzle of race and identity in the play I'VE ALWAYS LIKED THE NAME MARCUS.

Rising star Joy Nesbitt makes her first foray into writing a play, in the JULIUS CEASER VARIETY SHOW. Developed at Fringe LAB the play sees three auditionees from very different identity backgrounds go for a part in one of Shakespeare's most famous plays - while looking at how cultural institutions approach diversity; Mel Mercier, MÓNCKK, Iarla Ó Lionard, Dickie Beau and Caoimhe Ní Fhlatharta join forces for a musical and artistic reflection on the natural world in a time of climate crisis in Earth SONNET; Theatre Lovett's timeless non-verbal musical tragi-comedy, THE MAESTRO & THE MOSQIUTA. A new work by award-winning writer and director, Carmel Winters, that's brought together with an original full score by Academy Award-winner Stephen Warbeck; Anna Newell's a new immersive dance show for babies aged 3-12 months, AN ATTEMPT TO TALK WITH THE BEGINNING OF THE WORLD

Shane Daniel Byrne made his Dublin Fringe debut many years ago as an actor. He returns as one of the country's top funny men fresh from sellout tours of Ireland, UK and Australia, and brings his new show TROUBLE DENIM - which is essentially about jeans, jackets and Jesus Christ; Presented by Dublin Fringe Festival ROSIN EL CHERIF is an Irish-Palestinian artist from Galway, who creates a mesmerising fusion of Arabic and Irish musical traditions. Her unique style weaves Arabic songs into mournful Irish airs, offering a poignant reflection of her dual heritage; Krisna Istha's show, FIRST TRIMESTER, explores human connection, parenthood, and what it means to create a family as a transgender person.

Aoife Sweeney O'Connor is artist-in-resident at Dublin Fringe and has developed their exciting new solo show AN EVENING WITH WEE DANIEL at FRINGE LAB. Aoife wants you to experience the magic of Daniel O'Donnell live in concert... as they share a rapturous love letter to the rural queer non-binary experience, to mammies and to our Daniel (O'Donnell); Collaborating with A.I. artist Katsukokoiso, BK Pepper explores modern day religion through evocative compositions of piano, strings, bass and electronic in their show PAGAN; Isabella Oberländer and Fearghus Ó Conchur look at queer identity through their new dance show TEARMANN AITEACH / QUEER SANCTUARY. Their dancing together celebrates what's possible between their queer bodies and others. You're invited to watch, and if you fancy, to dive in. Dress up or not. But feel free to Sparkle!; Alchemy Arts' fusion of physical theatre, contemporary circus, and multimedia in THE COLLECTOR - THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE - allows us to witness a captivating exploration of memory and self-discovery. And last but not least - the cult of RATHAUS, gives an open invitation to a night of sexy techno, pop, performance and art, in THE INITIATION. Dress in your finest cult attire, think avant-garde, symbolic, dark robes and masks. This is not just a party; it's a rite of passage. Join us, dance and let the ritual begin.

Whether you're a Dublin Fringe fanatic or a curious newcomer, there's something here to tickle your fancy. So, grab your friends, mark your calendars, and prepare to be enthralled. This isn't just a festival; it's a full-blown celebration and vibrant reflection of contemporary life, reimagined through the craft of some of the most inspiring national and international artists working today, all wrapped up in the buzzing heart of Dublin.

DUBLIN FRINGE FESTIVAL 2024 runs city-wide from September 7 - 22. The full 2024 programme is on sale now at fringefest.com or you can call our box office on 1800 374 643.

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