Culture Ireland Edinburgh 2022

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Edinburgh 2022

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Contact Sharon Barry, Director Ciarán Walsh, Showcase Manager Culture Ireland Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media 23 Kildare Street, Dublin 2, D02 TD30, Ireland E info@cultureireland.gov.ie

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Culture Ireland

Culture Ireland Edinburgh Showcase Networking Event 2022 Meet the Irish artists presenting work at this year’s Fringe.

Tuesday 23 August, 11.30am For further details and to register your interest in attending, please contact: showcases@ cutlureireland.gov.ie Culture Ireland is a division of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

Culture Ireland creates and supports opportunities for Irish artists and companies to present their work at international festivals, venues, showcases and arts markets including the Edinburgh Festivals, Celtic Connections (Glasgow), the Venice Art and Architecture Biennales, WOMEX World Music Expo, South by Southwest (in partnership with First Music Contact), Frankfurt Book Fair (in partnership with Literature Ireland), Tanzmesse and Classical: NEXT. Culture Ireland runs a regular funding scheme to support the international presentation of work by Irish artists and companies. Support is provided for both in-person and digital presentations. Applications are accepted from both participating artists and from international presenters.

Culture Ireland also operates See Here, a scheme to support the inward travel to Ireland of international presenters, curators and promoters to see new Irish work available for touring.

Full details of Culture Ireland’s grant schemes are available at: www.cultureireland.ie

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Welcome Is mór an pléisiúr dom sonraí Sheóthaispeántas Chultúr Éireann Dhún Éideann na bliana seo a chur i láthair daoibh.

It gives me great pleasure to present details of this year’s Culture Ireland Edinburgh Showcase.

Over many decades, Edinburgh in August has always been an important milestone for many Irish artists, marking their first international appearance or returning to capitalise on their previous achievements. Success at Edinburgh has also led to many international opportunities, reaching new audiences through tours as well as garnering critical and public acclaim.

This year, I am particularly delighted as Culture Ireland returns to its first in-person Edinburgh Showcase since 2019. Since the beginning of this year, I have attended many live performances

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as the arts and culture sector recovers and I have been struck by the enduring and powerful live connection between artists and audiences. I know that this will continue across Edinburgh in August and send all the participants my best wishes, sincerely hoping that they not only renew those powerful connections, but also achieve recognition for their work, leading to further international opportunities.

Recently, I launched the new Culture Ireland Strategy 2022 – 2025, which maps out a pathway for international promotion of Irish arts in the years ahead. While there are undoubtedly challenges as new touring models emerge, I am committed to ensuring that the best of Irish contemporary arts reaches the global audience it deserves.

As ever, the Showcase programme at Edinburgh relies on the commitment of our presenting partners and we are grateful to the Edinburgh International Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Dance Base, Pleasance, Summerhall, Traverse, Zoo venues and the Edinburgh International Book Festival for their ongoing loyalty to Irish artists and their work.

Wishing you all an enjoyable August in Edinburgh.

Catherine Martin, TD Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media

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PHOTO: ROS KAVANAGH

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL THEATRE

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Landmark Productions

Walking with Ghosts

Written and Performed by Gabriel Byrne Adapted from his best-selling 2020 memoir of the same name, Walking with Ghosts follows Byrne from his childhood in Ireland to his incredible career in Hollywood. Growing up on the outskirts of Dublin, Byrne sought refuge in a world of imagination among the fields and hills near his home, at the edge of a rapidly encroaching city. Eventually, he turned to amateur dramatics on the advice of a friend after failing to become a priest and a plumber.

Directed by three-time Emmy award-winning director Lonny Price, Walking with Ghosts is a lyrical homage to the people and landscapes that ultimately shape our destinies.

Walking with Ghosts marks Landmark Productions’ return to the Festival following the world premiere of Medicine, a co-production with Galway International Arts Festival, in 2021.

Wednesday 24 – Sunday 28 Aug Wed 24 – Sat 27 @7.30pm Previews Wed 24@7.30pm & Thur 25 @2.30pm Matinees Thur 25, Sat 27 & Sun 28 @2.30pm King’s Theatre 2 Leven Street Edinburgh EH3 9LQ

Booking T +44 131 473 2000 E boxoffice@eif.co.uk www.eif.co.uk/events/ walking-with-ghosts

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EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL MUSIC

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Martin Hayes and The Common Ground Ensemble Martin Hayes brings a brand new project to the Edinburgh International Festival. Hayes has cherry picked some of his favourite musicians as the core players in The Common Ground Ensemble; pianist Cormac McCarthy, cellist Kate Ellis, guitarist Kyle Sanna and bouzouki, harmonium and concertina player Brian Donnellan. Their common ground is a deep love of Irish traditional music, but each artist takes the form in new and exciting directions: jazz, avant-garde and cutting-edge contemporary classical.

Martin Hayes is one of the world’s most celebrated fiddlers in Irish traditional music. Influenced by the classical, folk and contemporary worlds, Hayes is the founder of the seminal Irish-American supergroup The Gloaming, and has collaborated with everyone from Bill Frisell and Yo-Yo Ma to Sting and Paul Simon.

Tuesday 16 Aug 8pm Leith Theatre 28–30 Ferry Road Edinburgh EH6 4AE

Booking T +44 131 473 2000 E boxoffice@eif.co.uk www.eif.co.uk/events/martinhayes-the-common-groundensemble

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PHOTO: ANDY ROSS

SHOWCASE FRINGE DANCE

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Ballet Ireland

Bold Moves A double bill featuring two Irish female choreographers, Marguerite Donlon and Zoë Ashe-Browne. Marguerite Donlon created Strokes Through the Tail for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago in 2005 taking inspiration from Mozart’s Symphony No 40 to create a work for six dancers that combines virtuosic dancing with buckets of humour and a delightful hint of irreverence. Us is a dance piece created by emerging choreographer Zoë Ashe-Browne. Reflecting on the dancers’ own experiences of emigrating, this piece tells the story of the friendships and relationships people form away from home and the lifelong significance they can hold.

Friday 5 – Sunday 14 Aug No performance on Monday 8 Aug 3pm (50 minutes)

Booking T +44 131 225 5525 E www.dancebase.co.uk www.edfest.com

Dance Base 14 – 16 Grassmarket Edinburgh EH1 2JU

Contact Martin Lindinger General Manager T +353 46 955 7585 E martin@balletireland.ie www.balletireland.ie

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PHOTO: STE MURRAY

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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Druid

The Last Return Written by Sonya Kelly Directed by Sara Joyce

Not all good things come to those who wait. One final night.

One last chance. Five people queue for a ticket to the hottest show in town. All they must do is simply wait in line. But what in life is ever simple? Who will triumph, who will fail, and who will walk away with… The Last Return? A new play by acclaimed playwright Sonya Kelly (Once Upon a Bridge, How to Keep an Alien), The Last Return is a thrilling comedy about conflict, peace and the pursuit of territory at any cost.

‘Packs a terrific, touching punch’ Sunday Independent on Once Upon a Bridge

★★★★★ ‘Inventive and delightfully magnetic theatre’ The Herald on How to Keep an Alien Thursday 4 – Sunday 28 Aug Previews Thursday 4 and Saturday 6 Aug Various Times – please see grid at the back of this brochure No performance on 5, 8, 15 & 22 Aug (1 hour 20 minutes) Traverse Theatre 10 Cambridge St Edinburgh EH1 2ED

Booking T +44 131 228 1404 E boxoffice@traverse.co.uk www.traverse.co.uk/whats-on/ event/the-last-return Contact Feargal Hynes Executive Director, Druid T +353 91 568660 E feargal.hynes@druid.ie www.druid.ie

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PHOTO: EVA SCANLAN

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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Fishamble: The New Play Company

King by Pat Kinevane: A work-in-progress Performed by Pat Kinevane, Directed by Jim Culleton Triple Fringe First and Olivier award-winning Fishamble presents a special work-in-progress of KING by Herald Archangel winner Pat Kinevane, directed by 2019 Irish Times Best Director winner Jim Culleton. KING tells the story of Luther, a man born on the day Martin Luther King was assassinated, who only leaves his apartment to perform as an Elvis impersonator. Previous collaborations FORGOTTEN, SILENT, UNDERNEATH, and BEFORE, have been called BRILLIANT (Irish Times), EXTRAORDINARY (New York Times), STUNNING (Scotsman), DAZZLING (Guardian), and MESMERISING (Sydney Morning Herald). KING will premiere in 2023. Be the first to catch a glimpse of this new production in the making.

Thursday 11 – Sunday 14 Aug 6:10pm (40 minutes) Dance Base 14 – 16 Grassmarket Edinburgh EH1 2JU

Booking T +44 131 225 5525 www.dancebase.co.uk www.edfest.com Contact Eva Scanlan Executive Director, Fishamble: The New Play Company T +353 86 389 4184 E eva@fishamble.com www.fishamble.com

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PHOTO: STE MURRAY

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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Brokentalkers and Adrienne Truscott

MASTERCLASS Using real life examples of unnamed divisive but celebrated playwrights, Masterclass uses existing material to let these very artists reveal uncomfortable truths about themselves, and by extension, about our culture.

Masterclass begins as a parody of the celebrated lineage of the great male artist. It’s fun. It’s familiar. But there is something else at play, and something very serious at stake.

Formally the piece is satirical, playful and absurd, challenging the audience at every turn. Masterclass blends the fearless and savagely comedic feminist discourse of Truscott with the subversive and formally slippery dramaturgy that has become the hallmark of Brokentalkers’ work.

★★★★★ “What sets Brokentalkers’ and Adrienne Truscott’s fruitful collaboration apart is how it resembles an outward sign of inward changes: an industry reckoning with its own direction” The Irish Times Wednesday 3 – Sunday 28 Aug Previews 3 & 4 Aug No performance on 10, 15 & 22 Aug 5:40pm (60mins) Pleasance Dome – JackDome Bristo Place, Edinburgh

Booking T +44 20 7609 1800 E info@pleasance.co.uk www.pleasance.co.uk/event/ masterclass#overview Contact Rachel Bergin Creative Producer T +353 87 657 6348 E mail@brokentalkers.ie www.brokentalkers.ie

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PHOTO: SEAN BREITHAUPT

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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United Fall/Emma Martin

Night Dances Created and Choreographed by Emma Martin, Music by Daniel Fox (Gilla Band), Design by Katie Davenport, Lighting Design by Stephen Dodd.

A series of dance poems expressing the invisible energetic, connective tissue that joins us.

An assault on the senses and an ode to the body, all breathing the same air, blood, sweat and tears.

Love, fury, pride sharing a moment.

Punch a hole into the future.

A deep groove for our eyes, ears and hearts.

This one’s for all of us. The time for dancing has come.

May the salt from our sweat unite us.

A co-production with Dublin Theatre Festival.

★★★★ “Raucous, loud, sweaty…a thrilling hour of relentless dancing and music” The Irish Times Wednesday 17 – Sunday 28 Aug Preview 17 Aug No performance on Monday 22 Aug 10:30pm (1 hour) Zoo Southside – Main House 117 Nicolson Street Newington Edinburgh EH8 9ER

Booking T +44-131-226-0000 E customerservices@edfringe.com Edinburgh Fringe website: https://tickets.edfringe.com/ whats-on/night-dances Zoo Festival Website: https://zoofestival.co.uk/ programme/night-dances/ Contact Pádraig Heneghan Producer T +353 87 638 2931 E padraig@unitedfall.com

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IMAGE: LAURA CRAIG DESIGN

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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SkelpieLimmer

Two Fingers Up Written and Directed by Seón Simpson and Gina Donnelly Performed by Orla Graham, Shannon Wilkinson and Leanne Devlin Remember when your religion teacher taught you about ridin’? And the school nurse told you to shave your pits? Or here, discovering your clit the first time? Wait, you haven’t yet? You don’t wank? Women don’t? My hole, they don’t.

Stick two fingers up and come with us on a journey back to your teenage self, to being scundered, to self-discovery, to abstinence-only sex education, to Northern Ireland: a country of wankers.

“There is absolutely nothing ladylike about this show […]

A riotously enjoyable female three hander” Lyn Gardner “Unapologetic, unfiltered, and uncompromising, Two Fingers Up grasps the audience by the unmentionables.” The Reviews Hub

Wednesday 3 – Sunday 28 Aug Previews 3 & 4 Aug No performance on 15 & 22 Aug 6:30pm (55 minutes) Summerhall – Cairns Lecture Theatre 1 Summerhall Edinburgh EH9 1PL

Booking https://festival.summerhall.co.uk/ events/two-fingers-up/ Contact Gina Donnelly Writer/Director/Producer T +44 79 2849 8227 E gina.skelpielimmer@outlook.com www.skelpielimmerproductions.com

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PHOTO: PATO CASSINONI

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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Dan Colley and Riverbank Arts Centre

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings Inspired by Gabriel García Márquez

In a kitchen, in a theatre, two storytellers and their audience find something remarkable — a very old man with enormous wings. The wise neighbour woman tells us he’s an angel. The priest says he’s an imposter. Pilgrims flock to see him, hoping to be healed by him, hoping for a gawp. They leave with something different than what they expected.

Adapted from Gabriel García Márquez’s Un señor muy viejo con unas alas enormes, Dan Colley and company bring this classic piece of magical realism to the stage in search of its beautiful, strange, emotional richness.

For children 8+ and adults of all ages.

★★★★ “a model of ingenuity” The Irish Times ★★★★★ “fifty minutes of near theatrical perfection” The Arts Review Wednesday 3 – Sunday 28 Aug Previews 3 & 4 Aug No performance on 15 & 22 Aug 10am (50 minutes)

Booking https://festival.summerhall.co.uk/ events/a-very-old-man-withenormous-wings/

Summerhall – Main Hall 1 Summerhall Edinburgh EH9 1PL

Contact Matthew Smyth Co-Producer T +353 86 811 7772 E smythmatthew4@gmail.com https://www.riverbank.ie/

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PHOTO: JASSY EARL

SHOWCASE FRINGE THEATRE

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Sunday’s Child in association with Fishamble: The New Play Company

Mustard

By Eva O’Connor, Directed by Hildegard Ryan Fringe First winning Sunday’s Child, in association with triple Fringe First and Olivier winning Fishamble, return to Summerhall with the 2019 hit show Mustard by Eva O’Connor.

When E meets the man of her dreams, a professional cyclist, love hits her in the pubic bone like a train. But when it ends she plummets into a black hole of heartbreak at the speed of a doped up team on the Tour de France.

A darkly comic play about heartbreak, madness, and how condiments are the ultimate coping mechanism.

WINNER Scotsman Fringe First Award 2019 WINNER Lustrum Award, Edinburgh 2019 NOMINATED Scottish Mental Health Awards 2019 ★★★★ Scotsman ★★★★★ Ed Fest Mag ★★★★ The Wee Review ★★★★ Broadway Baby Mustard was previously supported by Culture Ireland as part of digital Edinburgh showcase in 2020 and for international performances in Scotland and the US.

Wednesday 3 – Sunday 28 Aug Previews 3 & 4 Aug No performances 15 or 22 Aug 2:45pm (60 minutes) Summerhall – Main Hall 1 Summerhall Edinburgh EH9 1PL

Booking https://tickets.edfringe.com/ whats-on/mustard https://festival.summerhall.co.uk/ events/mustard/ Contact Eva Scanlan Executive Director, Fishamble: The New Play Company T +353 86 389 4184 E eva@fishamble.com www.fishamble.com

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Edinburgh International Book Festival 13 – 29 August 2022

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Edinburgh College of Art 74 Lauriston Place Edinburgh EH3 9DF Booking T +44 (0) 345 373 5888 E boxoffice@edbookfest.co.uk Full Festival details are available here: www.edbookfest.co.uk Culture Ireland continues its support of the Edinburgh International Book Festival and its programme. The following is a selection of the many events featuring Irish writers.

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INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

Audrey Magee: Still Waters Run Deep Thursday 18 August 4:30pm – 5:30pm Baillie Gifford West Court

Two men arrive on an island, one to paint it, the other to record its speech.

Amid their rivalry, the islanders discover their own relationship with the place they call home. Audrey Magee’s second novel, The Colony, tackles questions of identity, art and power. The subtle beauties of her prose have been compared to the work of Colm Tóibín and Anne Enright. In Conversation with Peggy Hughes.

Sinéad Burke & Rosie Jones: School Camp Capers Ages 8-12 Saturday 20 August 10am – 11am Baillie Gifford Sculpture Court

Edie Eckhart is 11 years old and a bit different. She has a disability called cerebral palsy, so she talks slowly and falls over a lot. Join comedian Rosie Jones with activist and Irish author Sinéad Burke as they discuss Edie Eckhart’s latest adventure The Big Trip, disability in children’s books and why they are proud to be different.

INTERNATIONAL BOOK FESTIVAL

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Claire Keegan & Alex Hyde: All Things Great and Small Saturday 20 August 1:30pm - 2:30pm Baillie Gifford West Court

Two gripping novels full of insight and empathy explore the complexities of family life and parenthood. Alex Hyde’s Violets is about two mothers: one who decides to give her baby up for adoption and another who chooses to adopt. Claire Keegan’s Small Things Like These conjures up the world of an Irish man facing a midlife crisis, whose outlook is challenged when he encounters a young mother locked in a convent coal shed. Hyde and Keegan speak to Chris Power today.

Liner Notes: Sinéad Gleeson on Kate Bush Tuesday 23 August 5pm – 6:30pm Castle View Studio

Liner Notes is a new Festival series for 2022. Join writer, journalist and editor of This Woman’s Work: Essays on Music, Sinéad Gleeson, for a close listen to the work of musician, producer and dancer Kate Bush. This open discussion will be an enjoyable audible adventure for those with deep knowledge of Bush’s work, and for newcomers.

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Colm Tóibín: Man Imagines Man Wednesday 24 August 8:30pm – 9:30pm Central Hall

It’s been a year of recognition for Colm Tóibín. First the writer was announced as the new Irish Laureate for Fiction and then he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for a lifetime of achievement. He’s also published a first book of poetry, Vinegar Hill and his novel about Thomas Mann, The Magician, has won the Rathbones Folio Prize. Join Tóibín in discussion with Rathbones Folio Prize judge Tessa Hadley.

Luke Cassidy: Iron Annie Cabaret Wednesday 24 August 8:30pm – 10:30pm Wee Red Bar

Adapted from Luke Cassidy’s debut novel, this stage show tells the story of Aoife and her obsessive love affair with Annie. Dive into the fictive drug-fuelled underworld of the Irish town of Dundalk and discover a swaggering cast of lovers, chancers and bare-knuckle fighters. This is a spectacle of spoken word and music based on the book Iron Annie, featuring musicians and writers from the vibrant Dundalk scene.

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Anne Enright: Writing is a Life Friday 26 August 8:30pm – 9:30pm Central Hall

In 2015, Anne Enright was appointed as the inaugural Laureate of Irish Fiction.

‘It’s great to have Ireland to write about,’ she said, ‘it’s a great resource.’

The appointment recognised Enright’s status as a chronicler of the times, of the complex lives of regular people and of women in particular. Join Enright as she speaks to Louise Kennedy about her life’s work and finding inspiration in Ireland.

Lucy Caldwell & Louise Kennedy: Belfast in the Blood Saturday 27 August 4:30pm – 5:30pm Baillie Gifford West Court

Meet two authors of novels about life in an extraordinary city. In Lucy Caldwell’s These Days, it’s 1941 and Belfast has escaped the worst of the war, until the Blitz brings devastation. Now, two sisters must find a way to carry on.

Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses is set 30 years later, when a schoolteacher’s relationship with a married man sets her on a path towards violence – and lines she never thought she’d cross.

Caldwell and Kennedy appear in conversation with Sasha de Buyl.

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Edinburgh Delegates

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Joanne Beirne Executive Producer Branar T +353 87 206 7946 E joanne@branar.ie www.branar.ie

Branar is one of Ireland’s leading theatre companies for making work for children. Based in the West of Ireland Branar is renowned for creating highly imaginative and beautiful work. Recent productions include an adaptation of Oliver Jeffers’ How to Catch a Star, Sruth na Teanga a large scale immersive poetic journey through the history of the Irish language commissioned for Galway 2020 European Capital of Culture, and Rothar a predominantly non-verbal performance piece that includes elements of circus.

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Michelle Cahill Company Line Producer Junk Ensemble T +353 87 965 0505 E hello@junkensemble.com www.junkensemble.com

Junk Ensemble was founded in Dublin in 2004 by twin sisters Megan and Jessica Kennedy. The company is committed to engaging diverse audiences through the creation and presentation of brave, imaginative and accessible work that sheds light on important human issues relevant to society today. Current Project Arts Centre Associate Artists & previous Dance Artists-in-Residence at The Tate, Junk Ensemble is a multi-award winning company that has built a reputation as one of Ireland’s leading voices in dance.

Premiered in May 2022, Dances Like a Bomb is their latest work performed by acclaimed actor Mikel Murfi and leading Irish dance artist Finola Cronin.

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Niamh O’Donnell Director

Leigh Hussey

Programme Manager Irish Theatre Institute T +353 1 670 4906 E nodonnell@irishtheatreinstitute.ie www.irishtheatreinstitute.ie

Irish Theatre Institute (ITI) is a resource organisation for the professional theatre sector in Ireland whose mission is to create opportunities abroad and strengthen resources at home for theatre artists, companies, venues and festivals. ITI, in partnership with Culture Ireland, presents Information Toolbox and International Theatre eXchange to enable international presenters and festivals to travel to Dublin to see Irish work and engage with Irish artists and companies. ITI has been involved in Culture Ireland’s annual Edinburgh event as a co-organiser and as a delegate since 2006.

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Maura O’Keeffe Producer/Director Once Off Productions T +353 87 223 4201 E maura@onceoffproductions.com www.onceoffproductions.com

Established by Maura O’Keeffe in 2004, Once Off Productions provides a structured and creative producing platform for independent performing artists making ambitious, innovative and collaborative work. Working nationally and internationally at all scales, Once Off is committed to bringing performance to audiences in traditional and nontraditional locations. The company supports and collaborates with a wide range of artists across theatre, dance, opera and music including: Michael Gallen/ Straymaker, Janet Moran, Company Philip Connaughton, Dylan Coburn Gray, Laura Murphy, Eoghan Carrick, Colin Dunne, Kwaku Fortune, Christian O’Reilly, Peter Power, Medb Lambert & Donal Gallagher/Asylum Productions, Manchán Magan, Mel Mercier and others.

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DELEGATES

Carla Rogers Producer THISISPOPBABY T +353 86 073 6523 E carla@thisispopbaby.com www.thisispopbaby.com

THISISPOPBABY creates new contexts for theatre, bringing significant & diverse audiences to the arts and supports exceptional artists to make their best work. The company is passionate about fostering community, inclusion & equality & believe in the power of art to affect change. In 202122, THISISPOPBABY will premier five new theatre works, all of which will be available for touring from 2023: Conversations After Sex by Mark O’Halloran, a dance-theatre piece Party Scene, WAKE, Tara Flynn’s play Haunted, and a new solo show by Panti Bliss, If These Wigs Could Talk.

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DESIGN: GARETH JONES

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