Dublin Fringe Festival returns with a bang - 10 must-see shows
Full of bold nights out, big ideas and belly laughs, the 2025 Dublin Fringe Festival programme highlights joy, community, brazen truths and blazing dance floors, with performances created by artists who showcase excellence, experimentation and dedication.
There are experiences spread across the city map, packages in the post that ask you to reimagine your home and tasting menus curated from Irish biodiversity, alongside all your Fringe favourite shows that stay with you long after the curtain falls.
Here is your Top 10 to help kick-start your 2025 Dublin Fringe diary; whether you're a first-timer or seasoned pro, you don't want to miss it!
1/ THE REVENGER'S TRAGEDY by +353 and Kevin Keogh, is a co-presentation by the Abbey Theatre and Dublin Fringe Festival. Performed with a live orchestra, this retelling of a theatrical classic engages with black identity and drill music culture. Come experience this modern encounter with Jacobean verse and one of Ireland's most prominent underground subcultures.
2/ AM I THE A**HOLE from Dafe Orugbo and Lisa Nally: join a live interactive courtroom drama like you've never seen before and sign up to be a member of a jury - this satirical, comedic and experimental show about social politics turns the theatre-going experience into a game of cunning and manipulation.
3/ BIG from Alison Spittle - In this brand new comedy show, Alison confronts misogyny, sexuality, classism, death and M&Ms in a hilarious and often angry show about the change that the last year of her life has imposed upon her and about her recent weight-loss and health journey. This should go to the top of your Fringe bucket list.
4/ CHANGE by Croí Glan is a new dance show from the integrated dance company, speaking to disability, environmental change and immigration. This ground-breaking performance weaves a powerful call to climate action through movement, music, and diverse bodies in motion.
5/ CLASH AT THE QUAYS! II: LOKOMANIA: Join some of Ireland's finest musicians; Ahmed, With Love, Sloucho, VaticanJail, Julia Louise Knifefist, Lil Skag, Curtisy and Kibo, as they take to the ring to settle some scores. Expect musical rivalries, wrestling blood-feuds, and suplex-level silliness as live music collides with the wacky world of professional wrestling.
6/ GOOD WITH FACES by Oisin Kearney is a riveting new play from the critically acclaimed theatre-maker; it's a contemporary exploration of families, abuse and what it means to care.
7/ ITCH by Christopher McAuley is an aerial work exploring Chris's experiences as a young man growing up in post-Troubles Belfast with chronic eczema as a queer Catholic person.
8/ OCTOPUS CHILDREN by FELISPEAKS: Feli returns to Dublin Fringe with a new theatre show exploring their experience growing up Black and Irish. Created with theatre mavericks, THISISPOPBABY, there will be amazing music, spoken word woven throughout. This work speaks to conversations of a contemporary Ireland.
9/ PEA DINNEEN: RAISING HER VOICE: Exploring contemporary Irish womanhood, through the journey of a trans woman, join niche cabaret legend Pea Dinneen and her fabulous band for this world premiere as she sings her way through a powerful story about herself, her country and her voice.
10/ THE FUTURE IS EGG: superstars in cabaret, EGG, welcome us to the year 3000, where the future of Ireland is EGG — a dazzling DIY cabaret spectacular for the queers of tomorrow, today! We're looking ahead to a future worth celebrating, in all its eggy, gooey, filthy, gorgeous glory. With performances from the fiercest cabaret stars the galaxy has to offer!
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
36 minutes ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Absolutely stunning', gush fans as Ireland AM star Siomha Ni Ruairc wows in stylish maternity look on air
IRELAND AM star Siomha Ni Ruairc proved maternity fashion can be both stylish and practical as she stepped out on air in a "gorgeous" dress. The Virgin Media host and her UFC fighter husband Cathal Pendred revealed last month that they're expecting their first child together. Advertisement 2 Siomha looked stunning on Ireland AM Credit: Instagram 2 The mum-to-be has been keeping fans updated on her pregnancy journey Credit: Instagram Siomha has been keeping her fans up to date on her pregnancy journey on social media. The popular presenter was back on air yesterday for another fun-filled show alongside her usual co-hosts. Siomha later took to Instagram to showcase the stylish work outfit she decided to wear. The mum-to-be looked stunning as she modelled the gorgeous frock in the Ireland AM studio. Advertisement She revealed that Irish stylist Sarah Rickard gave her some pieces to wear and said she "absolutely nailed the brief of being accommodating to an every growing bump and (lovely lady) lumps". The host looked beautiful in a sleeveless pink mini dress with subtle sparkly details, two small front pockets and a flattering cut to suit her growing baby bump. The fabulous frock is from Styled By: Sarah Rickard and is available on the website for €188. Siomha styled her dress with a pair of white slingback heels and standout gold jewellery. Advertisement She wore her hair down in loose curls and opted for a natural makeup look. Captioning her post, Siomha wrote: "Today's fit for a very fun show, @styled_by_sarah_rickard gave some bits to wear and she absolutely nailed the brief of being accommodating to an every growing bump and (lovely lady) lumps. Siomha Ni Ruairc reveals pregnancy on air "She is holding a sale in her shop today, if that's near you you should drop in as she has exquisite taste." Fans and friends all flocked to the comment section to share their love for her look. Advertisement Sarah said: "Absolutely stunning." Mary wrote: "Hot mama." Emily gushed: "Beautiful." Another added: "Gorgeous." Advertisement BABY JOY After making the exciting announcement last month, Siomha updated viewers on her pregnancy and spoke about finding out the gender of her baby Alan started off the show by congratulating her on the wonderful news. The Ballyfermot native said: "Siomha has a bit of a glow about her this morning. You broke some news for us yesterday." Siomha replied: "I have indeed. I announced yesterday that I'm expecting a baby. Advertisement Alan said: "Congratulations." The Lucan native revealed when she'll be heading on maternity leave saying: "Thanks honey. I'm due in January so I should be around here until Christmas time." Alan said: "Well that's grand. Christmas and New Year baby." Siomha joked: "I know, well it'll be a very difficult Christmas for me this year. Very quiet, no 12 pubs for me this year."
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘Music, storytelling & parties' – How growing up in Manchester with Irish roots made Oasis lads born to rock ‘n' roll
Every single member who formed the original line-up has family roots from both sides of the border, with a new book on their history revealing just how that common bond brought them together BAND'S SOUND 'Music, storytelling & parties' – How growing up in Manchester with Irish roots made Oasis lads born to rock 'n' roll IT'S the most-anticipated concert in Ireland for years and the must-see show of the summer as the Oasis reunion roars in Dublin this Saturday. And back-to-back shows at Croke Park will have an extra edge given the heritage of the rock band which was born out of working class Irish families who emigrated to Manchester. 6 Liam and Noel Gallagher performing at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh, Scotland Credit: Big Brother Recording 6 They are returning to Scotland after more than 15 years for three gigs Credit: AP 6 Hats off to these Oasis fans having a ball at Scotland's weekend gigs Credit: Getty 6 Oasis fans at Knebworth Park Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd Every single member who formed the original line-up has family roots from both sides of the border, with a new book on their history revealing just how that common bond brought them together. In Live Forever: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Oasis, biographer John Robb explains how the concentration of ex-pats in Burnage, where Liam and Noel Gallagher lived, and Levenshulme where the rest of group were from, put them in the right place at the right time. He says: 'Next door to Burnage is Levenshulme which, in the 80s had the largest community of Manchester Irish, resulting in its occasional nickname of County Levenshulme. 'It was here that the future Oasis drummer, Tony McCarroll, the oldest of three brothers, was born on June 4, 1971, to Anthony McCarroll, a native of County Tyrone, and Bridie O'Donnell, a native of County Offaly. 'He grew up in a typical two-up, two-down terrace on Wetherall Street in a musical family with instruments everywhere and the record player always cranked up. 'They were at the heart of the Irish community, with the local construction business his dad built up for his family creating a happy childhood.' Tony says in the book: 'Round our way, it was all second generation Irish with Irish pubs and community and lots of Irish country music and showbands. It was its own world and I didn't even know at the time that there was a bigger Mancunian kind of a feel because that was all I knew. 'My parents would go to the Carousel Club and they were friends of the Gallaghers' parents. Bonehead's mum and dad were in that world as well. 'The club was a big deal then with massive rooms and a big PA system and it was where the big Irish bands like the Wolftones or the big show bands would come through. 'The Irish scene influenced all of us and we all grew up with the sentiment and melody of the songs and the swing of Irish country became part of my drumming.' Liam Gallagher in fresh foul-mouthed rant at Edinburgh Council during Oasis night two Author Robb says McCarroll met future Oasis bassist Paul McGuigan at the Northern Rebels football club, where they would play every week, even though they were from different religious backgrounds. He says: 'His new mate from the football, Guigsy, had taken an even deeper dive into music. Living on Barlow Road in Levenshulme a hundred yards away, Guigsy, with his roots as an Ulster Protestant, was at a different school — Burnage High School — which he entered in 1982. TIGHT-KNIT COMMUNITY 'It was in this sprawl of south Manchester's council estates and back-to-back terraces that Oasis would eventually come together. Growing up in the strongly Irish south Manchester sprawl where a tight-knit community was centred around the churches, pubs, social clubs and Irish sports, mixing a culture of communion and confirmation, community and tradition. 'It was a world both uniquely Irish and uniquely Mancunian. The close-knit Irish diaspora was built around clubs like the Carousel where both the Gallaghers' and future Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll's parents would go. The Irish scene influenced all of us and we all grew up with the sentiment and melody of the songs and the swing of Irish country became part of my drumming". Tony McCarroll 'Waves of Irish immigration had changed and remoulded Manchester over generations, turning the industrial powerhouse into a cultural hybrid. The Irish love of words, music, good times, storytelling and parties made them born to rock 'n' roll. 6 Book Live Forever: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Oasis Credit: HarperNorth 'Future Oasis members Tony McCarroll and Paul 'Guigsy' McGuigan were also part of the close-knit Irish community growing up in Levenshulme, as was future guitarist Paul 'Bonehead' Arthurs, born in Longsight to Irish parents. 'He once commented, 'It's an Irish thing. There isn't some magic fog sitting over the North West, but there is a lot of Celtic blood in the area'.' As for Liam and Noel themselves, mum Peggy was born in Ballina, Co Mayo, but emigrated aged 18, while their father Tommy was born in Duleek, Co Meath, just north of Dublin, and made his move to Manchester at the age of 17. The 70s was a tough time in Manchester, not only for working class people, but for Irish people — with the Troubles. There wasn't a lot of work and there wasn't a lot of money. It kind of makes you what you are". Noel Gallagher Within a year, in 1965, Peggy and Tommy had married and lived in the inner city area of Longsight before moving to nearby Burnage when Noel was a baby. But the Gallagher lads would also holiday in Ireland as kids which Noel described as 'a bit of a culture shock but we grew to love it'. In the book he adds: 'We had never seen fields and proper countryside with stacks of hay before because we were from the city. There was nothing on the telly in Ireland but I clearly remember one pivotal moment in 1977 when everyone surrounded the radio because of the news that Elvis had died. "In those days, southern Ireland was a backwater and it seemed amazing that Elvis had penetrated that far and that the recital of the Bible passage on the radio had been interrupted by the news of his death. 'All my aunties, who were in their late 20s or early 30s at the time, broke down and started crying and I thought, 'Wow, Elvis is dead'. It was hard to believe that it had happened. 'The 70s was a tough time in Manchester, not only for working class people, but for Irish people — with the Troubles. There wasn't a lot of work and there wasn't a lot of money. 'It kind of makes you what you are.' LIVE Forever: The Rise, Fall and Resurrection of Oasis by John Robb is on sale now.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Culture That Made Me: Liam Ó Maonlaí on his Cork connections and touchstone influences
Liam Ó Maonlaí, 64, grew up in Clonskeagh, Dublin. In 1985, he co-founded Hothouse Flowers with Fiachna Ó Braonáin. In 1988, the band's record, People, became the most successful debut album in Irish chart history. He has acted, and performed in numerous projects with musicians, including the 2008 documentary, Dambé: The Mali Project about his musical adventure at the Festival au Désert. Hothouse Flowers will perform at Connolly's of Leap, Co Cork, August 16-17. See: Seán Ó Riada My dad went to the same school, Farranferris, in Cork as Seán Ó Riada, probably in the same class. The first record we devoured in our house, and I still listen to it, is Seán Ó Riada's live album, Ó Riada Sa Gaiety, recorded in 1970. He had Ceoltóirí Chualann with him, some of whom formed the Chieftains. He became interested in modern classical music. His vision was European, looking to Paris, Vienna and Berlin as cultural centres. However, he was also living in Ireland as it was re-dreaming itself. There were great musicians all over the country. He tapped into that. Mise Éire is one of his great orchestral works. He was the master. The Ó Riada Sa Gaiety album has that element of energy that happens between a group of people making the sound and a larger group of people experiencing the sound. What crosses over would be the occasional applause and the hoops and yelps that are a lovely part of our tradition. It's a global thing. Go to many places where music is played, and a hoop or a yelp will be expressed. It's like the duende in flamenco or the calls they have in Sub-Saharan Africa. It's a fantastic thing. Seán De Hora There's a famous summer holiday – Seán Ó Riada went to Corca Dhuibhne, West Kerry. He stayed in Seán De Hora's house with his family. Seán De Hora was a great singer at the time. The earth moved when he sang a song. It didn't matter what song he sang, you knew you were in the presence of a great singer, of a great phenomenon of humanity. Poc ar Buile Seán Ó Sé has a unique voice because he touches on the bel canto. He's a trained singer, which you don't get in Irish music. His voice has a pure tone. He didn't fall into the habit of using vibrato, which many singers like to do because it makes people think you're good. He has the Cork Gaeltacht spirit of fun in the way he sings a song. His voice is as pure and strong as it ever was. He himself is still in fine form. What a storyteller. Just an open, ageless individual. The third song I ever learned was An Poc ar Buile. I didn't know it came from Seán ó Sé because I learned it from my dad. As a kid, you're learning the world. I have memories of learning to speak and being taught words by my dad in Irish and in English through song. It was a clever thing my dad did in giving me Irish in song, as I was learning to speak, so that I could make my own formula. Bob Marley Bob Marley (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns) There was one particularly hot summer in Jamaica. It could be an urban myth, but ska and other dancehall music forms were quite fast. They slowed them down and reggae was born. I heard word of Bob Marley and The Wailers. This guy was different, with the dreads. Once you got into Bob Marley: Live! there was no turning back – the musicality, the work that went into the arrangements, the formulaic aspects, the tribal aspect. The bass would always do one thing, the keyboard another. You had this machine, this system of polyrhythms going. When you fired it up, it was strong and on top of that style was place. Thomas McCarthy I got familiar with Thomas McCarthy in the last 15-20 years. He's a king. I saw him recently in Glastonbury. A night there can be magical. Glastonbury has a way of framing things. He was part of a magical night I spent there, sitting at the fire together. The most ancient form of performance is the storyteller. He embodies the storyteller. His presence is vital. He sits there. In a way it's not performance it's just being. John Lydon John Lydon. I grew up with punk. I'm drawn to authenticity and individuality. I love the way John Lydon has no time for anything. He had meningitis as a boy. He came out of a coma that lasted months. He had to learn to do everything again. The doctor told his mother: 'Try keeping him angry,' which is not what you'd be imagining. 'Anger is an energy' – that was the force of punk music. It gave a voice to the anger boiling under the surface of a generation. It had to explode. It had to shock. Shock was vital. If anyone generated that anger, it was Johnny Lydon. His dad was a Galway man. My mother is Lydon also. She always said we were related. Michael Keegan-Dolan Michael Keegan-Dolan's adaptation of Swan Lake (Loch na hEala). I saw Teac Damsa perform Loch na hEala (Swan Lake) in Irish, with Slow Moving Clouds providing a musical backdrop. It was a combination of dance and satire, pointing at a dark time in midlands Ireland. Michael Keegan-Dolan used people, costumes and props to huge effect. Very subtle but effective. He's a master theatre-maker. The Bone People A novel I return to is The Bone People by Keri Hulme, a part-Māori New Zealand writer. Māori sensibility, Māori power, Māori artistry, Māori culture, Māori language is a big part of that book. It's so vivid. The places she takes you in the story are harrowing, inspiring, redemptive, hopeless, and redemptive again. It got the Booker prize in 1985. It's her only full-length novel. An incredible book. Breandán Ó hEithir Breandán Ó hEithir was a warrior of '60s and '70s Irish culture, a West of Ireland, Galway man. He was an intellect, a regular on television shows like Féach, the Irish political magazine programme. The old Gaelic way was that you built a house, wrote a book, fished, played music, you did everything. Breandán Ó hEithir was one of those people. He built a boat. He wrote a book, Lig Sinn i gCathú, which means 'lead us into temptation'. It's a window into college life. It's based in Galway. It's got mad twists and turns in it, and great character detail. One of the great novels of the Irish language. Baraka There are no words in the film Baraka. It's a portrait of peoples' relationship with the Earth from the most profound, spiritual and cultural to the most debauched. You get pictures of people in their highest spiritual state to the lowest spiritual state. It's a beautiful document of the Earth, the land, the people, all the different colours, from strip mining to a Japanese monk sitting looking at his garden. It uses effects like time lapses. You get a real sense of the Earth moving around the sun and stars. It's very elemental. It says so much without saying a word. It's extraordinary.
