Latest news with #DublinFringeFestival
RTÉ News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Alison Spittle: "Weight has been a constant war in my life"
Comedian Alison Spittle joined Brendan O'Connor on RTÉ Radio 1 to discuss her new show, Big, which she is bringing to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Dublin Fringe Festival. Based on her weight loss journey using prescription injections, the show explores her relationship with her body going back to childhood and how she navigates people's reactions to her weight now. "I was going to call it Fat B***h, that's what I was going to call it," she says, clearly thrilled to be cursing on Radio 1. "But, unfortunately, you couldn't put it on a poster." "It's about being a fat b***h, basically, Brendan," she continues, dryly. "Last year, I got into some health difficulties, and I believe that's known as f-ing around and finding out stage of my life." On the advice of doctors, Spittle tried to lose weight the "normal way" but struggled to get the results she needed. Eventually, she decided to try weight-loss injections, an experience that inspired much of her new show. "The best thing about losing weight is now I can catch buses," she deadpans. "Before, buses weren't for me. I was manifesting. I was like, what's meant for me won't pass me." "The worst about losing weight," she adds, "is that people treat me nicer." Going back to the beginning, Brendan asked Alison about her relationship with her body. "I've been fat since I was eight years old," she says, explaining that a lifetime of comments about her weight never once inspired her to become thinner. When told she would have to lose weight to make it in comedy, for example, she became all the more determined to succeed exactly as she was. When it came to critical comments and verbal abuse, for the most part, the comic found that she could see that the issue fell with others rather than herself. "If a fella comes up to you in Temple Bar and calls you a fat b***h, he's not doing it out of concern for your health," she says. Growing up during the Celtic Tiger years, Spittle says that women were constantly being valued on their appearance, whether it be an actress on TV, or an Irish model being photographed walking around town in a bikini. "I felt by staying fat, I was rebelling against that culture," she muses. "When I wanted to change its because I was unwell and I was scared. And then I realised I couldn't change. Like, that was scary." Spittle says that her health complications forced her to face her addictive behaviours towards food: "I barely ate because I was hungry, it was always around emotion." Bed-bound for two weeks, the comic says she "nearly died" during the health scare that led her to research weight loss drugs. Unfortunately, the process wasn't easy, with one doctor telling her that he didn't want her to have "an easy out". "What does that mean? It means that they don't want a fat person to have it any easier to lose weight. That's associated with punishment," she states. Eventually, Spittle was given a prescription for Mounjaro, which almost immediately took away the gratification she usually found from eating. "It's taken the joy out of eating for me, definitely, but that's grand," she says, acknowledging that although the "dopamine" is gone, the reasons why she became addicted to food have yet to be dealt with. Still in the early days of so much change, she says that coping with how people react to her can be challenging, and getting to know her new body and lifestyle is changing all the time. One thing she is clear on? No matter her weight, she never waited for life to begin. Some of her happiest days and most impressive accomplishments happened before weight loss, and she doesn't want to put down that past version of herself.
RTÉ News
14-07-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
New scheme to assist Dublin Fringe Festival performers with accommodation
The Dublin Fringe Festival (DFF) has launched a pilot scheme to help performers with accommodation, with many of those travelling from outside the capital finding it increasingly difficult to secure a place to stay. DFF is a multidisciplinary arts festival that takes place every September giving performers of all kinds - from musicians to playwrights - a platform to showcase their work. However, many of them travelling from outside of Dublin say they are finding it increasingly difficult to secure affordable accommodation while gigging there. This year the festival has launched a "Digs List" initiative in an attempt to alleviate accommodation costs for artists who are coming from outside the city. Festival Director Bee Sparks explained that the scheme is now a necessity for many of their performers. " We work with a lot of artists and part of our remit is to support artists, not just from Dublin but from across the country, and also sometimes international artists who come and take part," she said. She added: "We're aware that housing in Dublin is really difficult. It can be really cost prohibitive for people to kind of take part in Fringe. We know it can be up to €2000 for one person to stay for a week. "We looked at what's happening in other countries like the UK, they have formalised digs lists, so we decided to kind of pilot this scheme to trial. "What it would be if we could create somewhere where people with spare rooms could connect with artists to try and alleviate that kind of financial burden a little bit." Belfast theatre maker Seón Simpson is one of the many performers who will be taking part in this year's festival. "The way Dublin is, people would be spending €200-€300 a night for half a bedroom, it doesn't make any sense. So something like this is perfect" She made her Dublin debut at the Fringe back in 2019 and now frequently travels to the capital to perform. However, she says that each year has become increasingly difficult for herself and her team to participate in the city's arts scene due to rising costs. "Every year we have noticed a really big increase in both transport costs and housing costs. Our last time we were here, we were here for the first fortnight of the festival and I think the cost of somewhere for us to stay in an apartment for our team had tripled." "It used to be 'last minute dot com' that we would have been able to book a hotel room. There was one night we got the Gresham Hotel for €40 which we have never been able to get since," she said. At the festival launch last Wednesday, performers past and present welcomed the new initiative. Whilst paying a fee for a spare room is nothing new, it's the first time the organisers have officially promoted the practice of Digs, making it easier for performers to participate at this year's event. "We're not doing it to make money out of it. We're doing it to be an open door and an open room for people that need a room when they come to Dublin to make work and make art" Musicians Ahmed Kareem Tamu and Darragh Abdera who are both performing at the DFF this year believe that the scheme will be beneficial for everyone in the industry. "As an artist, when you're going down and you're being looked after for the duration of your performance at a place, it really does just take a thing off the list to be worrying about" Mr Abdera explained. "The way Dublin is, people would be spending €200-€300 a night for half a bedroom, it doesn't make any sense. So something like this is perfect. It's giving a host an option to make a bit of money and then also giving somebody an inexpensive place to stay," said Mr Tamu. Jean Hally from Inchicore is one of the several Dubliners opening up her home to DFF performers this year. Having worked in the theatre industry for 15 years, she says she knows how difficult it can be to find affordable accommodation, which is why she and her partner John felt compelled to sign up to this year's Digs List. "We charge €50 a night which works at about €350 a week, and I think you would get a hotel in Dublin at the moment between €120 and €200 a night. "We're not doing it to make money out of it. We're doing it to be an open door and an open room for people that need a room when they come to Dublin to make work and make art and I think that that's much more important than making money out of it". Dublin Fringe Festival 2025 will run for two weeks and takes place from 6-21 September.
Irish Examiner
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
'There's so much creativity': Cork has a cut off its first Fringe Festival
Does Cork need a fringe festival? With the inaugural Cork Fringe Festival taking place a month before the Cork Midsummer Festival (CMF), its directors, Daniel Cremin and Ineke Lavers believe there is a gap in the festival market for emerging developmental work that may not be ready for something like the CMF. 'It's an opportunity for artists to workshop new projects in a low risk environment and potentially, to maybe bring it to the CMF,' says Cremin. He describes himself as a magician, a performer and producer, having started playing with magic at the age of four. He now does 'psychological magic' in theatre-based shows. Lavers is an arts producer working from Cork and Abu Dhabi. Locally, she has worked with the likes of CMF, the Cork Opera House and the Cork Theatre Collective. The two directors met while they were doing a masters in arts management and creative producing at UCC, in collaboration with Cork Opera House. 'There is so much creativity in Cork; so many groups of artists but they're all quite isolated from each other. The theatre people stay with each other, the music people stay with musicians. We feel there is huge potential for cross collaboration within the arts,' says Lavers. Cremin adds that some Cork artists bring their performances to the Dublin Fringe Festival. 'They should be able to perform in Cork.' When the call went out for acts to apply to the Cork Fringe Festival, Cremin and Lavers received 120 applications when they were only expecting about 40 expressions of interest. They have whittled down the applicants and over the three days of the festival, there will be 20 events across ten venues. Fourteen of the events are produced by Cremin and Lavers. The other six events are produced by people that already stage events in the city and wish to do something specifically for the festival. The Cork Fringe Festival is funded through ticket sales, private donations and sponsors. 'The Everyman [one of the venues for the festival] is a partner, helping us in terms of putting together budgets and making sure we have all our contracts in place. Also, last August we went to the World Fringe Congress in Stockholm. There are over 300 fringe festivals around the world and every two years, people from them meet up in a different city for a week. We got to make really good connections and learned a lot about how to put together a fringe festival. We have a really good relationship with the Reykjavik Fringe Festival.' Cremin admits that developing a fringe festival can be overwhelming when it hasn't been done before. 'The main challenge is that there are only two of us. I guess the biggest challenge we faced at the beginning was having to say 'no' to artists,' he says. The artists will be paid from ticket sales with a 70/30 split. 'The 30% goes on organising the tech and marketing for the shows. Ineke and myself are working voluntarily this year. The hope is that next year through our Arts Council application, there will be a producers' fee included in that budget. We're operating on a minimal budget. This year, it's really about getting the festival on its feet and having a proof of concept. The festival has a capability for about 1,700 people but we don't need to reach that audience figure to be able to sustain it.' The festival is using both traditional spaces such as the Everyman, the Granary Theatre and the TDC (Theatre Development Centre) at the Triskel. Unconventional spaces include the Marina Market as well as art galleries, the Laneway and the Lavit, which will be the site of unusual events. At the Laneway Gallery on Shandon Street, there will be an interactive game of 'trace the dot'. When a canvas is initially installed, it will be blank. As visitors trace a dot, an underlying image will slowly reveal itself. There will be a double bill at the Everyman, as well as another show in the Everyman bar. At the Granary Theatre, a story about identity and road kill takes place, in a show entitled A Xerox of a Deer. There's traditional fare at Forde's Bar near South Gate Bridge in an event called The 3 B's. Beamish, bodice and ballads will be on offer. 'By the end of the night, you'll feel like a true Corkonian,' they promise. The Cork Fringe Festival takes place from May 9-11. See
RTÉ News
01-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Things to do in Dublin this long weekend (May 2-5)
From street photography festivals in Charlemont Square, to paint pouring in Temple Bar, there is plenty to be doing in Dublin this bank holiday weekend. Dublin Street Photography Festival When: Friday, 2– Sunday, 4 May Where: Charlemont Square, Dublin 2 How much: Free to enter This weekend, Dublin will welcome the return of the Dublin Street Photography Festival. This vibrant event celebrates the artistry of street photography. Attendees will enjoy a range of engaging activities, including exhibitions, networking opportunities, photo competitions, inspiring lectures, practical workshops, and even guided photo walks. Notice Box by Simon Hennessy When: Friday, 2 May Where: The Pearse Centre How much: €25 A concept comedy show about life on our phones, from the most chronically online of creatures - the internet comedian. Following a sold out run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2024, Simon will bring songs, sketches, and stand-up to his hour long show to Dublin's Pearse Centre this Friday at 8pm. The Big Bealtaine Tea Party When: Sunday, 4 May Where: IMMA How much: Donation Bealtaine Festival, Ireland's national celebration of the arts and creativity as we age, has launched its highly anticipated 30th-anniversary programme for 2025. Celebrated throughout the month of May, the festival will host a lengthy programme of diverse events nationwide, including the Big Bealtaine Tea Party. Running from 2-4pm, the flagship event will feature musical guests, poets, and more. Tickets are first-come, first-serve basis. Are ya Dancin'? Dublin City Céilí Dublin's Club na Múinteoirí (Teachers Club) is hosting a night of live music and craic this Friday from 7:30-9:30pm. An Irish-college-style céilí with live music and traditional dances like Ionsaí na hInse and more. All dances will be taught from scratch so no need for experience. Come alone or with friends - all are welcome. When: Saturday, 3 May Where: This Must Be The Place, 51 Wellington Quay How much: €30 Alternative Dublin is hosting a messy morning of paint pouring in Temple Bar at 8pm on Saturday. In under 90 minutes, participants will create an individual piece of art, using a mesmerising paint pouring technique to decorate a 3D bear that you can proudly display in your home. Tickets include a Bank Bear, acrylic paint, necessary materials, as well as free tea, coffee and biscuits. Parents, if you're interested in getting your kids involved, there will be a morning session at 11am, with tickets costing €18.13 Bat Walk Series When: Saturday. 3 May Where: Airfield Estate How much: €25 Designed for adults and families with children aged 8+, this event promises an evening of wonder and exploration, perfect for families and nature enthusiasts. Wrap up warm and venture into the world of bats from 8:00pm-10:30pm. Children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult for the full duration of the event. When: Sat, 3 May - Monday, 5 May Where: Board Dublin, 29 Clanbrassil Street Upper How much: €7.78 To celebrate 4 May (May the 4th be with you), Board Dublin - a bar specialising in no and low alcoholic drinks - is set to host a series of 18+ events for Star Wars fanatics. Teams should include 2-6 people who are willing to test their trivia when it comes to Padawans and Jedis. Tickets cost €7 per person (plus booking fee) and there will be a drink on arrival.
