Dublin Theatre Festival announces 55th annual programme

Now in its 55th year, 2012 marks the first programme from new artistic director Willie White, who comes to the festival after 9 years at Dublin’s Project Arts Centre. Over 18 days, 32 productions will be shown in 19 venues across the city, including 12 world premieres and 2 UK/Irish premieres.

With a theme of “Your City, Your Stories”, there is a mixture of new and canonical Irish works, including an adaptation of The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Neil Bartlett, who also directs, at the Abbey Theatre. There will also be a large scale adaptation of Dubliners, new plays by Declan Hughes (The Last Summer) and Deirdre Kinahan ( Halcyon Days), and a play about writer Maeve Brennan called The Talk of the Town. In addition there is the UK/Irish premiere of a new Hamlet from The Wooster Group.

Other productions at the Festival include DRUIDMURPHY, Everyone is King Lear in His Own Home, Mystery Magnet, Tristan und Isolde, The Boys of Foley Street, Politik, Record, Bird with Boy, Eternal Rising of the Sun, Story Jump Out and Potato Needs A Bath.

The festival will run between September 27 and October 14 2012. For full details of what’s on, visit dublintheatrefestival.com.

– by Rosie Bannister