Dublin Fringe Festival takes place next month, featuring a programme of music, film, theatre, comedy, talks, cabaret, club nights, visual art and more in various venues across the city.

The festival, which will present its 29th edition from 9 to 24 September, includes the world premiere of a new work by composer Jennifer Walshe, Oscailt. The work, commissioned by Music Network, was developed by Walshe with secondary school students from across the country as an exploration of growing up in a world mediated by technology. Using vocal and instrumental sounds with computer improvisation techniques, the work will be performed on 19 September at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College Dublin by Walshe, along with soprano Elizabeth Hilliard, saxophonist Nick Roth and multi-instrumentalist Panos Ghikas.

Moshing, dance, theatre
Elsewhere, the programme comprising 79 events over 16 days will include Mosh, a dance theatre work by choreographer Rachel Ní Bhraonáin on the culture of moshing, including live music and interviews (14–17 September); and on 16 September, musicians Ahmed, With Love, KhakiKid, Efé, Negro Impacto, Curtisy and Julia Louise Knifefist will take part in Clash at the Quays, an immersive night of music and professional wrestling.

Queer Irish singer-songwriter ÓDÚ performs her album/theatre show Like, Itself – a semi-autobiographical concept album of anthemic pop songs from 14 to 16 September; and composers and experimental musicians Andy Ingamells and Seán Clancy have developed a new work Nowhere Better Than This Place which will be performed from 9 to 13 September at Dublin Castle. The new work, which was developed at the Contemporary Music Centre, utilises synthesisers, live and recorded concrète sounds, physical theatre and projected poetry.

Multi-instrumentalist, composer and vocalist Abigail Smith will perform with cellist Lioba Petrie at Dublin Castle on 16 and 17 September; aerial performing group Fidget Feet and traditional arts group Ceol Connected will present When The Moon Spun Around – a production for children and young people, inspired by the work of W.B. Yeats (23 September); and Jaxbanded Theatre Company present Hyper, a show exploring the experiences and identities of trans people through music.

There will also be a series of events for children and young people; late-night cabaret, drag and club nights; a comedy line-up featuring Alison Spittle, Tony Cantwell and David O’Doherty; a series of events commissioned for Deaf audiences, a Fringe Fest and Abbey Theate co-production exploring rural and urban living with experimental music and performance techniques; and a night of Afro-electro and punk artists.

Commenting on this year’s programme, Festival Director David Francis Moore said:

The talented artists gracing this year’s festival are the catalysts, expertly interweaving their narratives into the very fabric of Dublin, and we are so thrilled to be able to bring their unique and extraordinary work to the city – and of course to offer Dubliners and visitors to the capital many new gems of the best new live performances in the country, to enthrall and uplift the senses.

 For further information and tickets, visit: www.fringefest.com

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