13 May 2024
By Valerie Ryan
valerie@TheCork.ie
Cork Midsummer Festival takes place 12 – 25 June 2024 – Tickets on sale now at corkmidsummer.com – View the programme here
This year Cork Midsummer Festival (CMF) presents an unmissable programme of exciting world class work that audiences won’t experience anywhere else, focusing on events that cross artforms and immersive experiences and using Cork city as a stage. Events and performances will take place in woods, swimming pools, warehouses, streets, forts, parks and more.
Speaking about this year’s festival, Acting Director Rose-Anne Kidney said: “We can’t wait to welcome our brilliant artists and audiences to this year’s festival – without our inspiring, fearless and passionate artists and our curious, engaged and risk-taking audiences, the festival would not be the same.”
Midsummer Parade at Cork Midsummer Festival 2023 – Cork, Ireland – 2023 / Photograph Jed Niezgoda – jedniezgoda.com
PAVILION CINEMA, ‘THE PAV’, PATRICK STREET, CORK.
REF: 559B
The programme is divided into 5 strands:
Now & New – World-class performance, art and bold new work.
Music – Thrilling music shows and performances in venues and site-specific locations across the city
On The Streets – Sensational circus, spectacle and outdoor participation events.
Be Part – Collaborative projects created by and with inspiring Cork communities.
Futureproof – New events from four of Cork’s most exciting emerging artists, and artists exploring emerging practice.
The exciting international programme includes renowned artists Tino Sehgal (whose works are never documented and can only be experienced live in the moment), outdoor theatre makers Kamchatka, and award-winning dance/theatre company Lost Dog.The line up includes a world premiere of Tempesta by Deirdre Kinahan with live music from Steve Wickham from The Waterboys, Theatre for One: This is Ireland (Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals) featuring works by 6 new writers chosen from a public call out, each mentored by a renowned playwright and a stage adaptation of David O’Doherty’s award-winning book for children The Summer I Robbed a Bank brought to life in a moving and hilarious stage adaptation.
Audiences can experience acclaimed Irish shows, including Dead Centre and Emilie Pine’s Good Sex and Emma Martin’s Night Dances, both companies presenting in Cork for the first time.
Experience artistic collisions across Cork City which will entertain and intrigue you. Get on your bike and explore a new trail of artworks by Chris Judge showcasing the joy of cycling in urban spaces. Dance along to the Midsummer Parade. Celebrate the summer solstice with two electrifying weekends of late-night revelry featuring live music, electronic music and art. Tune into a pop-up community radio station aiming to combine a visual art approach to audio programming.
Collaboration and working with organisations and venues across Cork enable CMF to develop, commission and present new work.
CMF is in constant dialogue with Irish artists about new work, collaborating with other arts organisations and companies to offer opportunities for artists to develop and present new work and projects. This includes a platform for emerging artists from or based in Cork. Of the 21 new works in the programme this year, 15 are led by Cork artists.
Throughout the year CMF works to connect artists and communities, offering this year eight opportunities for people to participate directly in the programme strand BE PART, including Home Sweet Home (Suisha Arts), Country OK (Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín), and the Midsummer Parade (Cork Community Art Link). The festival works year round to support new work and participation projects through programmes like MAKE, Tales of Two Cities, and the Jane Anne Rothwell Award.
The programme in more detail:
NOW AND NEW
THIS YOUIIYOU: Internationally acclaimed artist Tino Sehgal brings his ‘constructed situations’ to Cork for the first time, works which are never filmed/documented and exist only in the live moment and can only be experienced in person. Previous works seen in some of the world’s biggest galleries from Tate Modern in London to New York’s Guggenheim, Palais de Tokyo in Paris to Hong Kong’s Tai Kwun
Venue: Millennium Hall, 18 – 23 June.
Cork Midsummer Festival & National Sculpture Factory
ALTER: World-renowned outdoor theatre makers Kamchatka take you on a late-night journey to a secret location for an unforgettable experience of joy, hope, and surrealism.
Venue: Audiences meet at a city-centre location.
14-16 June.
GOOD SEX: Each show, two brand new performers tell a story. They have never rehearsed together or read the script. They are strangers. Acclaimed makers of innovative theatre Dead Centre, with award-winning writer Emilie Pine, present a sublimely funny love story for a loveless age.
Venue: The Everyman. 20-23 June.
Cork Midsummer Festival and Cork Opera House
THEATRE FOR ONE: THIS IRELAND: Part peep-show booth, part confessional, 12 short plays performed by one actor for one audience member at a time in a purpose-built booth. From Landmark Productions and Octopus Theatricals in association with Cork Midsummer Festival and Cork Opera House. Features work by Marina Carr, Stacey Gregg, Emmet Kirwan, Louise Lowe, Mark O’Rowe and Enda Walsh mentoring an electric lineup of new writers: Iseult Deane, Susannah Al Fraihat, Aoibhéann McCann, Joy Nesbitt, Ois O’Donoghue and Aoife Delaney Reade.
Venue: Emmet Place. 15 – 23 June. No tickets required – just join the queue!
NIGHT DANCES: An exhilarating and ferocious performance of pure dance and live music from acclaimed choreographer Emma Martin/United Fall. A celebration of dance culture – from clubs to competitions to ceremonies – and a sweaty love letter to dance in all its forms.
Venue: Marina Market Warehouse. 13 – 15 June.
Cork Midsummer Festival & Cork Opera House
PARADISE LOST (LIES UNOPENED BESIDE ME): A funny and moving re-telling of the story of the creation of everything inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost – told through words, music and movement from award-winning dance/theatre company Lost Dog led by director/choreographer Ben Duke. Genuine, laugh-out-loud entertainment – while also breaking your heart.
Venue: Dance Cork Firkin Crane. 21-22 June
TEMPESTA: Cork Midsummer Festival is delighted to present new theatre from Deirdre Kinahan with music composed and performed live by Steve Wickham (The Waterboys), directed by Marc Atkinson Borrull, about two Dubliners caught up in the onslaught of war in 1930s Europe – and the storm of love that surrounds them. Inspired by real events.
Venue: The Pav. 16 – 23 June (Preview 14 June)
DETACHED AND THE MOTH: A journey for the senses through film, installation, aerial acrobatics, dance, and sound, delving into the interplay of identity and environment in an evocative exploration of home from Elaine McCague (co-artistic director of Loosysmokes) as part of her current work The Detached Project, pushing the boundaries of circus performance. Venue: Marina Market. 20 – 23 June.
In association with Loosysmokes
UP CYCLING! Get on your bike and explore an ambitious new trail of temporary public artworks that will run across Cork city, showcasing the importance and joy of cycling in urban spaces by celebrated Irish Illustrator Chris Judge.
Curated by Tadhg Crowley from The Glucksaman and Cork Midsummer Festival 12 – 23 June
THE SUMMER I ROBBED A BANK: David O’Doherty’s award-winning book for children is brought to life in this colourful, moving and hilarious stage adaptation from The Everyman and The Ark. Adapted for the stage by Mark Doherty and directed by Sophie Motley for ages 7+.
Venue: The Everyman. 15-16 June
MUSIC
9.57 (SUNSET): Celebrate the summer solstice with two electrifying weekends of late-night revelry featuring live music, electronic music and art curated by festival artist-in-residence ELLLL (15/ 16 June) and Sample-Studios (21/22 June).
Venue: Triskel Arts Centre.
WINTER JOURNEY Winterreise Reimagined: A new interpretation of Franz Schubert’s much-loved song cycle performed across various locations in 8 locations in the historic Shandon neighbourhood in Cork City. Create your own path through folk, hip hop, opera, traditional and more. 15 & 16 June
JUNIPER: Internationally acclaimed and jazz artist Linda Fredriksson presents a live full performance of their award-winning debut album, Juniper. Venue: Triskel Arts Centre.14 June
ON THE STREETS
MIDSUMMER PARADE: THE GLORIOUS RAMBLINGS: Everyone is invited to join in and dance to the beat! Cork Community Art Link and Cork Midsummer Festival. Venue: Oliver Plunkett Street (Grand Finale on Grand Parade) 16 June.
ROPE: From artist Ief Spincemaille, an oversized rope appears on the streets and parks of Cork – come sit, hold, move or just visit ROPE on its adventures and explorations of the city.
Venue: Cork city streets & parks. 20 – 23 June.
KAMCHÀTKA: Exhilarating and inspiring street theatre company Kamchàtka return to Cork with their acclaimed and anarchic performance after their iconic debut in 2018. They interact with passers by to interrupt and disrupt what we may otherwise take for granted. Venue: North Main Street. 16 June.
Cork Midsummer Festival & Cork City Council
UROBOROS: Contemporary dance performed on the street by two dancers, moving through the different but universal stages of life from La Casa Oscura, an exciting international emerging contemporary dance company. Venue: Grand Parade. 15-16 June
BE PART
POSSESSION: Opera from artist Amanda Coogan and composer Linda Buckley along with collaborators Alvean Jones, Lianne Quigley and the Cork Deaf Community Choir, continuing Amanda’s collaboration with the choir following last year’s Ode To Joy. Based on a script from the deaf artist Teresa Deevy combining Irish Sign Language with experimental sonic and vocal composition. Venue: The Granary Theatre 20 – 23 June
HOME SWEET HOME: Following two years of development, the artists from Suisha Inclusive Arts theatre present their play about housing, horror films and protest. This ambitious disability-led production, features creatively-embedded access including Audio Description, Captioning, Irish Sign Language Interpretation, and Relaxed Performances. A collaboration with director Al Bellamy and playwright Jody O’Neill. Venue: The Granary Theatre. 12 – 15 June.
COUNTRY OK: A rollicking celebration of dance, live music, and the spirit of social dances and dance halls. A Cork Midsummer Festival commission, created by Siobhán Ní Dhuinnín, featuring an inter-generational dance cast from communities across Cork, joined by professional dancers and musicians with live music by Cork band The Tan Jackets. Venue: South Parish Community Centre. 15 & 16 June.
SOLSTICE CÉILÍ: A time-travelling band of traditional musicians and dancers explore the history of our island’s social dancing from 2024 BC to 2024 AD. Re-inventing the fading art of the céilí. Venue: Elizabeth Fort. 21 June.
Martin O’Donoghue & Cork Midsummer Festival.
The discussion continues off stage with a Young Critics Panel and Be Part Forum.
FUTUREPROOF
THE COLLECTOR:THE PRESENCE OF ABSENCE: A blend of theatre and contemporary circus, performer Will Flanagan brings to life the story of a recluse, closed off from the world outside, but who has built his own fantastical world from the discarded scraps of society.
Cork Arts Theatre 21 – 23 June
KILTER, MATTER AND GHOSTS: Cork based artist Natasha Bourke in a genre-defying new solo performance – in a swimming pool – using movement, film, and sound. Venue: Gus Healy Swimming Pool, Douglas. Dates: 18-21 June
RADIO SOLSTICE: Pop-up community radio station, led by artist Elinor O’Donovan, recipient of the Cork Midsummer Festival Jane Anne Rothwell Award for 2024, who aims to combine a visual art approach to audio programming.13-16 & 20-23 June
I’M OKAY, YOU’RE OKAY: A new three-piece project walking through the streets of Cork, spotting signs along the way, from Cork based artist Riki Matsuda playfully discussing the humour within misunderstandings and the ways in which we stay connected. Venue: Various. 12 – 23 JuneWORKS IN PROGRESS, including:
DAUGHTER: A rehearsed reading of a new play written by Ray Scannell (Deep, The Bluffer’s Guide to Suburbia) and directed by Louise Lowe (ANU Productions). Two distinct perspectives on the same events in our history – two incredible lives. Venue: Cork Theatre Centre at Triskel Arts Centre. 21 June
Other works in progress from emerging theatremaker HANAN SHEEDY and circus theatre artist Gill Byrne
“Fáilte Ireland is pleased to support this year’s Cork Midsummer Festival. Festivals and events present an excellent opportunity to showcase the rich heritage and unique culture that Ireland has to offer. They are also important drivers of tourism revenue across the country, particularly in areas that are outside of the traditional tourism hotspots. Developing unique and immersive visitor experiences like Cork Midsummer Festival play a key role in motivating both international and domestic visitors to choose a destination, while helping drive the sustainable development of the tourism sector for the county and the wider region.” – Ciara Sugrue, Head of Festivals & Events, Failte Ireland