There’s nothing like a festival full of theatre, documentaries and music from around the world to make you feel a tad cultural. If you are taking a vacation in Ireland this weekend and if you are visiting Ireland’s capital city Dublin, the much-awaited Dublin Theatre Festival has been running since the 29th September and its set to run until this Sunday the 16th of October.
Artists and theatre-makers from at home and abroad will showcase their work – and there are some pretty powerful productions to be seen. Here are our top five very real and poignant performances which you you won’t want to miss at The Dublin Theatre Festival
ZVIZDAL (Chernobyl so far so close)
There isn’t a heart in the country that wasn’t touched when the Chernobyl nuclear disaster struck in 1986. ZVIZDAL (Chernobyl so far so close), tells the story of Pétro and Nadia, an elderly couple who refused to leave their village in the forbidden zone during the direct aftermath. For almost 30 years, they lived in isolation from the outside world. A story of sheer survival, love and hope.
The much awaited Dublin Film Festival has been running from the 29th September and it will run until this Sunday the 16th October.
Ireland? Shed A Tear
Written to commemorate the first anniversary of the Carrickmines fire, where 10 members of two traveller families tragically lost their lives, the play uses song and poetry to tell the tale of one traveller family. The piece is a moving testimony to the living conditions and safety issues on Irish halting sites.
First Love
A lyrical prose by Samuel Beckett, this is a love story about a man who finds himself homeless following his father’s death. He unwittingly falls in love with a woman who he shares a canal-side bench with in Dublin.
Helen & I
An out-of-the-norm seating arrangement is the star of this performance. Placed above the stage, the audience is given a fly-on-the-wall experience of a family’s turmoil as their father dies. Two sisters and their families return to their childhood home and the past soon causes chaos in their relationships.
The Father
An empathetic production about an aging father who is growing more and more confused. Its author, Florian Zeller, has been dubbed ‘one of the hottest literary talents in France’.