Community Engagement

In 2017, we presented On Blueberry Hill by Sebastian Barry in Mountjoy Prison, supported by The School (Mountjoy’s education department). The play was received so well by prisoners, that in 2018 we returned with Haughey | Gregory by Colin Murphy.

​Nothing has changed in 35 years…I hope when you do the play in the Dáil, that you say those lines looking straight into those politicians’ eyes.
Prisoner in Mountjoy after watching Haughey | Gregory

In 2019, in association with Dublin City Council Culture Company, we worked again with Mountjoy Prison with Silent by Pat Kinevane. This project was highly commended at the Allianz Business To Arts Awards 2019 in the Allianz Community Art Award category.

In 2020, we participated in Freiraum for a second time, a project that aims to empower students by enabling them to participate in leaderships projects which are focused on increasing awareness and engagement in the community with Creative Arts. Participating students have been from from CBS Westland Row, Ringsend Community College, Larkin Community College, and Ardscoil La Salle.

Freiraum is having the opportunity to speak freely and have your voice heard… also exploring everything you might want to.
Participating student

Schools: Fishamble has organised special performances in Larkin Community College, where students participated in a post-show panel, and had opportunities to discuss playwriting with the Fishamble team, and playwright.

​Universities: We regularly work in association with various departments at NUI Maynooth, The Lir, TCD, GSA, and NUIG, and as Theatre Company in Association at UCD Drama Studies Centre.

In 2021, we introduced the pilot educational programme Encore, which aims to give young people an opportunity to take theatre beyond the stage and engage in interactive and educational activity.

I think it’s important to have plays like this, stories that come from the community itself.
Elma, student at Larkin Community College

In both 2018 and 2019, Fishamble, in association with NIC 2020, was awarded a grant from the Croke Park Community Fund to support performances of Haughey | Gregory by Colin Murphy. In 2018 the fund supported performances in Mountjoy Prison, the Dáil Eiréann, and Croke Park for the local community. In 2019, it supported performances once again in Croke Park, and for students in Larkin Community College.

Tony was a very special person to me… I’ve known him all my life and his life… it was nice to remember all the little bits you forgot. It’s kind of emotional for me to see it… it was very true, very factual. A brilliant piece, and the actors were brilliant.
Croke Park audience member

For the past 10 years, Fishamble has produced and toured Silent by actor and performer Pat Kinevane. The play, told from the point of view of a homeless person, touches upon issues of suicide, homophobia, and mental health.

Fishamble has presented Silent in collaboration with First Fortnight, Mental Health Reform, Samaritans, the Mental Health Arts Festival, and to an audience of those experiencing homelessness in collaboration with Dublin Simon Community. In 2020, we presented this play as part of First Fortnight, with proceeds going towards Mental Health Reform.

Many of Fishamble’s tours include post-show discussions, with some productions encouraging focused events aimed at relevant communities.

For example, Fishamble’s production of Rathmines Road in 2018 was accompanied by a post-show panel on gender and identity, with 3 out of 4 speakers identifying as transgender, chaired by Sarah Philips of TENI, and a special ticket discount offered to members of Trans Art Live Salon. Fishamble’s Maz & Bricks in 2017 was accompanied by a postshow panel that included women’s rights activists and campaigners.

In 2019, Haughey | Gregory in Larkin College was followed by an in-depth panel led by students, on how government policies have failed their area, and the impact those policies have on them and their families today.

This ongoing project aims to celebrate the voices of ethnically diverse and marginalised young people in Ireland.

It’s a creative arts and social justice partnership between Fishamble: The New Play Company and Larkin Community College in Dublin 1 where students come from 34 different ethnicities.

Through theatre arts, visual arts, and restorative practice circles, the project seeks to deepen young people’s ability to connect with one another, explore their identities, and celebrate who they are in Ireland today.

WHO AM I? / HOW AM I? is proudly supported by Clinch and The Ireland Funds’ Heart of the Community Award.