Today Artistic Director of Fishamble, the New Play Company, Jim Culleton announced details of plans for this year. In 2021, Fishamble is proud to continue investing in the careers of artists, productions, new writing initiatives, and training and development programmes, ensuring that the future of Irish theatre is nurtured and supported. Fishamble will produce two new plays this year, and tour a number of existing productions in person, live and online.

In 2020 Fishamble presented over 120 presentations of 9 productions, provided employment for over 260 artists and arts workers, and shared new Irish theatre with over 20,500 audience members in Ireland and around the world, against all the odds.

Next month, audiences can look forward to an online presentation of its 2016 site-specific Inside the GPO by Colin Murphy from 1 – 5 April 2021, to mark the 105th anniversary of the Rising.  This footage has been upgraded and remastered with support from Culture Ireland, and in partnership with a network of theatre organisations, Irish Heritage & Cultural centres, and Irish Studies courses internationally, including the New York Irish Center, Solas Nua, Corrib Theatre, AEDEI and IASIL. 

In April, Fishamble will also be publishing and producing a selection of Tiny Plays from its Tiny Plays for a Brighter Future callout with ESB, where Fishamble received over 300 Tiny Plays about the future of clean energy in Ireland.

In late Spring/Summer, Fishamble will present an online tour of the award-winning Mustard by Eva O’Connor, and later in the year a special online presentation of Silent by Pat Kinevane, and On Blueberry Hill by Sebastian Barry. When live performance is possible, Fishamble looks forward to touring its productions of four solo plays by Pat Kinevane once again.

In the Autumn, Fishamble will present Duck Duck Goose by Caitríona Daly, which was developed through Fishamble’s A Play For Ireland programme. It is a searing exploration of sexual consent, loyalty, and our legal system.

At the end of the year, Fishamble will stage The Treaty by Colin Murphy, commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the signing of the Treaty in 1921, which will take place in the Kevin Barry Room of the National Concert hall, where the Dáil debates happened 100 years ago.
Fishamble will continue to support artists across the theatre sector with existing programmes such as DUETS, in partnership with ITI and Dublin Fringe Festival, and the New Play Clinic. After the success of its Dramaturgy Development Programme in 2020, it will run this programme once again. Fishamble is also facilitating its pilot Writing for Performance Workshop with Felispeaks, that aims to support underrepresented voices in Irish theatre, with audience development and facilitation by playwright, poet and performer Felicia Olusanya. We are also happy to announce that Francesca La Morgia, director of Mother Tongues Festival, will be working with Fishamble on the development of a robust Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policy.

Even though Fishamble cannot physically tour abroad in 2021, it is delighted to work with Culture Ireland and its international partners to connect with audiences around the world.  These partners include Audible, Irish Arts Center in New York, Origin’s 1st Irish Festival in New York, Solas Nua in Washington DC, 59E59 Theaters in New York, Corrib Theatre in Portland, New York Irish Center, Odyssey Theater in LA, Arts Projects Australia, Dirty Protest in Wales, Traverse Theatre and Dance Base in Edinburgh, and Soho Theatre and Trafalgar Theatre Productions in London.

www.fishamble.com
@Fishamble
#Fishamble2021
 
Press information: Sinead O’Doherty, O’Doherty Communications. +353 86 259 1070 sinead@odohertycommunications.com

Fishamble recently shared information online about a number of playwright and artist initiatives we have coming up. We are delighted that one of them is our Writing for Performance Workshop with FeliSpeaks, specifically for Black writers, writers of colour, migrant artists, and writers from ethnic minorities. Fishamble is delighted that poet, performer, and playwright Felicia Olusanya has agreed to work with us on this, and hope it will help to develop work for theatre, from artists currently underrepresented within the artform. This programme responds to the objectives of the Arts Council’s Equality, Human Rights & Diversity Policy & Strategy, in particular in relation to taking proactive action to address inequalities within the arts.
 
There have been a number of very upsetting and racist comments on social media, in response to this workshop. We would like to take this opportunity to state that Fishamble opposes racism in all its forms; we do not stand for, and will not tolerate, racism and discrimination. Guided by the Arts Council’s Community Engagement Guidelines, we would like to remind everyone engaging with us on our social media channels we will not permit any comments that are hateful, racist, xenophobic, homophobic, sexist, or deemed prejudicial towards any community. Comments of this nature will be deleted or removed and users may be blocked and/or reported. We reserve the right to hide, block, and/or remove any and all posts, as well as limit access to our channels for users who do not adhere to this. 
 
Fishamble has run a wide range of development programmes, community engagement initiatives, and artistic performances, for and with underrepresented, marginalised, and/or under-resourced groups. Recent and current examples include working with: artists over 55 as part of the Irish Theatre Institute’s Prime; Transition Year students from Dublin’s North East Inner City, as part of the Trinity Access Programme with the Goethe Institute; Arts and Disability Ireland for writers with disability; Dublin Fringe on the Big Ambitions programme for younger artists; prisoners in the Mountjoy Prison School; the Croke Park Community residents; Travellers as part of the Traveller Ethnicity Celebration; and students at Larkin Community College. In particular, Fishamble has worked across Ireland in a number of geographic communities delivering year-long Mentorship programmes for artists, in partnership with local arts centres.
 
Our Writing for Performance Workshop with FeliSpeaks is in line with the company’s track record of working with artists and communities who are underrepresented, and striving to create a more diverse range of voices in Irish theatre. This workshop is in addition to a range of other Fishamble workshops and development initiatives.
 
We would like to thank our community and friends, funders and partners, for their support of this initiative. Further information on this workshop, as well as other writing opportunities open for applications and submissions, can be viewed at www.fishamble.com.

ESB and Fishamble: The New Play Company launch Tiny Play Challenge: Submissions now open for 600-word plays on Ireland’s brighter energy future.
 
ESB, Ireland’s leading energy company, and Fishamble: The New Play Company have today launched the Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future challenge, calling on the Irish public to submit 600-word plays on the theme of a brighter energy future.
 
Submissions are now open until 1st March for aspiring playwrights and anyone with an interest in writing for theatre, to develop a tiny play of 600 words on what a brighter energy future means to you. Shortlisted entries will be paid a fee to have their plays published online, and three chosen writers will be paid a commissioning fee to have their play brought to life by Fishamble, who will produce, stage and film multimedia pieces.
 
Pat O’Doherty, Chief Executive of ESB, said: “This unique partnership with Fishamble recognises the important role that theatre and the arts can play in communicating the opportunities and complexities of Ireland’s transition to a low carbon energy future.  Clean electricity will not only be a transformative force in the fight against climate change but will also bring wider benefits for people in terms of health and wellbeing. We are looking forward to seeing how this can be brought to life through submissions from across Ireland”
 
 
Jim Culleton, Artistic Director of Fishamble, said: “Fishamble is delighted to partner with ESB, a company with a long term connection to the arts, to help discover and produce tiny plays about a Brighter Future. We look forward to seeing how artists respond to this latest callout in Fishamble’s Tiny Plays strand of work, to create mini pieces of theatre about one of the most important issues in the world today.”
 
‘Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future’ is an opportunity to give creative expression to all points of view in the transition to a low carbon energy future: to look at the choices we all must make to meet our future climate goals, examine how those choices will impact communities across Ireland, and imagine what we want the Ireland of our future to be, through 600-word Tiny Plays. 
 
This is the latest Tiny Play challenge from Fishamble. During the first lockdown, from March to May 2020, Fishamble set an initial challenge to keep everyone’s creativity flowing by challenging people in Ireland and around the world, to write 600-word Tiny Plays, with the themes of community, nature, trade, essential,  and change. There were over 470 submissions, with the shortlisted plays published on the website, and 10 plays produced and streamed online as Tiny Plays 24/7.
 
‘Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future’ is part of ESB’s wider Brighter Future Strategy which puts sustainability at the heart of its strategic objectives and its purpose as an organisation.

About Tiny Plays for A Brighter Future
This partnership between ESB and Fishamble provides a unique platform for everyone to creatively imagine what we want for Ireland’s energy future.
To learn more about the challenge visit www.esb.ie/tinyplays

The Traverse Theatre announces a limited run of award winning show Mustard by Eva O’Connor, a Fishamble: The New Play Company production, online from 1st -14th December, in association with Sunday’s Child Theatre.

A one-woman show about heartbreak, madness and how condiments are the ultimate coping mechanism, by award-winning playwright and performer Eva O’Connor.
​
When E meets the man of her dreams, a professional cyclist, love hits her in the pubic bone like a train. But when it ends she plummets into a black hole of heartbreak at the speed of a doped up team on the Tour de France.

'‘I am so thrilled that MUSTARD is part of the Traverse 3 programme. In such a tumultous year it's a real privilege to be part of such a great programme of work. To end 2020 knowing that MUSTARD is reaching such a wide online audience is a brilliant feeling.’
Writer and performer Eva O’ Connor

‘Fishamble: The New Play Company and Eva O’Connor have both had long-term connections with the Traverse, and are delighted to share MUSTARD in December, while live performances are not possible.  The Traverse Theatre is a leading light in producing and showcasing new plays, and this new online initiative is typically innovative. Fishamble is delighted to be part of it.’
Fishamble Artistic Director Jim Culleton
 
Mustard is written and performed by Eva O’Connor and directed by Hildegard Ryan with lighting design by Marianne Nightingale and relighter Suzie Cummins.

WINNER Scotsman Fringe First Award 2019

‘What a privilege to see this …if you want to see a bit of real theatre, go see Mustard.’
★★★★ Scotsman

 ‘Eva O’Connor has a fierce presence, as hot, fiery and burning as the mustard of her play’
★★★★★ Ed Fest Mag

‘Part Fleabag, part Marina Abramovich, it straddles the line between theatre and performance art.’
★★★★ Irish Times
​
This performance was filmed by Dublin Fringe Festival.
This recording is supported by Dublin Fringe Festival and Culture Ireland.
This production premiered at Summerhall as part of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019​.
Fishamble is funded by the Arts Council, Dublin City Council, with international touring supported by Culture Ireland.

​Embargo by Deirdre Kinahan returns online as part of The Pumphouse Presents by Dublin Port in December.

Embargo by Deirdre Kinahan returns online as part of The Pumphouse Presents, a Winter Festival of plays commissioned by Dublin Port Company. The Festival features work from axis Ballymun, ANU productions and Fishamble: The New Play Company, and will run from 11-23 December

Five plays were filmed in the beautiful Pumphouse Building in Dublin Port during the Summer of 2020 they will now be premiered online over five Friday Nights culminating in a week-long festival of theatre in December 2020.

These shows will be available free of charge as a gift from Dublin Port in these strange times. Donations will be accepted towards a new artist development fund to be managed by axis Ballymun.

Full programme

• 8pm Friday 20 Nov Charlie’s a Clepto by Clare Monnelly presented by axis Ballymun
• 8pm Friday 27 Nov Leper + Chip by Lee Coffey presented by axis Ballymun
• 8pm Friday 4 Dec Slice, The Thief by Lee Coffey presented by axis Ballymun
• 8pm Friday 11 Dec Embargo by Deirdre Kinahan presented by Fishamble: The New Play Company
• 8pm Friday 18 Dec Canaries created by ANU productions

And from 19 - 23 December all plays will be available to view as part of an online Festival.

'a fantastic performance in new circumstances'
President Michael D Higgins
 
'A brave, strongly acted production from the ever-reliable Fishamble'
★★★★ Irish Times

Embargo has been commissioned by Iarnród Éireann and Dublin Port Company and premiered as a live stream during Dublin Theatre Festival.

Irish Fiction Laureate and award-winning writer, Sebastian Barry’s critically acclaimed play On Blueberry Hill to audiences around the world as it debuts on Audible on 19th November.
 
Fishamble's On Blueberry Hill is Sebastian Barry’s first new play in ten years, and previously ran in Dublin and New York before making its London premiere at Trafalgar Studios in March. Reprising their roles for the Audible production are Irish Times Theatre Award and Olivier Award winner Niall Buggy (Uncle Vanya, Penelope) and West End and Broadway star David Ganly (Body of Lies, Sunset Song).
 
Originally produced by the Olivier award-winning theatre company, Fishamble: The New Play Company, directed by Jim Culleton with music by Denis Clohessy, On Blueberry Hill is a powerful exploration of freedom, friendship, and forgiveness. It features best of friends and worst of enemies Christy and PJ, who are destined to share their lives for twenty years. As the two men reflect on the hope and torment of life outside – they slowly uncover the events that have led them to their world with explosive, bittersweet consequences.
 
Born in Dublin in 1955, Sebastian Barry’s novels and plays have won, among other awards, the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Prize, the Costa Book of the Year award, the Irish Book Awards Best Novel, the Independent Booksellers Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. He also had two consecutive novels, A Long Long Way (2005) and The Secret Scripture (2008), shortlisted for the MAN Booker Prize. He lives in Wicklow with his wife and three children.
 
On Blueberry Hill is now available to pre-order on Audible here priced at £5.19 or 1 credit for Audible members.
 
On Blueberry Hill joins a wealth of Audible productions performed by world-class talent, including: The Year of Magical Thinking performed by Emmy award winner Vanessa Redgrave, Until The Flood, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize nominee Dael Orlandersmith; True West performed by Kit Harington and Johnny Flynn; Girls and Boys performed by Carey Mulligan; Radio performed by Adam Gillen; Iphigenia In Splott performed by Sophie Melville; Sakina’s Restaurant written and performed by Aasif Mandvi; and Harry Clarke starring Billy Crudup and David Cale.  

In light of the Government announcement to move to Level 3 in Dublin for the next 3 weeks, as of midnight tonight, Fishamble would like the clarify the following:

Fishamble’s productions will reach audiences in one way or another. When physical attendance is not possible, Fishamble will endeavour to share its works digitally, and/or programme the performance for a later date.

All arts workers currently contracted by Fishamble will still be paid for any cancelled works. Fishamble, with Arts Council support, is committed to ensuring that freelance artists are financially and artistically supported.

Fishamble performances taking place today, on Fri 18 Sept, will go ahead as planned. This includes MUSTARD at the Abbey Theatre, and BEFORE at the Pavilion Theatre. Shows scheduled for Saturday and Sunday have been cancelled. We will confirm details about our upcoming productions early next week. In terms of ticket refunds, please directly contact the venues or festivals where you booked. 

We would like to thank everyone who continues to work hard to create unique, special, brilliant live theatre in as safe an environment as possible. Thank you to all our artists, creative teams, technicians, audiences, Friends, supporters, funders, and partners, for making all our work possible, even in the most challenging of circumstances. And a special thank you to those who are speaking on behalf of our sector to ensure that the arts have a bright and sustainable future.

​#SavetheArts

​Pat Kinevane has won the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Performer in a Visiting Production for his performance in Fishamble’s Silent, co-produced by Solas Nua, in Washington, D.C., in 2019. The virtual award ceremony was hosted by Theatre Washington on Wed 2 September, and Fishamble’s Silent is also nominated for Outstanding Visiting Production; the results for this category will be announced at the Helen Hayes finale virtual ceremony on 25th September. 
 
I am so thrilled that Pat Kinevane won this prestigious award last night in Washington DC, particularly as all the other nominees were so impressive, mostly performing in major Broadway productions that were visiting DC. Pat is a stunning performer, and a fantastic colleague and friend, working with us in Fishamble over the past 14 years on his solo plays. Thanks to the Arts Council and Culture Ireland, without which none of this would be possible, and to Rex Daugherty and Solas Nua, who produced this run of Silent in DC last year.
Jim Culleton, Fishamble Artistic Director
 
Everyone at the Arts Council rejoices at the news of Pat Kinevane’s success. I still have a powerful and visceral memory of seeingSilent when it toured to the Mick Lally Theatre in Galway Arts Festival several years ago. Pat’s successes are richly deserved and we applaud Fishamble for bringing his brilliant work to the world.
Maureen Kennelly, Director, Arts Council 
 
Culture Ireland is delighted that Pat Kinevane has been awarded this special recognition for Silent. Pat is a truly special performer, Silent is a show which has made a lasting impact on audiences worldwide and Culture Ireland is proud to support the global performances of this outstanding artist.
Christine Sisk, Director, Culture Ireland
 
Silent is the touching and challenging story of homeless McGoldrig, who once had splendid things. But he has lost it all – including his mind. He now dives into the wonderful wounds of his past through the romantic world of Rudolph Valentino. First produced in 2011 by Fishamble, and directed by Jim Culleton, Silent has gone on to win an Olivier Award, a Scotsman Fringe First Award, a Herald Angel Award, and Argus Angel Award. Fishamble has toured this play to over 15 countries with the support of Culture Ireland. ​
 
Fishamble produced Pat Kinevane’s first play The Nun’s Wood in 1998, followed by his second play The Plains of Enna in 1999. Fishamble is very proud to have commissioned, developed, and produced three solo plays written and performed by Pat, which continue to tour extensively. They are Forgotten (since 2006), Silent (since 2011) Underneath (since 2014), and Before (Since 2018), all directed by Jim Culleton. 
 
Fishamble is currently touring plays by Pat Kinevane to socially-distanced audiences in theatres around Ireland. Dublin audiences will be able to see Silent at axis, Ballymun, on 27 November, along with his other solo plays by Fishamble. 

Fishamble are proud to present a selection of tiny plays submitted from its recent writing challenge. TINY PLAYS 24/7 will be presented online for audiences to enjoy, and will be a combination of pieces performed on the O’Reilly Theatre stage and multimedia pieces created digitally.
 
The performances will premiere online on Friday 24 July, and will be available to view online for one week after. 

During the past few months, Fishamble, and the Irish artistic community, has been working hard to keep imaginations lively, communities engaged, and most of all offer people the opportunity of communication through creative expression. Fishamble wanted people to keep their creativity flowing by challenging people in Ireland and around the world, to write 600 word Tiny Plays.
 
From March to April, Fishamble set this challenge for residents of Ireland and the Irish abroad, with a weekly prompts of COMMUNITY, NATURE, TRADE, and ESSENTIAL. Fishamble then opened this challenge out to the rest of the world in May, asking people to respond to the prompt of CHANGE. Fishamble was delighted to receive over 470 submissions in total for the #TinyPlayChallenge, and published a selection of the Tiny Plays at www.fishamble.com/tinyplaychallenge, in addition to sending a prize of Fishamble playscripts to the chosen writers.
 
As Ireland begins to ease out of its lockdown, and as Irish theatre begins to look towards a new future, Fishamble is proud to announce that it will be presenting a selection of submitted plays, on 24th July. TINY PLAYS 24/7 will be presented online, it will be a combination of pieces performed on the O’Reilly Theatre stage and filmed, as well as multimedia pieces created digitally. 

The pieces will premiere online on 24th July at 7pm, and we encourage audiences to join us for the premiere by registering through eventbrite.ie at https://bit.ly/TinyPlays247 (free to view, donations would be greatly appreciated). The performances will then be available to watch for a week following on Fishamble’s YouTube channel.
 
The pieces will be directed by Jim Culleton, and filmed by Jeda de Brí, the creative team includes Carl Kennedy (Sound design), John Gunning (Lighting Design), and Maree Kearns (costume design).

Cast to date includes, Kwaku Fortune, Gill Buckle, Fionn Foley, Genevieve Hulme Beaman, Denise Gough, Rory Nolan, Clare Barrett, Eleanor Methven, Marty Rea, Pat Kinevane, Mary Murray, Caitriona Ennis, Leah Minto, John Olohan, Catherine Byrne, Jack Olohan, Eileen Walsh, Aaron Monaghan, Clare Monnelly. Further names to be announced. 

'I am delighted that we will present performances during the first week that theatres can reopen, on 24/7, and for a week afterwards, of a small selection of Tiny Plays. We hope that this will share how people responded to the pandemic and the restrictions of the past three months, explore some solutions that theatre artists have been finding to stage work, and celebrate the very beginning of being back in theatre buildings for live, socially-distanced performances.' Jim Culleton, Artistic Director of Fishamble
 
The selected plays and playwrights included are:
·         Martyrs by Caitríona Daly
·         War Paint by Conor Hanratty
·         Kiss of Death by Lora Hartin
·         Bear Hunt by Grace Lobo
·         For How Janelle Monáe Once Made Me Feel by Julia Marks
·         Ragnarok by Ryan Murphy
·         The Wonder of You by Eric O ‘Brien
·         Change by Patrick O'Laoghaire
·         Just Because They're Birds by Maria Popovic
·         Wild Horses by Ciara Elizabeth Smyth
 

Press information: Sinead O’Doherty, O’Doherty Communications 086 259 1070  sinead@odohertycommunications.com

​Fishamble is delighted to announce that Colleen Savage has joined the Fishamble Board. Colleen is director of Savage Strategy, a strategic business and communications consultancy, working with clients in both the public and private sector.  She graduated with a degree in economics from Trinity College Dublin, and a Masters in international development studies from University College Dublin.  She has served as a board member of the National Consumers agency (now CPCC) and the National Audit and Oversight Commission for Local Government.  She is a keen supporter of the arts and cultural community in Ireland.