Today, July 19, the Dublin Fringe Festival has revealed its much-anticipated programme for September, giving us a glimpse at what’s to come. 

For the 29th time, the festival will bring the city to life, this year with an unbelievable 562 performances in 32 different venues. With the programme including five world premieres and over 560 participating artists, Dublin Fringe promises to be one of the cultural highlights of the year.

The new Festival Director, David Francis Moore spoke on the occasion, saying: “This year we are beyond excited to reveal the 29th edition of Dublin Fringe Festival. With a staggering lineup for audiences to join us on an exhilarating journey, this September, to revel in our new programme that is brimming with adventure and fascinating discoveries. 

“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 enthral and uplift the senses. Come, grab your pals and dive in!!”

Of course, there are plenty of queer shows scheduled, with numerous LGBTQ+ artists preparing to put their talent on display all throughout Dublin. So, let’s take a closer look at all the queer events we know of so far, starting with those that should speak to all the party-goers and night owls out there, as their focus is on art that’s made at nighttime with a bright glittering effect:

Disco Utopia

Disco Utopia: Protest definitely needs to be mentioned. The will bring together some of Dublin’s best drag talent and with Viola Gayvis, Lavender, Annie Queeries and Coco Ri, alongside their guests, transporting you to an unforgettable evening of glamour, glitter, art, sequins and show-stopping performances.

EGG: The Proclamation of the Irish Republegg

Dublin’s spiciest queer collective is proud to present Egg: The Proclamation of the Irish Republegg. Here you are invited to join non-binary revolutionary Aoife O’Connor and the first transgender member of Cumann na mBan, Pea Dineen, for a show that is described as “part dazzling DIY cabaret, part musical political rally for a new EGG-shaped Irish Republic.”

Comfort Carnival: CODA

Still riding high on their Radical Spirit Award win in 2019, Selky, Roo Honeychild and the gang are returning with Comfort Carnival: CODA, spotlighting a cross-section of the art and music from the dynamic Irish underground. A careful curation of new acts will join some returning champions from 2019’s lineup.

Songs of Theys

Supported by Donegal’s An Grianán Theatre, MarianMarythe6th, one of Ireland’s upwardly mobile pop culture pioneers, presents Songs of Theys. The perfect opportunity to “say goodbye to the gender binary, and hello to non-binary finary as you join our choir of theyngels and sing along to your favourite queer hymns/hurrs/theys, all while worshipping our Theylord Shesus Christ.”

Moving on to someplace new, the festival will feature many awesome audio adventures, immersive experiences, live art installations, art spaces and translation, some of which are thematising the queer experience:

Svarva Seven

Multi-disciplinary artist Sal Stapleton has created an interactive immersive installation that will be showcased at Temple Bar Studio. Svarva Seven is a place that encloses, protects and provides support for the inner thoughts, desires and experiences of a gender-fluid entity. 

Of course, having a good laugh is a must and so the Dublin Fringe programme features many comedy experiences promised to be “so funny you’ll be in stitches”.

But He’s Gay

One of them is brought to you by award-winning stand-up Shane Daniel Byrne, who will present his new laugh-a-minute show But He’s Gay, which is debuting as part of the festival.

Only an Octave Apart

In terms of mesmerising musical experiences, you can look forward to Justin Vivian Bond, who is described as “the best cabaret artist of [their] generation”. Justin is teaming up with famed American counter-tenor Anthony Roth Costanzo for their show Only an Octave Apart.

The show expresses their queer identities through unique joyous and surprising interpretations of classical, pop, and hybrids of the two while carving new pathways between opera and politically subversive cabaret.

Black Jam

The Fried Planatain Collective is bringing its regular Dublin Fringe outing – the successful Black Jam – an event showcasing powerful live music and ballads from Dublin’s alternative composers. Their experimental dark-wave, Afro-electro grime and hard-hitting punk will explore themes of intimacy, esotericism and loneliness.

The Dan Daw Show

In the world of circus and physical performance, the Dan Daw Creative Projects will give Dublin a first look at their show, The Dan Daw Show. Critically acclaimed and nominated for numerous awards, this intimate evening of dance and play explores bodies, power and submission in a show that is intense, tender and about care, intimacy, resilience and joy.

Texture Like the Sun

In his Irish choreographic debut, Diarmuid Armstrong Mayock presents his show Texture Like the Sun, a dance-theatre piece which follows three characters as they spiral through their cycles of substance dependency. 

Staying in the world of performance, the festival is offering plenty of exciting new theatre to look forward to. 

Once in a Lifetime

The Red Bear Company is to make its return with Once in a Lifetime, a play that deals with support for young women in crisis pregnancies, racism and social class within a same-sex family context.

Hand of God

The New Play Company partnership from A Fringe Lab and Fishamble presents Hand of God by Carley Magee & Aaron Finnegan. The play sees magical realism and soft horror collide in a suburban noir as two women are forced to confront the painful truth of their relationship.

Mosaic

Based on his own real-life experiences, Louis Deslis will stage Mosaic, a show about generational gaps, going home, a longing to return to Dublin, the things we can’t say and the things we hear even without being said.

The Scratcher

Kelly Shatter’s The Scratcher examines gambling addiction where a battle between truth and deception unfolds. This is a deeply human, hilarious show where love and addiction collide. It explores identity, connection and first lust.

And when looking for a genre-defying experience, these amazing queer events might just be the right thing for you in the Dublin Fringe programme:

KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE  has a complicated relationship with reality and with himself

Matthew Bratko will bring his wonderfully nutty new cabaret show, KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE KYLE  has a complicated relationship with reality and with himself to Dublin this September. This seductively hysterical show is the only act that dares to have seven of the same first names in a row.

Scaredy Fat

Antrim theatre-maker Colm McCready and Belfast-based female-led theatre company SkelpieLimmer are teaming up to stage, Scaredy Fat. Set in the movies, they poke fun at fat and queer representation in the horror film genre, asking what it means to love a genre that doesn’t love you back.

Just a Minute

For all the recovering workaholics out there, Colin the Caterpillar fanatics, or those simply looking for a laugh, Conor Murray’s comedy play, Just a Minute, might be the thing for you.

Hyper

For decades trans people have been using hyper-pop to shatter standards of genre, gender and good taste. Jaxbanded Theatre’s Hyper gives a rip-roaring and unabashedly queer theatrical deep dive into trans identity and music.

Boxing Day

Limerick poet and transgender activist, William Keohane’s Boxing Day, is a 52-poem sequence detailing his experience of gender transition, with one poem written per week over the course of a year. Keohane’s work is graceful, powerful in its restraint, and often startling in its honesty and candour. The performance is accompanied by visuals and text.

For more information about Dublin Fringe and its programme for 2023, check out the official website.