The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2022 returns

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival returns with a brand new programme for 2022.

Entertainment . Written by Team GCN.

The International Dublin Theatre Festival 2022 returns to theatres. The photograph shows a close up over the top of red theatre seating with a sorf focus stage curtain in the the background.
Image: Paolo Chiabrando via Unsplash

The International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2022 returns to stages across the city for its 19th edition and there’s a fabulous lineup of queer theatre to feast your eyes on.

After a two year hiatus from in-person performances, the festival picks up on the success of last year’s online event to present some of the most exciting queer Theatre from at home and abroad.

Running from May 1 to 15, the two-week festival will play host to a total of 23 productions, 4 free readings and other events in venues throughout Central Dublin, including The Teacher’s Club, Players Theatre Trinity, The Ireland Institute/The Pearse Centre, Street 66 bar, and Pennylane.

Speaking at the launch of the 2022 programme, festival founder Brian Merriman said, “It is great to be back! Covid has badly hit the younger generation of artists deprived of opportunities to perform for over two years.  

“The 19th Festival continues our mission of premiering new and inclusive LGBTQ+ stories on stage for Irish and International audiences.  We are voluntarily led and every cent we earn is ploughed into artist fees, supports for their theatre productions and celebrating our arts identity.”

He concluded, “We are truly inspired by the productions and the generosity of friends who value the unique service we provide to an inclusive arts community and audience.”

To whet patrons’ appetites, the festival kicks off with a free reading of two one-act plays, “Half of Nothing” and “Porn!” by Irish playwright Ella Skolimowski at Pennylane on Sunday, May 1.

Week one sets the scene for a fantastic fortnight of LGBTQ+ theatre that will appeal to any culture vulture. The hat trick of shows, Trolley’d, Who Pays The Bill? and Babies and Bathwater focuses on the trials and tribulations of being a queer woman while Oíche Léite Drámaí (Scratch Night) presents five Irish-language short plays from the queer Irish-language arts collective AerachAiteachGaelach.

Another double bill will be showing at the Teachers Club with two Irish one-act plays, Quarantine, written and directed by Brian Quinn, and Three Queens Stuck in Dublin City by Tadgh Dolan.

One of the highlights from week one will undoubtedly be The Real Black Swann: Confessions of America’s First Black Drag Queen. Written by American playwright Les Kurkendall, the play tells the true story of William Dorsey Swann, a former slave who became Queen of Drag in Washington DC in the late 1800s.

Kicking off from May 9, week two promises yet another sensational roundup. 

What Doesn’t Kill You by Tony Award-winning producer Adam Weinstock, tells the story of awakening after a near-death experience. Billed as “A heart attack, an obsession with Cher and, oh yeah, a trip to a concentration camp. So yes, It’s a comedy!” It promises to one not to miss.

No IDGTF would be complete without an appearance from Dublin’s very own LGBTQ+ community drama group Acting Out. This year they bring us The Death of Me, exploring one woman’s cancer journey.

With a plethora of other exciting shows and events to choose from, the International Gay Theatre Festival 2022 really proves that no obstacle is too insurmountable for one of the mainstays in the Irish LGBTQ+ calendar.

To find out more and to book tickets go to www.gaytheatre.ie.

© 2022 GCN (Gay Community News). All rights reserved.

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