Theatre Club for Spring/Summer 2024

Droichead are thrilled to announce our THEATRE CLUB for Spring/Summer 2024. This season we have a programme of seven unique and eclectic shows.
The season features comedy, premieres, music, dance and productions that Droichead have supported in development and as co-productions. Kicking off with a production of Belfast Girls by Louth playwright Jaki McCarrick; the return of Brokentalkers with two productions -  Bellow and Masterclass, and This Is Pop Baby with Party Scene; a new comedy Prickly from actor/playwright Caoimhe O’Malley; The Hare a new play by Clare Monnelly and Bob Kelly, featuring live music from acclaimed musician Steve Wickham and fresh from a successful Edinburgh run Rope-A-Dope, by actor/comedian and former boxer Terry O’Neill.
Set up in 2017, and heading into its 12th season, Droichead Theatre Club brings audiences together to see a play, and like a book club, our audiences can share their views, thoughts and impressions informally post show with the cast and creatives. If this is your first or your 50th play, it doesn't matter, come along, and be part of the drama at Droichead.
Seven great plays for €87, and we do plan to produce at least one work in progress as part of our Droichead presents New Drama programme.
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BELFAST GIRLS by Jaki McCarrick | An Tain Arts Centre and Quintessence Theatre in association with the Lyric Belfast, Droichead Arts Centre, and Solstice Arts Centre | FRI 9 FEB | 8pm
Set in 1850, Belfast Girls tells the story of five fierce young women who face their dark pasts on a ship bound for Australia, as they leave Belfast in search of a better life. Confined in close quarters in the belly of the ship, they embark on a tumultuous sea journey as they sail away from their homeland. Secrets are revealed, enemies made, and it becomes clear that no matter where they go, there is no escaping the past.
A gripping historical play based on true stories exploring urgent, current questions around classism, patriarchy, and the ripple effects of colonialism.
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PRICKLY by Caoimhe O’Malley | Produced by dlr Mill Theatre in association with Backstage and Droichead | FRI 23 FEB | 8pm
Prickly is a new comedy from actor and writer Caoimhe O’Malley. Dublin’s best Debt Collector, Shauna, is struggling to control the challenging thoughts in her head. Usually, speaking to her Cacti is enough to keep her worries at bay. But, now her best (and only) friend has had a baby - Shauna's mind is in overdrive. When she finds an unexpected companion during a routine debt collection, she is forced to tap into her softer side and face the prickly thoughts in her head once and for all.
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BELLOW | Brokentalkers | Co produced by The Everyman, Droichead, Mermaid Arts Centre & Townhall Theatre Gallway | THU 7 MAR | 8pm
In this most unlikely of artistic collaborations, leading experimental theatre company Brokentalkers join forces with one of Ireland’s foremost traditional Irish musicians, Danny O’Mahony.
Danny has dedicated his life to the mastery of his instrument as well as to the preservation and performance of Irish traditional music. Now, after 40 years of breathing life into centuries-old tunes to honour the memory of those who have come before him, this walking repository of an unquantifiable repertoire of ancient sonic heirlooms is finally taking a breath, a moment to stop and consider what this life-long dedication has cost him. 
Bellow is funded by The Arts Council of Ireland. Co-Produced by The Everyman, Droichead Arts Centre, Mermaid Arts Centre and Town Hall Theatre Galway. Supported by Dublin Theatre Festivals Futures Award.
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THE HARE by Clare Monnelly & Bob Kelly | Once Off Productions | SAT 23 MAR | 8pm
Directed by Bob Kelly, performed by Úna ní Bhriain with live music by Steve Wickham (The Waterboys).
She’s an odd one; a lonely girl living at the edge of the world, ridiculed by her peers and unable to fit in. Torn between the society that rejects her & her own wilder nature, she creates her own world, and lives as best she can. She sees the rest of them, but holds them at a distance. We meet her on the day that is today – and today is made different by the arrival of a letter. An opening. A suggestion of potential life beyond this place and these people.
‘The possibility. Imagine.’
This is an ambitious piece of theatre which is exacting for both the performers and the audience"  No More Workhorse
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ROPE-A-DOPE by Terry O Neill | Bewley’s Café Theatre | THU 2 MAY | 8pm
Rope-a-Dope is the gripping personal story of a young boy’s obsession with the toughest of sports. Combining thrilling physicality and hilarious stand-up, Terry O’Neill relives his dreams, struggles, triumphs and disappointments as he chases an impossible dream.
Rope-a-Dope is a joyous coming of age tale that invites you to step though the ropes for a few rounds of laughter and revelation.
Terry O’Neill is a busy actor and comedian whose film and TV credits include Michael Inside, The Meeting, Love/ Hate and Striking Out. On stage he has performed in theatres, comedy clubs and festivals all over Ireland and the UK. But in his old life, he was a boxer.
“Terry O’Neill and the whole production team have created an hour-long captivating journey into the world of amateur boxing and the great good it does for local communities, particularly its youth. With his movement and quick wit, Terry will leave you with a smile on your face. It deserves to be seen throughout Ireland.”                         No More Workhorse 
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PARTY SCENE by Philip Connaughton & Phillip McMahon | THISISPOPBABY | SAT 11 MAY | 8pm
Journey into the underbelly of queer culture and experience a sweaty pulsing dance theatre show exploring the complexities of desire, intimacy, isolation and addiction.
With an international company of incredible performers, Party Scene celebrates the heady high of the session but poses tough questions around drug use, sex, consent and mental health in the queer community. A bold and wild ride, the show sparks conversation around identity, self-worth, isolation, homophobia, family and care.
Part urgent gathering, part explosive event, Party Scene asks: when does an underground scene become a community crisis, and when is it time for the party to end?
“Exceptional…Gripping and Seductive” The Times

MASTERCLASS | Brokentalkers | FRI 21 JUN | 8pm
Following an award-winning international tour MASTERCLASS returns to Ireland. Featuring the savagely comedic feminist discourse of acclaimed New York artist Adrienne Truscott with the slippery dramaturgy of internationally renowned Brokentalkers, MASTERCLASS parodies the “great male artist” to within an inch of his life in order to uncover some difficult truths about privilege and power.
The show begins in the form of a cockamamie masterclass performed by fed up feminist Adrienne Truscott and all around good guy Feidlim Cannon. It’s fun. It’s familiar. There are wigs. But there is something more at play.
Using the arts world as a metaphor, MASTERCLASS is a literate and hilarious examination of gender and power.
Winner Fringe First Award – Edinburgh 2022 – The Scotsman 
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