Future Limerick

Climate themed playwrighting workshop with Fishamble's Gavin Kostick. On Sat 25th May Gavin Kostick from acclaimed Irsh new writing theatre company Fishamble took over the Belltable for a writing workshop. Gavin shared his wealth of knowledge on writing and dramaturgy as he took our group of writers on an exploratory adventure through writing on the environment and sustainable issues. This creative workshop saw our participants create their own 600 word "tiny plays' and received feedback from Gavin and the group, and was a real highlight in our programme.

SCRATCH NIGHT One of our festival highlights is Scratch Night where we present 5 new short plays performed by the best of Limerick's established and emerging acting and directing talent. Our programmed pieces were: Foundations by Susan Lynch , which sees coastal erosion revealing Roman ruins in the unlikely location of Portrane ; Burning the Shadow by Brian Walsh which imagines a neolithic couple debating whether or not to burn their sacred tree in order to invent fire; Moths to a Flame by Giulia Grillo , a play within a play about the mating rituals of moths, If They Ever Were by Antoinette McCarthy , in which a fisherman remembers a fateful day when a fishing voyage provoked the wrath of nature , and The ocean shifts under our feet byJames Ireland in which two kindred spirits fall in love across the boundaries of time, space and decay.  The performers of scratch night were Michael Casey, Marcella Byrnes, Aaron Coughlan, Nhlanhla Ricky, Fiona Claffey-Kelly, James Corr, Tsarina Meyler, Atlas Owen, Alison Cusack, Caoimhe Hayden and Sean McInerney. The pieces were directed by Aidan Crowe, Sinead Clancy, Niall Carmody, Eloise Hickey and Ari Bhatti.

The Good People by Niall Carmody  rehearsed reading  On the final day of our festival we staged a rehearsed reading of The Good People by esteemed Limerick playwright Niall Carmody. Exploring grief, insanity and irish folklore, the piece took us inside the family home of two sisters - one of whom believes their recently deceased mother is being held captive by the fairies. What unfolded onstage was an at times funny, at times eerie dive into mental health and magic, and a reflection on how a drive towards modernisation can sometimes have huge environmental and cultural costs. The good people was directed by Shane Hickey-O'Meara and performed by Sarah McDonagh, Roisin Burke and Nora Burke.

CHICKEN For a limited run of three shows in the Chicken coop of the @belltable cafe- we were delighted to present the Irish premier of Chicken by Eva O'Connor and Hildegard Ryan. Chicken tells the story of Don Murphy, Kerry's most famous cock who makes it big as an actor in LA - but not without struggling with a ketamine addiction, imposter syndrome, and his own chicken-ish identity. Performed by Eva O'Connor who won the Filipa Braganca Award for best female identifying performer at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, Chicken went down a treat across three nights in our packed out intimate  performance space in the Belltable cafe. We hope that audiences went away thinking about their next chicken fillet rolls a little bit differently!

On Tue 21 we had the joy of hosting MUSIC AND MYTH BUSTING: joined by the University of Limerick's Arts Data Literacy and Diversity group, for the culmination of their project on intercultural song exchange. We heard an array of beautiful songs from around the world, performed in their original languages by a choir made up of UL students and migrants from around the world.  Interspersed between the performances,  we heard eye opening facts and statistics on global population, migration and climate change. This was a truly magical night of music and togetherness. Photo by @mauricegunning

Fast Fashion vs the Future hosted by podcaster extraordinare @pjkirby . On thurs 23 may we had an illuminating evening of discussion and debate around fast fashion with our panelists Ronán Ó Dálaigh (CEO of circular economy vintage clothing business @thriftify ) and Ríon Hannora (slow fashion designer and curator of Dublin independent fashion weekend.)  Rónán and Rion shared insights on the challenges facing the fashion industry, the inherent unsustainability of fast fashion and the pitfalls of our culture of trend-following. Chatting with PJ, they also disclosed their hopes for the future of fashion - whether that's falling back in love with traditional tailoring of clothes made of sustainable materials from own own local economies, or embracing the power of small grassrooots movement to create real change within the fashion industry. Our panel was an inspiring and uplifting evening which ended with an open discussion with the audience. Photo by @mauricegunning

MOVIE DAY: Monday 20 May was movie day at FUTURE LIMERICK in the Belltable theatre. We were delighted to host the Limerick Premiere of two short films from the Emerging Limerick Filmakers: Mob The Trench and Rat King. After the screenings we had a fascinating Q&A with the young filmmakers themselves, discussing the process of production, their inspiration for these brillinat sci-fi pieces and their thoughts on the future of the climate and of the film industry.  Our Q&A was followed by a screening of BIFA nominated film The End We Start from. Starring Jodie Comer, this movie imagines the fate of a young British mother whose life is thrown into chaos when freak storms flood London, creating hundreds of thousands of climate refugees who must fight for survival

We kicked off this year's FUTURE LIMERICK festival with our epic eco family funday in the People's Park on May 18th. We had a whole host of activities for all ages: African drumming circle, a clothes swap by @theco_opgirl , lego flood management workshop, eco-painting workshop with natural paints, and a creative Headlines for the Future workshop with Chelsea Canavan.  Our face painters created works of art all afternoon and entertainment was provided by the Snail's Tail promenade theatre, and Fanzini's circus performers and stilt walkers. Our lawn games and giant chalks meant that you can still see the chalky creations of our young festival go-ers etched on the paths of the People's Park - we couldn't be happier. Thanks so much to all who came and helped to make it so special ! Photo by @mauricegunning

Panel Discussion hosted by PJ Kirby for @futurelimerick ’24 @belltable tonight Thursday 23rd May, 7pm ❤️ Hosted by PJ Kirby, a queer writer, performer, podcast presenter and trail blazing fashionista, this panel discussion brings together movers and shakers in the world of fashion and sustainability to discuss ethical clothing, consumption, and the future of fast fashion. PJ will be joined by Rónán Ó Dálaigh, CEO of Thriftify, the Irish startup that is set to revolutionise the second-hand clothing economy, and Ríon Hannora, a “slow fashion” designer who has worked with Charles Jeffrey Loverboy and YSL and is the organiser of Dublin Independent Fashion Weekend. Our panelists will shed light on how fashion can transform from one of the most environmentally destructive industries to a beacon of hope. 🎟 https://bit.ly/3ygoSgF #limerick #limerickcity #lovelimerick #ilovelimerick #limerickandproud #futurelimerick

Playwright Niall Carmody tells us about his new play The Good People which will be performed as a rehearsed reading in Belltable this Saturday 25th May, 7pm. In a ramshackled home in rural Ireland, sisters Winifred and Michelle Gannon deal with life after the death of their much loved mother. As Michelle seeks to move on from the loss, Winifred refuses to accept her new reality and searches for answers in the most unlikely of places…the fairy fort on the family land. Book now! 🎟 link in bio #FutureLimerick24 #Climate #Festival #Limerick #Arts #Film #Theatre #SpokenWord #ScratchNight #Music #Panel FUTURE LIMERICK, Climate Arts Festival 2024 is funded by Arts Council Festival Fund and is proudly sponsored by ESB.

Only one more day until Scratch Night! Join us for an inspiring evening of new short plays themed around the climate crisis, celebrating exciting new work by writers, actors and directors from Limerick and beyond. Wednesday 22nd May, 7pm Get your tickets now! 🎟 link in bio #FutureLimerick24 #Climate #Festival #Limerick #Arts #Film #Theatre #SpokenWord #ScratchNight #Music #Panel FUTURE LIMERICK, Climate Arts Festival 2024 is funded by Arts Council Festival Fund and is proudly sponsored by ESB.

Join us tonight for Music and Myth Busting at 7pm! Presented by University of Limerick Arts, Data Literacy and Diversity Project featuring the ADD Your Voice Ensemble Music can bring us together, but it also has the power to educate, open eyes and break barriers. Get your tickets now! 🎟 link in bio #FutureLimerick24 #Climate #Festival #Limerick #Arts #Theatre #SpokenWord #ScratchNight #Music FUTURE LIMERICK, Climate Arts Festival 2024 is funded by Arts Council Festival Fund and is proudly sponsored by ESB.