Category: CQAF Theatre

We are fizzing and popping. We cannot survive on beers alone. We cannot survive static. ​I want to be galactic.

Ormeau Bridge, Belfast, on a Friday evening. It’s hard to keep going and these women are on the edge.

It’s Getting Harder and Harder for Me builds and unravels to tell the interwoven stories of three women living on Ormeau Road.

The show premiered at Dublin Fringe 2017 with a sold-out run. It’s a bold and exciting production exploring contemporary & social issues. Brought to life by three powerful, funny and moving female performances.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Palmyra is an exploration of revenge, the politics of destruction and what we consider to be barbaric, inviting people to step back from the news and look at what lies beneath, and beyond, civilization.

A challenging and contemporary piece that focuses on the broader issues emerging from Syria. PALMYRA was named number 3 in the Guardian top 10 theatre shows of 2017.

Following an extended, unanimously-acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe, and touring Spain with Best of BE 2017, Bert & Nasi’s Total Theatre Award-winning, “weird, wonderful and strangely stressful” piece (★★★★ The Stage), Palmyra arrives at the MAC this May as part of CQAF.

‘It could be seen as a show about the West’s inability to take action in Syria, but equally read as a metaphor for a personal relationship breakdown. Viciously funny.’ – LYN GARDNER

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets available on the Door*

Fifty five years since her tragic death, aged just 30, Sylvia Plath continues to haunt our culture like a mythical, glamourised icon.

Delving into the world of harrowing poet, Sylvia Plath, this debut one-woman show beckons to life the dark and daring confessions of Plath in a bewitching piece of new writing.

Experience the chapters of life that the feminist icon wrote about; from the agony of grief and ecstasy of love, to the never ceasing shadow of depression. An intense and intimate performance written in captivating verse and inspired by the personal pains Plath breathed onto paper.

Having gained several 5 star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe, the Cathedral Quarter Arts festival is delighted to present this Irish premiere.

‘Its poetic authenticity creates a fiercely intense piece of new writing.’– BROADWAY BABY

‘Captures the troubled mind and fractured heart of Sylvia Plath with passion and pathos: a short, sharp shocking piece of literary drama.’ – EDINBURGH GUIDE

Doors 3:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets available on the Door*

A riotous new comedy makes its premiere at the Cathedral Quarter Arts Festival this year. Every parent will know when it’s your turn, it’s your turn, except when it isn’t…

Relationships, stand-up, and how not to dispose of nappies all feature as a couple wake up to the reality of parenthood.

Penned by Gerard Brennan, who co-wrote The Sweety Bottle with his father, Joe, the first play to transfer from The Baby Grand to the main stage at The Grand Opera House.

Doors 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Hubert Caulfield leads a solitary life. Overlooked at work, friendless, and unlucky in love. He is desperate for a change and to fit in. Could a mysterious confidence giving sock be the answer to all his problems?

Tinderbox provides the invaluable opportunity for local artists to create and develop their own ideas through our Take Away Theatre programme and we are delighted to present Hubert and Yes Sock by the brilliant Dan Leith as part of CQAF 2018.

Come and celebrate being different with Hubert and the Yes Sock…

Take Away Theatre

Bite-sized theatre with super-sized stories.

Director: Patrick J O’Reilly
Producers: Erika Clark and Jen Shepherd
Writer/Performer: Dan Leith
Performer: Keith Singleton

Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available via Telephone on 02890 235053*

The Lisa and John Slideshow tells the story of a now divorced couple interacting with an archive of photographs taken by David Moore, documenting their family between 1987 and 1988.

Accompanying the exhibition entitled Lisa and John at Belfast Exposed, this deeply moving and powerful performance sheds light upon the ways in which photographs and in particular family archives both hold and question the nature of memories, stories and emotions.

Using actors to perform, the verbatim script has been created using transcripts of conversations with Lisa and John as they select and speak about their own selection of images from Moore’s archive.

Written and directed by David Moore
Assisted by Gavin Dent
With Alan Mosley and Sarah Toogood
Music by Bernard Oglesby

Doors 6:45pm | Unreserved Seating

*Tickets also available via Telephone on 02890 235053*

*Tickets available on the Door*

A musical narrative telling the life-story of Mary Ann McCracken, social reformer and unsung heroine of the 1798 Rising.

Local folk-singers Jane Cassidy and Maurice Leyden present a dramatic account of Mary Ann’s life and times, weaving letters and historical detail with related folk-songs, bringing both to life.

Accomplished singers and broadcasters, Jane and Maurice narrate, sing, play guitar & keyboard and are accompanied on uilleann pipes, whistles and bouzouki by Joe McHugh.

First performed at the Belfast Folk Festival in the 1980s, the play has been performed regularly in arts venues ever since, such is the appeal of Mary Ann’s story and the beautiful folk songs which illuminate it.

‘This was a most rewarding couple of hours during which the audience were both informed and entertained. The music was superbly relevant.’ – BELFAST TELEGRAPH.

Doors 7:00pm | Unreserved Seating

Shows at 4:00pm, 4:30pm, 5:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:00pm & 6:30pm

Funny, poignant and deeply human; Quartered: Belfast, A Love Story is an audio theatre walking tour that lets you see the city from a different perspective, making familiar streets seem brand new and allowing you to experience another side to Belfast.

Exploring the LGBTQ+ experience of Belfast, it opens a new conversation about how gender and sexuality inform and shape how we move through our city, and how our city moves through us.

What is the LGBTQ+ experience of Belfast?
When the boundaries between quarters are drawn, who holds the pen?
How much power do we give ourselves to shape the city we live in?

Written by Dominic Montague, directed by Paula McFetridge and voiced by Neil Keery.

Show lasts approx. 1 hour and begins at the Dark Horse, Hill Street, ending at the Sunflower, Union Street.

Audience capacity is limited to six people per session.

You are encouraged to bring your own headphones but additional will be available on site.

It’s a promenade performance so dress for the weather!

Contains some strong language.

‘I found Quartered to be a moving piece of promenade theatre, forcing me to look up from my own horizons to see Belfast as the canvass, the set, and listen to someone else’s story… a triumph’ – ALAN IN BELFAST

‘This is both an individual, and sadly, a universal story which penetrates deep into the consciousness. It remains lodged there as the days slip away, whispering, niggling, nudging a closer awareness of the streets, murals and buildings that one would unthinkingly have passed by’ -THE EVEN HANDPlease arrive 10 mins before your event starts | Walking Tour

*Tickets available on the Door*

Women Troubles is a hilarious look at 3 girls trying to ‘make it’ in the toughest industry in the world, the Arts.

Women Troubles is a new play written and performed by actors Siobhan Kelly, Clare McMahon and Maria Quinn.

It is a story about growing up female from age 13-30, performed in a physical, fast paced style with minimal set. It explores first love, first heartache, GCSEs, unplanned pregnancy, sexual harassment, deciding to be an actor, going to drama school and everything in between.

*Contains Strong language*

Doors 2:45pm & 7:45pm | Unreserved Seating

Inside the Speaker will take you on a journey of the senses. It invites you to step inside the speaker to experience dance and music differently and it welcomes you to the world of the speaker, partially sighted dancer and choreographer Helen Hall.

This acclaimed dance piece invites us to explore what we see and what we sense when watching dance, what dance is and what it means to dance.

An intimate, beautiful and provocative solo performance which will challenge the way you experience the world.

Pre- Show Touch tour available, booking essential. 6.30pm & 8.00pm. Please email tickets@themaclive.com to register your interest.

Doors 6.45pm & 8.15pm | Unreserved Seating