CQAF2025 - Theatre Archives

Sh!t Theatre: Or What’s Left Of Us

Posted on 14th March 202521st March 2025 by site_admin

Presented in association with Festival of Fools.

Multi-award-winning ‘magnificent Fringe Legends’ (Time Out) are back. And we’re totally fine! Actually all things considered, we’re ok.

Feeling alright. Thriving, even? That’s a bit far, but we have learnt some folk songs. We’ve got into folk recently and it’s been really helpful. Come and sing some folk songs with us! A swift 60 minutes of classic folk followed by a trip to the bar and then a singaround. Because we need a drink, don’t we? But we’re doing OK.

‘Spine-tingling from the first number’ ★★★★★ Telegraph

‘Few companies make shows that are so consistently, outrageously fun*’ (Guardian). *fun not guaranteed

This show runs at 60 minutes, and is followed by a chance to continue singing* and drinking** together in the performance space. Please join us after the show for the singaround if you would like to.

*singing not obligatory

**drinking not obligatory

Age Recommendation:18+
Running time: 60 minutes

‘I Hear You’- Live Readings – Paul McVeigh

Posted on 14th March 202520th March 2025 by site_admin

Join us as we bring Paul McVeigh’s BBC Radio 4 short story collection, I Hear You, to life on stage. The collection features three standalone stories alongside The Circus—a ten-part series set in Cliftonville Circus, North Belfast, where ten unique voices take centre stage.

In this one-of-a-kind fusion of literature, radio, and theatre, acclaimed actors Tony Flynn (Big Man, Blue Lights), Michael Condron (Coronation Street, Say Nothing), and Abigail McGibbon (Ballywalter, Blue Lights) will perform their radio-recorded stories live, immersing you in the world of The Circus.

And for the first time, Paul McVeigh himself will take the stage to share the inspirations behind his stories.

Paul’s short stories have been in anthologies, journals and newspapers, read on BBC Radio 3, 4 and 5, RTE Radio, as well as Sky ARTS. His ten-part short story series, The Circus, aired on BBC Radio Ulster, BBC Radio Foyle and BBC Radio 4. He co-founded London Short Story Festival and has edited three anthologies. His collection, I hear You, was published in March 2025. His debut novel, The Good Son, won The Polari First Novel Prize and The McCrae Literary Award and his writing has been translated into eight languages.

CHOP – Lords of Strut

Posted on 14th March 202514th March 2025 by site_admin

Big Axe. Big Muscles. Big Existential Horror.

A real man. A Bro’s Bro. A macho & Cool man who chops wood. Because chopping wood is what real men do. The world is burning, the birds are gone, and the only solution? More chopping.

But no matter how much wood is split, it’s never enough. The brain won’t shut up. The cracks start to show. And if the chopping stops… then what?

CHOP is a violently stupid and stupidly violent deep dive into fragile egos, environmental collapse, and the absurdity of existence. Expect big laughs, real danger, and at least one existential crisis (probably yours).

Arts Council Ireland, The Visual Carlow, Dublin Fringe Festival

Duration: 50mins

Age Guidance: 14+

Content warning: contains some swearing and partial nudity (and a lot of chopped wood)

Shame Show

Posted on 7th March 20256th March 2025 by site_admin

Honey, you’ve got a big storm coming. For your safety, please follow this pair of prancing poofs to SHAME SHOW, a sketchy comedy of catastrophic proportions from Skelpie Limmer, the creators of Scaredy Fat and Two Fingers Up.

Adam and Stevie are stuck inside. Storm Seamus is about to strike. The rural fixer-upper they’ve inherited can’t hack it – and neither can their relationship. But through the static of Aunt Mary’s old TV comes an offer of salvation asking:

Have you been mis-sold big gay shame?

Wouldn’t it all be better in a different, sunnier, more progressive place?

Will Northern Ireland ever progress if all the progressives leave?

Is there really no place like home?

Channel-hopping their way through programmes of poofy-past, the couple confront home, happiness and heteronormativity as they battle the storm and each other’s beliefs.

A worthy First Fortnight Award winner at Dublin Fringe 2024, Colm McCready & Fergus Wachala-Kelly’s hugely entertaining and poignant SHAME SHOW disempowers the negativity that shaped us and the fear we’ve been force-fed, shaking off the shackles of shame for the climb ahead.

Developed at MAKE, HATCH at The MAC Belfast, and Incubate at Tinderbox Theatre Company.

Age suitability:16+
Duration:60 mins

Dressed For Space

Posted on 14th March 202513th March 2025 by site_admin

(Rooftop Outdoor performance)

Written & Performed by Patrick J O’Reilly

Award-winning Belfast writer and performer Patrick J O’Reilly brings his captivating new play, Dressed for Space, to a Belfast audience for the first time.

Simon has never felt at home on Earth—because Simon is an alien in disguise. Now, he’s arranged for his extraterrestrial family to pick him up from a Belfast rooftop, and he’s inviting you to his farewell party. A deeply personal and uplifting story of belonging, difference, and the search for home, Dressed for Space blends humour, heart, and sci-fi wonder in a one-of-a-kind theatrical experience.

Originally developed during an artistic residency at Rotterdam Rooftop Festival, the play has toured across Europe but makes its Belfast debut under the open sky.

“To perform on a rooftop is a beautiful experience. Having the sky as a backdrop creates a sense of awe—and I think we should be in awe every day.” – Patrick J O’Reilly

Limited capacity— As this is an outdoor event please dress warm and weather-appropriate.

Accessible entry via CastleCourt.

Lisdoon Nirvana

Posted on 28th February 20254th March 2025 by site_admin

Presented by The Mac and CQAF

For anyone who’s ever been young and dreamed of going to a festival and finding Nirvana…

Lisdoon Nirvana is a dramatic monologue with live music, written and performed by Frankie McCafferty and directed by Charlie Bonner.

Based on the last music festival at Lisdoonvarna in July 1983, the piece follows one young guy, Macker, and his friends making the Odyssean trip from Donegal to Clare. Travelling on the pillion of his friend’s two-stroke motorbike, they encounter 80s Ireland and young people from all over making the same pilgrimage.

Laden with camping gear and cheap alcohol smuggled across the border, wearing a converted Garda riot control helmet stuffed with bin bags, and a pair of swimming goggles, our hero undergoes a rite of passage as he ventures out into the big bad beautiful world.

Through his eyes we see the Folk and Rock glory of the Irish Glastonbury – and a country in transition, with a backdrop of recession, church oppression, emigration and Troubles. But right now Macker’s 17. There’s Smithwick’s in the rucksack. And rumour has it that the girls from the North are bringing hash and condoms. So that’s alright Mama…

Written and performed by Frankie McCafferty. Directed by Charlie Bonner

Produced by An Grianán Theatre Productions