International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2024 – Preview

With the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival now only days away (6th to the 19th of May) we thought we’d have a look at what’s on and make a few recommendations. As ever, the festival has a lot of new productions from around the world, so if you take a few chances you might find a gem! There are over 20 productions at the festival so it should have something for everyone.

Unguarded – 9th to 11th of May @ Teachers Club

We reviewed this back in January when it was in the Project Arts Centre – “It shows the need for official Ireland to legislate in relation to surrogacy. But because it is accompanied by laughter and humour, it remains grounded in a human story where both Stephen and Tadgh are individuals who you would like to know. Kinahan bravely tells a story which needs to be told and he does so with a play that is heartwarming. It should be seen and enjoyed.”

DARLING BOY – 13 May 2024 -18 May 2024 @ Teachers Club

From our review at the Edinburgh Fringe 2023 – “By the end of this action-packed hour, the ‘darling boy’ emerges as a lovable young man. A really strong script, very well directed by Lucy Rossen, that never falters in its pace or sincerity. No wonder it sold out in Melbourne.”

Baklâ – 13 – 18 May 2024 @ Teachers Club

From our review at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – “Max’s use of the stage, the audience, religious imagery, his body, a mirror and his rich text weaves a tapestry of colour, humour and power that makes the hour of this theatre seem all too short. Max Perry is an actor, an athlete of the theatre both physically and intellectually, and he has quite a story to tell. Go see it”.

GC… AF – 6th – 11 May @ Teachers Club

If you happened to see The War Wounded, as well as the novel The Runts of the Litter at the festival last year, this is from the same writers. It promises to be a “scathing satire of the so-called Gender Critical movement”.

The Rotting Hart – A New Queer Horror – 6 – 11 May @ Outhouse Theatre

From our review at the Edinburgh Fringe last year …“The graphic imagery of man as hunter, prey and sacrifice is told with great impact and effect in a story that leaves you thinking and imagining what lives were like then and how they resonate today. This is a tale of isolation and encounter, finely portrayed, that left all in the audience a little unsettled but well impressed. An accomplished collaboration of storytelling as it should be…gripping”.