Q&A with Cliona Dukes – SCENE + HEARD Festival 

Cliona Dukes, along with Caoimhe Connolly, are the SCENE + HEARD Festival co-founders and co-directors. We had the chance to ask Cliona Dukes some questions about the Festival and its work ahead of the opening this week.

SCENE + HEARD 2026 – The Festival of New Work returns this February for its landmark tenth edition. 

Edition X: Where New Work Gets Noisy
Smock Alley Theatre | 12-28 February 2026

Can you tell us about the aims of the Festival?

We believe that making art requires risk – boldness, bravery and a willingness to fail. Sometimes the most important part of the process is when a piece doesn’t quite work yet. That space of experimentation is where new ideas are born. We also believe that audience impressions are essential to the development of art. It was from these beliefs that Scene + Heard was born.

We are a kickstarter, an incubator and a nurturer of new shows. We run a series of events to support artists and their creative collaborators to present their work. Months before presentation, we begin producer training, clinics and workshops, design discussions, arts industry networking, green policy and resource sharing discussions, casting and agent introductions, technical and promotional support, dramaturgy, development & mentoring in order to strengthen the wider arts community and make a contribution to the ecology of arts in Ireland.

We support new practice by artists from a wide range of backgrounds. Each year, applications come from a richly diverse range of makers. Each September, we welcome submissions across all genres – music, comedy, theatre, dance, poetry, puppetry, children’s theatre, drag, circus, visual art, etc., provided the work is original and authentic.

Every performance invites a response. Whether through secret ballot, post-show chats, Q&A, or digital feedback, audiences are encouraged to share what they felt, thought and noticed. These reviews go straight to the artists, offering invaluable insight into audience perceptions and helping them shape what comes next. This means that the audience is not just watching new work – they’re part of it, helping to spark ideas, sharpen stories and shape the future of our cultural landscape.

As SCENE + HEARD marks its tenth year, we also take a moment to reflect. Over 6,000 artists, more than 1,000 shows and 80,000+ audiences later, the little festival that could is still going strong.

Do you have many people apply to take part? 

We receive roughly 400 show submissions each year, sometimes with a cast and creative crew of 8 or 9, so that’s A LOT of artists.

Is there a selection process? If so, can you tell us how you decide which productions will be part of the festival?

Both Festival Directors read every show submission separately and score applications based on criteria categories such as originality of idea/  theme, artform(s) creative team backgrounds, (experience/ education / past work), their vision, inspiration, audience experience, quality of supporting docs, scripts, table reads, choreography, music, design drawings, lighting, costume, press and budgets etc, as well as feasibility and funding. We aim to select 100 shows each year that are as varied as possible. Unlike other festivals, we don’t have a particular “theme” each year, although we do see themes present themselves in the work. We try to keep the programme entirely different so that there really is something for everyone on show.

Many productions start at the Scene and Heard Festival before they take part in other festivals. Can you tell us about the productions you’re most proud of over the years?

We get asked this question a lot, and to be honest, the word ‘proud’ always makes us feel a little uncomfortable, as it suggests that we are taking ownership or credit of some kind for art made by individual artists. We think of ourselves as more midwives who support the birth of the art, and as a result, we are proud of all the artists who have given life to their creations.

That being said it is very heartwarming to know that playwright Ciara Elizabeth Smyth had her first show with us, and well known makers and performers such as Thommas Kane Byrne, Clare Monnelly, Aisling O Mara, Louis Deslis, Darryl McCormack, Callum Maxwell, Fred Cooke, Alison Spittle, Peter McGann, Tony Cantwell, India Mullen, Kate Gilmore, Stephen James Smyth, Clelia Murphy, Shakalak got to begin new works with us that have turned in to big award winning things. We’re told it’s a rite of passage at this point. But of course it’s not just for emerging artists – we get plenty of established artists coming to trial their work and engage with the audience. We had some fun telling people we had our first Oscar nominee in the festival when the wonderful Joan Sheehy, from An Cailín Ciúin, took the stage!

What productions are you most excited about from this year’s festival?

This year, we’re proud to present 108 new shows – from comedy, theatre, music, dance, drag, acrobatics (both verbal + physical), to poetry, puppetry, hip-hop, opera, musical theatre and visual art, making this programme much more than the sum of its parts.

Comedy is a major force this year, but rarely plays it safe. From the audience-fuelled improvised chaos of John Day Afternoon to the self-interrogating humour of A Biological Redundancy and Married Without Children, laughter frequently gives way to sharper questions. Political and social satire cuts through works like Burning Down the House, Undercovers and Dogwhistle, while Feel Shit! Linda Martin is NOT a Vampire, Harvey Darko and Not All Men use social media, pop culture and dating tropes to expose deeper anxieties. For those drawn to intimate, emotionally charged storytelling, theatre exploring grief, identity and survival, works such as Sure Look, Sure Listen, Lifejacket, The Vanishing of Aisling Tierney and All the Quiet Ends sit alongside more formally experimental pieces like UNGYUN and The Ninefold Spiral, which blend narrative with movement, memory and ritual. Dance, aerial and physical theatre surge through the programme, with pieces like Station of Echoes – Fluid Tracks, Body Count, Bedrott and Dust using the body as a site of resistance, desire and transformation. Music-driven storytelling also features strongly, from Healing Through Hip-Hop to Moonshine: A Prohibition Musical and the blockbuster Temple Bar – The Musical, while folklore, myth and magic are reimagined in works such as Stars Are Blind, Anseo and Heart Follows Drum.