News & Events

Watch playwright Marina Carr explain what inspired her to write Hecuba, as actor Aislín McGuckin takes time out of rehearsals to describe what it’s like to play the fabled Queen of Troy. Get insights into Rough Magic’s production of Hecuba in this Q&A with director Lynne Parker. Hecuba will be performed as part of the Dublin … Continued

We are thrilled to announce our talented cast for the Irish premiere of Hecuba by Marina Carr. For this production, Rough Magic brings together some of the country’s most celebrated actors – who have already given us stellar performances – with a new generation of Ireland’s most exciting emerging talent; in a classic Rough Magic … Continued

Our cast are in the final week of rehearsals for our production of Much Ado About Nothing, soon to be opening under the stars at Kilkenny Arts Festival. In a rare break, director Ronan Phelan sat down for this interview to talk about the gender-swapping casting of Clare Barrett, setting the play in a mobile … Continued

After a successful run at the Kilkenny Arts Festival, Rough Magic is bringing its acclaimed modern staging of Much Ado About Nothing on a national tour. In this interview director Ronan Phelan explains why he decided to set it on the deck of a deluxe mobile home, the meaning behind those flaming pants in the … Continued

We’re delighted to announce our fabulous cast for Much Ado About Nothing; our return to Kilkenny Arts Festival. Venetia Bowe and Shane O’Regan will play the young lovers Hero and Claudio. Peter Corboy and Maeve Fitzgerald will be sparring as Benedick and Beatrice. Jack Mullarkey will play the scheming Don John, with Margaret McAuliffe as Margaret and Patrick … Continued

Congratulations to the 2018 Rough Magic team who walked away with the Best Ensemble trophy at the Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards.

Rough Magic is delighted to have received an Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards nomination for the Rough Magic Ensemble 2018.

Two weeks before the curtain rises on Portrait, Rough Magic’s artistic director Lynne Parker discusses adapting the novel 100 years later, and why it’s important to bring Joyce out of Dublin.   Why did you choose to program Joyce this year, and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man in particular? We were … Continued

Katie Davenport is the brilliant designer behind the topsy-turvy world of Rough Magic’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  Before the show opens in Kilkenny’s Castle Yard, Katie spoke about designing for all-weather outdoor productions, approaching her third Shakespearean play, and incorporating post-Soviet culture, punk, and “sequinned magic” on the night.     What is the concept and inspiration … Continued

Google Image search ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream poster’ and you’ll see a well-trodden formula in past productions of fairy queen Titania, donkey-head Bottom and an enchanted-looking wood. In Rough Magic’s production, there’s a six-year old with fairy wings in a laundrette and a chipper. Here, director Lynne Parker reveals how we came up with a … Continued