News & Events

The award-winning Solar Bones is back! Marcus Conway has come home to his kitchen in Louisburgh Co. Mayo. Everything seems normal, yet he is haunted by the feeling that nothing is quite right. Poring obsessively over the details of his relationships, his world and his work as an engineer brings him closer to an understanding … Continued

Rough Magic is delighted that two of our recent productions have been nominated for Irish Times Irish Theatre Awards! Along with our partners at Kilkenny Arts Festival, our 2020 production of Solar Bones has been nominated for three awards; Stanley Townsend for Best Actor, Lynne Parker for Best Director and also Best Production. Tonic, which … Continued

Rough Magic and Hatch Pictures are delighted to present Cleft, a new audio play by Fergal McElherron which is free to listen to below, and on Spotify. Cleft is a visceral story of one family’s unrelenting will to survive – and ultimately to make choices based on instinct. Cleft, starring Simone Kirby and Penny Layden, was … Continued

55+ Artists. 3 Events. 2 Days. Rough Weekend is a showcase of new writing and big ideas. Set across two days, each of these three unique events will feature stagings, readings and discussions, offering glimpses and impressions of never-before-seen works, commissioned by Rough Magic as part of the COMPASS Programme. Presented in Project Arts Centre … Continued

Ahead of Tonic’s opening night in Dublin Castle as part of Dublin Fringe, writer-composer Fionn Foley explains why he wanted to write a musical about the end of the world, how Tonic compares to his last Fringe musical Fierce Notions, and his advice for other actor-musicians.   Tonic is set in a post-apocalyptic world, among a … Continued

An invitation out of the blue to visit an old friend in hospital. Someone Dean hasn’t seen in years. Not since they were kids. Not since they drifted apart. Until now, this invitation, out of the blue. After all this time. What could be the harm in that? We are delighted to be partnering with … Continued

Earlier this year we put out a call for Rough Ideas; asking writers and theatre artists for early-stage ideas that we could support over six months with a bursary, dramaturgy and mentorship. We had expected a substantial response to the call, but nothing prepared us for the volume and quality of applicants and proposals. The … Continued

We are thrilled to introduce the SEEDS Apprenticeships and Trainee Producer who are joining us as part of the COMPASS program for the next 12 months. SEEDS Apprentices This year’s SEEDS Apprentices begin their placement in April. The program includes their own desk space in our office to work from, mentorship from our artistic team, … Continued

We are thrilled to announce two new additions to our management team. Karin McCully joins Rough Magic as Literary Manager, while Sara Cregan will be our new Producer. Karin McCully | Literary Manager Karin brings twenty years experience as a professional Dramaturg to the role of Literary Manager, and over ten years as a theatre … Continued

Update: Applications for the COMPASS strands are now closed for 2021. We are delighted to announce that applications are now open for COMPASS, Rough Magic’s new artist development programme. Since 2001 Rough Magic has been a pioneer of artist development in Irish theatre, through the SEEDS programme. SEEDS has been Ireland’s most comprehensive development programme … Continued