What's On

Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival are thrilled to announce our latest take on a Shakespeare classic. A dark comedy filled with magic, mischief, music and romance; The Tempest. Shakespeare’s lyrical revenge fantasy is coming to the grounds of Kilkenny Castle for 10 outdoor performances, with Eleanor Methven, one of Ireland’s most celebrated actresses, taking … 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

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 13 never-before-seen works, commissioned by Rough Magic as part of the COMPASS Programme. 55+ Artists. 3 Events. 2 Days. Read the Rough Weekend … Continued

Rough Magic is thrilled to be bringing the Irish premiere of All the Angels by Nick Drake to audiences this Christmas, a joyous play about the world’s most popular choral work, from its fraught birth to its glorious outcome. All the Angels tells the true story of the great composer Handel in his desperate attempt … Continued

Rough Magic is thrilled to be returning to Kilkenny Arts Festival this year with Fionn Foley’s Tonic, a Doomsday folk-musical set in 2047. Tonic is an outdoor new ‘medicine-show’ infused with a genre-spanning live score. Directed by Rough Magic Associate Director Ronan Phelan, and designed by Zia Bergin-Holly the show will star Fionn Foley, Juliette Crosbie … Continued

Rough Magic is delighted to have Solar Bones presented as part of Culture Ireland’s SEODA Festival which will celebrate Irish arts worldwide during its 5 day festival running between 17th – 21st March. Minister Catherine Martin T.D announced the festival saying: “Our artists are Ireland’s treasures and despite the many challenges this year, our artists … Continued

Join RTE.ie/culture for Stanley Townsend in Solar Bones on Thursday, November 5th from 7.30 pm – the production will be available to watch worldwide for 24 hours only. 

Kilkenny Arts Festival in partnership with Rough Magic, in association with Watergate Theatre presents SOLAR BONES by Mike McCormack in an adaptation by Michael West. Premiering at the Kilkenny Arts Festival August 2020.

The award-winning Rough Magic production of How to Keep an Alien written and performed by Sonya Kelly with Justin Murphy. Production filmed on 6 September 2014 at Project Arts Centre as part of Tiger Dublin Fringe

Rough Magic is responding, along with the entire sector, to the current national crisis. Our two upcoming events –  the Trinity Long Room Hub presentation of The Choir Project as a work in development on April 8th, and the launch of the Methuen Rough Magic anthology on April 22nd – will now be postponed until … Continued