MORE THAN 100 events, across theatre, music, comedy, and visual arts, as well as a new cinema strand, make up the fifth Galway Fringe Festival, which runs from Saturday July 9 to Monday 25.
Theatre highlights at the Fringe include Spinal Krapp by Magic Roundabout Company, a "Ulysseyan stand-up tragedy" about a manic north Dublin childhood in the 1980s (Kirwan's Lane Theatre@ Busker Brownes, July 13, 14, 17-21, 8.30pm ); Aisling's Seven - The Central Bank Heist by Underdog Theatre Productions (Nuns Island Theatre, July 11-14, 8pm ); and Save Me A Balloon, written and performed by comedy duo Ross Spaine and Marga Villalonga (Kirwan’s Lane Theatre, July 19-21, 6pm ), and expect physical comedy, dancing, stage magic, King Kong, and balloons.
Irish singer Alice Beams will deliver a night of opera, jazz, art, musical theatre and songs from the movies in Swing and Swoon (Kirwan's Lane Theatre, July 11-12, 8.30pm ), while trad and folk fans can look forward to Kieran Quinn and Seamie O’Dowd (Claddagh Arts Centre and Katie's Cottage, July 17, 3pm ).
Visual arts highlights include an exhibition from Hangar’t, Pont-Aven. Following Andy Warhol’s style, Hangar’t participants turn their own old documents and pictures into paintings that both examine and celebrate rural life.
There will also be the Lark in the Park in Salthill Park (July 16, 12noon-5pm ), and events for children including the Alice in Wonderland Parade and a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.
Cinema at the Fringe
Film On The Edge, a new addition to the Fringe, will host the work of Irish and international independent emerging film makers at Nuns Island Theatre and The Loft at Seven. Film makers will attend the screenings, introduce their films, and answer audience questions after.
It opens with The Bicycle, directed by Arne Körner, about a young man cycling from Hamburg to Paris. Also watch out for Dead Dogs, directed by Ian Ruby (Nuns Island, July 9, 5.30pm ) where Don wants to reconnect with his estranged family, while his partner Lisa, wants to be free from his violent rages;
Film On The Edge's short film strand will screen Amhras directed by Sean Wrenn; In the Valley of the Moon, directed by Brian Rossney; Girls, directed by Maureen O’Connell; and The Betrayal, an LGBT thriller from Director Kamila Dydyna.
Documentaries include Dancing In The Dark, directed by Steven McSweeney (July 10 ). Losing his sight at 17, Doug Stevenson battles depression and goes on to pursue new found dreams of becoming an Olympian dressage rider.
Screenings at The Loft include Shoebox Memories, directed by Jason Brannagn (July 9 ), a love story inspired by music, and the Beyond the Edge programme which includes shorts of all genres submitted by first time film makers (also July 9 ).
The closing feature is The Funeral Guest (Nuns Island, July 10, 5pm ) where a lonely girl seeks connection by crashing other people's funerals. Galway based musician Sarah DiMuzio/Whim who contributed songs to the soundtrack will introduce the film.
For more information see www.galwayfringe.ie
