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If you happen to be in Dublin during the month of October, you could do worse than checking out the Dublin Theatre Festival – Europe’s oldest specialised theatre festival. Established in 1957, the festival’s aim is to bring the very best of international theatre to Dublin while also providing a platform for the most promising Irish writers and directors of the day.
Many leading Irish playwrights such as Frank McGuinness, Tom Murphy, Brian Friel, and Hugh Leonard have all premiered plays during the Dublin Theatre Festival.
Unlike the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the Dublin Theatre Festival concentrates completely on theatre with far less emphasis being placed on opera, music, and dance. For two weeks in October (or late September), Dublin swarms with theatre goers as the restaurants and cafés resound with people discussing the festival programme.
The same play might provoke both ecstatic enthusiasm and bitter disdain from different people as the decisions of international playwrights and directors are dissected and discussed. Whether you agreed with a director’s use of imagery, or heartily despised the plot structure of an established playwright’s latest offering, if you’re a theatre lover, during the Dublin Theatre Festival you’ll be in seventh heaven.
The initial aim of establishing the Dublin Theatre Festival was to encourage tourists to visit Dublin after the peak holiday season. It’s safe to say that the results have been rather successful and thanks to the Theatre Festival’s popularity, anyone visiting Dublin in early autumn is encouraged to book their accommodation early. Also, unless you fancy queuing for returns, it would be advisable to book your theatre tickets well in advance too.
For more information visit www.dublintheatrefestival.com
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