Today the Dublin Theatre Festival announced the programme for the fall event, featuring new work from Ireland’s own Michael Keegan Dolan/Teaċ Daṁsa, Marina Carr, Dermot Bolger, ANU, Druid, Fishamble, Rough Magic, the Abbey, the Gate, The Ark, Dylan Tighe and more.

“Our festival celebrates the collective experience of live performance and contributes to the social and cultural life of Dublin,” reads a statement from Artistic Director Willie White. “However, it is getting more and more difficult to make art in the city. The landscape is changing all around us.”

Hopes that the festival will draw more attention to the city’s theatre scene are fuelled by 10 world premieres and works that reach beyond contemporary topics in, “a poetic enquiry about the times we live in.”

Highlights include a major coproduction between DTF and the Lyric Theatre of Synge’s The Playboy of the Western World at the Gaiety directed by Oonagh Murphy.

Michael Keegan Dolan and Teaċ Daṁsa will also premiere a new production, Mám, following their 2016 success of Swan Lake/Loch na hEala.

“It’s time to speak up for Dublin to ensure that it can continue to be a place that is diverse, creative and inspiring,” said White. “We will get the city we ask for and I would like one that is made for people and for the future.”

Priority booking for Friends of the Festival is now open. To become a Friend, contact +353 1677 8439.

Public booking opens on 14 August at 10am online here, by phone at +353 1677 8899, or in person at the DTF box office Festival House at 12 East Essex Street East, Temple Bar, Dublin 2.

A full list of the programme is available here.