Highlights of Cork Midsummer Festival

FROM a show about sex, that includes an intimacy director, to a solo performance in a swimming pool, and an invitation to go to a secret location for an immersive theatre experience, the Cork Midsummer Festival (CMF) from June 12-23 continues to surprise audiences.

There was a time not all that long ago when the show Good Sex, running at the Everyman, would have been met with disapproval. But as acting director of the festival, Rose-Anne Kidney agrees, there are very few taboos left in our society.

Good Sex, performed over four nights, will see two different actors each evening attempt to answer the question, ‘how do you have sex on stage?’

Written by award-winning author Emilie Pine, this provocative-sounding show in which the intimacy director trains people how to touch, tells a story of “desire, betrayal and loneliness”. It is described as “a sublimely funny love story for a loveless age”. Innovative theatre company, Dead Centre premiered the show at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2022. The actors are given the script on the day of performance. There is no rehearsal.

“Everyone I know that has seen it has said it’s absolutely incredible,” says Rose-Anne.

A genre-defying new solo performance in the Gus Healy swimming pool in Douglas, entitled Kilter, Matter And Ghosts, by Cork-based interdisciplinary artist, Natasha Bourke, will attract the curious.

“It is slightly performance art with some film involved. Natasha is an aerial artist so there’s a bit of circus as well,” says Rose-Anne.

And if the above doesn’t whet your appetite, who can resist the lure of being taken to a secret location late at night for “a memorable experience of joy, hope and surrealism?”

World-renowned outdoor theatre makers, Kamchatka, of Barcelona, will present Alter. In this production, seven characters appear, each carrying a suitcase. What are their stories?

Rose-Anne travelled to Milton Keynes to see the show last year as there are a lot of logistics with which she wanted to familiarise herself.

It’s amazing. We were told to put on our walking shoes for the secret location. It takes you away from reality for a few hours. I’d highly recommend it.

Kamchatka will also bring their street theatre piece to the festival. Again, it features seven characters carrying suitcases. Are they passers-by or immigrants?

“They explore the city and discover things on the street and meet people. They don’t talk but they do engage with people in different ways. They did this in 2019 at the festival. But they’ll use different locations in Cork city this time.

“The last time they were here, they climbed on top of a bank building and got in through a window of its office, waving at everyone. They took pints from people outside Le Chateau and had a little drink. They’re an amazing company.”

Following the success of Theatre for One: This Ireland at CMF in 2019, this intimate theatrical experience, comprising part confessional, part peep-show booth, returns to Emmet Place. Six new writers, mentored by six leading playwrights including Enda Walsh, Marina Carr and Mark O’Rowe, have written very short plays (just five minutes in length).

As well as the work of the emerging writers, the well-known playwrights have also each written a five-minute play. You get in the queue to see one of the 12 mini-plays, with the writer only revealed when you are inside the booth alone, watching the filmed presentation.

Rose-Anne says that when Landmark Productions made a nationwide call-out for short plays, they received over 500 submissions.

Because the plays are only five minutes long, it wasn’t a huge challenge. The interest in it was phenomenal.

Music fans will enjoy The Cork Proms at the Cork Opera House. With the venue’s concert orchestra playing, there will be a mix of contemporary and classical music.

The three programmes are Heyday – A Mixtape of Irish Rock and Pop, New World Symphony and Rhapsody in Blue – Dvorak, Gershwin and Music inspired by America, as well as There’s No Place Like Home – A Musical Theatre Revue.

Rose-Ann said: “For something totally different, we got some funding this year from the Arts Council to create a late night event which we haven’t done a lot of in the past. We’re calling it 9.57 (sunset). It takes place on Midsummer’s Night. It’s curated by ELLLL (Ellen King), electronic music artist with Emer Yip from Sample Studios.

“There will be loads of really original electronic dance music. We’re using the TDC (Theatre Development Centre) at Triskel and Christchurch. The amazing music will be over four nights in both locations. There will be DJs and bands.”

North of the river, a new interpretation of Schubert’s much-loved song cycle, Winterreise Reimagined, takes place in the Shandon area.

“It’s an interpretation by eight different artists in venues in Shandon. It’s like a walking tour. You dip into the different venues to get the artists’ take on the piece of music.”

There are inclusive artistic presentations in the festival, including Home Sweet Home from Suisha Inclusive Arts with Al Bellamy and Jody O’Neill. This ambitious disability-led production at the Granary Theatre is set in Cork in a not-so-distant future with a group of artists living together.

“Their home is their right, and their comfort, but the newly elected government doesn’t agree,” according to the CMF programme. The gang fights back “with protests, cups of tea and viral music videos...”

Children are catered for with, for example, an adaptation of David O’Doherty’s award-winning book, This Summer I Robbed a Bank at the Everyman in conjunction with The Ark.

Rose-Anne is particularly looking forward to a re-telling of the creation of everything inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost. Taking place at Dance Cork Firkin Crane, it incorporates words, music and movement. The Guardian hailed it as one of the best dance performances of the 21st century. Conceived and performed by Ben Duke, it brings to life the often forgotten and misunderstood story from the rebellion of the angels to the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden.

The core team of six running the CMF expands to about 30 people for the month of June. This year, the festival was awarded funding of €440,000 from the Arts Council. It also receives support from Cork City Council and Fáilte Ireland. And there is both financial support and support-in-kind from partners in the city as well as from patrons, friends and sponsors.

Rose-Anne, festival producer since 2018, says it has strong relationships with its venue partners in Cork. It looks after insurance and other costs involved in staging productions.

“The festival is a huge undertaking. The last few weeks before the festival are my favourite time. It’s just about the fine details. 

It’s always difficult at the start of the year when you’re waiting on funding decisions to see what you can put in the programme. That’s always a challenge.

“Once you know what you have, it’s all about making sure audiences get to have the best experience that they can possibly have.”

In the lead up to the festival, the organisers keep a keen and hopeful eye on the weather.

“It’s really wind that is the biggest problem with outdoor events. Everyone in Ireland is used to a bit of rain. But in high winds, certain structures can’t stay up. We’re obsessed with the weather forecast. Fingers crossed!”

For a full line-up see www.corkmidsummer.com