Cork City Hall to be converted into a beach

CORK City Hall is be converted into a crowded beach using over 15 tons of sand as part of an unusual opera production.

Sun, sea and singing will transform the Millennium Hall for the Cork Midsummer Festival this June.

Sun & Sea will recreate a busy beach scene complete with burning sun, bright swimsuits, and bodies sprawling lazily across a sea of towels, as sunbathers sing of early morning flights, burnout, sunblock and pina coladas while also observing changes in the natural world around them.

The durational performance, each cycle lasting approximately 60 minutes, allows audiences to watch the opera performance from a platform above the beach.

Winner of the Golden Lion at the 2019 Venice Biennale, this spectacular production has enchanted audiences around the world from Los Angeles to New York, and Santiago to Sydney, and has been celebrated for its humorous and powerful exploration of our relationship with the planet and climate crisis.

Lorraine Maye, director of the Cork Midsummer Festival, said: “Sun & Sea is sensational, a breath-taking spectacle that has enchanted audiences around the world. This is such an exciting opportunity to see a world-class, international event of this scale right here on our doorstep. 

"It’s always moving, often humorous and definitely thought-provoking. Everyone is going to be talking about this show.”

The show is also seeking Cork volunteers to participate as extras, enjoying the indoor beach and all volunteer performers will wear swimwear they’d feel comfortable wearing on a real beach, as they relax, picnic, play, read and maybe occasionally go off stage to get sprinkled with water, as if you’d been in the sea, or to collect an ice cream.

Volunteers are welcome from all races and including mixed communities living across Cork, those with tattoos, pregnant people, trans or non-binary people, older people and families with children aged eight-plus, accompanied by a parent or guardian.