The festival will take place from the 9-19 August 2018.

Kilkenny Arts Festival 2018 will feature several firsts. The Festival returns to the magical Castle Yard with a bold new take on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a co-production with Rough Magic, the first time a production has been specially created for this unique open-air space. Always a big hit with locals and visitors alike, Shakespeare in the Castle Yard promises a fabulously funny and magical night under the stars with a brilliant young Irish cast directed by Lynne Parker.

This year also sees the Festival present its first full-scale staged opera, The Return of Ulysses, Claudio Monteverdi’s magnificent retelling of Homer’s Odyssey, never before staged in Ireland. Co-produced with Opera Collective Ireland and featuring the renowned Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, The Return of Ulysses brings together a world-class creative team led by Tony Award-winning director Patrick Mason and the Festival’s regular operatic partner, conductor Christian Curnyn.

The Festival will also present world premiere productions of two new Festival commissions: Inventions, by Irish Modern Dance Theatre set in the former Carlton Ballroom with an international cast led by the legendary Valda Setterfield and Oona Doherty; and The Lightkeepers’ Last Stand, a free aerial circus show for all ages by the awe-inspiring Loosysmokes, playing in Kilkenny Castle Park twice daily.

The music programme offers a more diverse range of concerts than ever, from morning till late at night: Brahms in the Afternoon, a ten-day journey through the music masterpieces of the great romantic composer featuring leading classical stars from far and near; Later Beethoven, a three-concert series by the Festival’s resident ensemble, the Irish Chamber Orchestra, contrasting Beethoven’s astonishing later works with thrilling 21st-century compositions; mesmeric musical collaborations in the Marble City Sessions hosted by renowned fiddler Martin Hayes; and a mouth-watering series of ‘beyond genre’ artists, including a new jazz series - the Sofa Sessions - and a special celebration of the late Kilkenny music legend Willie Meighan in partnership with the city’s famous Rollercoaster Records.

Actor Stephen Rea returns to the Festival to perform Derek Mahon’s epic poetic sequence New York Time in the premiere of a new musical setting, and the great Eavan Boland is the Festival’s poet in residence. In the Spoken Word strand, the Festival delves into contemporary issues like fake news and Brexit and pulls at the loose threads of history with fresh thinking on iconic Irish heroes, featuring a roster of national and international guests including Newsnight presenter Evan Davis, former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and doyenne of Irish diplomacy Anne Anderson.

Exhibitions of art and design include stunning new shows at the Butler Gallery and the National Design & Craft Gallery, while architecture is prominent this year with Kilkenny Visions, a thought-provoking exhibition of new plans for Kilkenny’s cultural future in partnership with the UCD School of Architecture, and a much-anticipated lecture from Irish architectural stars Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, curators of the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale.

The Festival’s hugely popular series of Secret Garden free pop-up performances returns twice daily in a trail of exquisite historic gardens across the city, and bursts out onto High Street for the first time on both weekends.

Launching this year’s programme at the Kevin Kavanagh Gallery in Dublin - surrounded by the portraits artist Mick O’Dea, produced live at the Festival in his residency from 2015-17 - Festival Director Eugene Downes said: “We want to invite everyone, young and old, to join us in wonderful, historic Kilkenny for eleven days of unmissable experiences, day and evening, indoors and out. You’ll discover heart-stopping performances and encounter world-renowned artists in some of Ireland’s most magical spaces.”

The programme for the festival can be bought now at kilkennyarts.ie. See below for the full programme.

THEATRE, OPERA & DANCE

ROUGH MAGIC & KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL
NEW PRODUCTION PREMIERE
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
9 August, 8pm (preview)
10-12 & 14-18 August, 8pm
Castle Yard

OPERA COLLECTIVE IRELAND & KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL
IRISH PREMIERE PRODUCTION
The Return Of Ulysses
9 & 10 August, 7pm
12 August, 3pm
Watergate Theatre

WORLD PREMIERE/FESTIVAL COMMISSION
IRISH MODERN DANCE THEATRE
Inventions
17-18 August, 6pm & 10pm
19 August, 9pm
Carlton Ballroom

MUSIC

Series: Brahms in the Afternoon

Piano Works
Finghin Collins (piano)
10 August, 5pm
St John’s Priory

Programme
Rhapsodies Op. 79
Six Pieces Op. 118
Four Pieces Op. 119

Piano Trios & Quartets
Finghin Collins (piano), Katherine Hunka (violin),
Cian Ó Dúill (viola), Christian Elliot (cello)
11 & 12 August, 1pm
St John’s Priory

Programme I
Piano Trio No. 1 in B Major, Op. 8
Piano Quartet No. 3 in C minor, Op. 60

Programme II
Piano Trio No. 3 in C minor, Op. 101
Piano Quartet No. 2 in A Major, Op. 26

Cello Sonatas
Christian Elliot (cello), Finghin Collins (piano)
13 August, 1pm
St John’s Priory

Programme
Cello Sonata No. 1 in E minor, Op. 28
Cello Sonata No. 2 in F Major, Op. 99

Piano Duos
Pavel Kolesnikov & Samson Tsoy (piano)
14 August, 1pm
St John’s Priory

Programme
Variations on a Theme of Handel, Op. 24
Valses, Op. 39
Variations on a Theme of Schumann, Op. 23

Organ Preludes
Malcolm Proud
15 August, 1pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

Programme
Eleven Chorale Preludes, Op. 122

Viola Sonatas
Timothy Ridout (viola), Pavel Kolesnikov (piano)
16 August, 1pm

Programme
Viola Sonatas Nos 1 & 2, Op. 120
Three Intermezzi for Piano, Op. 117

String Quartets & Quintets
Quatuor Voce (France): Sarah Dayan & Cécile Roubin (violins), Guillaume Becker (viola), Lydia Shelley (cello)
& guests
Hélène Desaint (viola)
and Florent Héau (clarinet)
17-19 August, 1pm

Programme I (17 August)
String Quartet No. 3 in B flat Major, Op. 67
Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115

Programme II (18 August)
String Quartet No. 1 in C minor, Op. 51, No. 1
String Quintet No. 2 in G Major, Op. 111

Programme III (19 August)
String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 51, No. 2
String Quintet No. 1 in F Major, Op. 88

Series: Later Beethoven

Featuring the IRISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA
Resident orchestra of Kilkenny Arts Festival

Programme I
Katherine Hunka & Christian Elliot (directors)
Alex Petcu-Colan (percussion)
10 August, 8pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

Sam Perkin: Waves
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 13 in B Flat Major, Op. 130 (orchestral version)

Programme II
Katherine Hunka & Christian Elliot (directors)
14 August, 8pm
Watergate Theatre

Sam Perkin: Nimbus
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 14 in C sharp minor, Op. 131 (orchestral version)

Programme III
Jörg Widmann (conductor) (Germany)
Carolin Widmann (violin) (Germany)
18 August, 7.30pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

Widmann: Con Brio
Beethoven: Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61
Beethoven: Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92

Other Classical Concerts

Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin (Germany)
11 August, 8pm
St Canice’s Cathedral
Georg Kallweit (director/leader)

Programme
Monteverdi’s Italy: The Rise of Instrumental Music
Works by Bertali, Uccellini, Caccini, Falconieri, Valentini, Mealli, Marini,
Legrenzi, Ferrari, Monteverdi & Biber

Bach: The Violin Sonatas & Partitas
Johnny Gandelsman (USA/Russia)
13 August, 7.30pm
St Canice’s RC Church

Programme
Bach: Sonatas & Partitas for Violin BWV 1001-06

Peregryne
12 August, 9pm
St Canice’s RC Church

Programme
Sacred Hours: Renaissance Choral Works
Works by Monteverdi, Victoria, Venosa, Rihm, Lassus & Browne

Benjamin Appl & Pavel Kolesnikov (Germany/Russia)
17 August, 8pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

Programme
Songs by Schubert, Schumann, Brahms & Grieg

Chamber Choir Ireland
Paul Hillier (conductor)
18 August, 10pm
St Canice’s RC Church

Programme
Works by Palestrina, Knüpfer, Isaac, Brahms & Bach

Series: The Sofa Sessions

Chris Guilfoyle’s
Superumbra
Theo Bleckmann (voice), Nils Wogram (trombone) & John O’Gallagher (saxophone)
Umbra: Chris Guilfoyle (guitar), Sam Comerford (saxophones), Chris Engel (saxophones), Barry Donoghue (bass) & Matthew Jacobson (drums)
15 August, 10pm
Set Theatre

The Sofa Sessions at Billy Byrne’s:

CHRIS GUILFOYLE ORGAN TRIO
14 August, 6pm
Billy Byrne’s

JOHN O’GALLAGHER ‘CLUB’ SET
14 August, 10pm
Billy Byrne’s

GUILFOYLE/ENGEL/JACOBSON
16 August, 6pm
Billy Byrne’s

NILS WOGRAM ‘CLUB’ SET
16 August, 10pm
Billy Byrne’s

OXYGEN THIEF
17 August, 6pm
Billy Byrne’s

THEO BLECKMANN ‘CLUB’ SET
17 August, 10pm
Billy Byrne’s

Series: The Marble City Sessions

LIZ KNOWLES (USA)
14 August, 10pm
Rothe House

MARTIN HAYES QUARTET (USA/Ireland)
16 August, 7.30pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

MAYA YOUSSEF (Syria)
16 August, 10pm
Set Theatre

CAMILLE O’SULLIVAN
17 August, 10pm
Set Theatre

GLEN HANSARD
18 August, 9pm
Set Theatre

LIAM BYRNE & CLEEK SCHREY (Ireland/USA)
19 August, 11am
Parade Tower

Festival Finale

Hosted by Martin Hayes
Featuring: Liam Byrne, Dennis Cahill, Brian Connor, Kate Ellis, Stephanie Keane, Liz Knowles, Neil Martin, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Malcolm Proud, Stephen Rea, Cleek Schrey & Doug Wieselman
19 August, 7.30pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

Other Concerts

Declan O’Rourke
10 August, 10pm
Set Theatre

Ailbhe Reddy & Marc O’Reilly
11 August, 9pm
Set Theatre

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out:
A Celebration Of Willie Meighan
with
Yorkston/Thorne/Khan (UK/India)
The Lost Brothers
Malojian
15 August, 7.30pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

PERFORMANCE

IRISH PREMIERE
SHINING ARMOUR
By Burnside, Brahms & Tieck
15 August, 8pm
Watergate Theatre

Stephen Rea performs
NEW YORK TIME
By Derek Mahon
With a new score by Neil Martin
Performed by Brian Connor
17 August, 6pm
18 August, 4pm
Watergate Theatre

SPOKEN WORD

SERIES: THE BIG CHAPEL PROJECT

THOMAS KILROY
In Conversation with Olivia O’Leary
13 August, 11am
Parade Tower

ONE COUNTY ONE BOOK
15 August, 7pm
Fennelly’s Bar, Callan

SERIES: TWO IRISH TITANS

WELLINGTON & O’CONNELL: THE MEN BEHIND THE MYTHS
Eoghan Harris
11 August, 11am
Parade Tower

THE LIBERATORS: DANIEL O’CONNELL TO MARTIN LUTHER KING
Patrick Geoghegan & Fintan O’Toole
16 August, 6pm
Parade Tower

WELLINGTON’S IRISH ARMY
David Murphy & Marcus de la Poer Beresford
17 August, 11am
Parade Tower

SERIES: A TURBULENT WORLD
Three Talks on Ireland’s International Prospects in Uncertain Times

NEGOTIATING THE FUTURE
Bertie Ahern
In Conversation with David Davin-Power
13 August, 5.30pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

DIPLOMACY IN THE AGE OF TRUMP
Anne Anderson
15 August, 6pm
Parade Tower

BREXIT: WHAT NEXT?
Denis Staunton
18 August, 6pm
Parade Tower

SERIES: KILKENNY SECRET HISTORIES

A KILKENNY BIG HOUSE CHILDHOOD
Caroline & Jane Blunden
14 August, 11am
Parade Tower

REVOLUTIONARY KILKENNY
Eoin Swithin Walsh
15 August, 11am
Parade Tower

OTHER SPOKEN WORD

BRAHMS AND THE IRISH CONNECTION
Gerry Murphy
10 August, 3pm
Parade Tower

CREATIVE VISIONS FOR KILKENNY
Sheila O’Donnell & John Tuomey
11 August, 6pm
Parade Tower

HOMER TODAY: GREEK CULTURE THROUGH THE AGES
Lydia Koniordou (Greece)
12 August, 11am
Parade Tower

The Hubert Butler Annual Lecture
POST-TRUTH
EVAN DAVIS (UK)
Introduced by Olivia O’Leary
12 August, 5.30pm
St Canice’s Cathedral

FREESPACE
Yvonne Farrell & Shelley McNamara
14 August, 6pm
Parade Tower

KILKENNY POETRY BROADSHEET
Launched by Eavan Boland
16 August, 3pm
Parade Tower

Poet in Residence
EAVAN BOLAND
Introduced by Maureen Kennelly
17 August, 4pm
Parade Tower

CELEBRATING DEREK MAHON
Peter Fallon, Maureen Kennelly & Stephen Rea
18 August, 11am
Parade Tower

PARABLES OF A HIDDEN HISTORY
Mary Reid Kelley & Patrick Kelley in Conversation
18 August, 3pm
Parade Tower

OUTDOOR PERFORMANCE

WORLD PREMIERE/FESTIVAL COMMISSION
THE LIGHTKEEPERS’ LAST STAND
Loosysmokes
11-12 & 15-18 August, 2pm & 4.30pm
14 August, 2pm
19 August, 12pm
Castle Park

SECRET GARDEN MUSIC
Gazebo, Butler House Garden
11, 14, 16 August, 4pm

Castle Rose Garden
14 August, 3pm
12, 18 August, 4pm

Rothe House Garden
13, 15, 19 August, 4pm

Stone Circle, Butler House Garden
13, 16, 19 August, 3pm

Heritage Council Garden
15 August, 3pm
17 August, 4pm

FESTIVAL FUN ON THE HIGH STREET
11, 12, 17, 18 August, see website for times
Tholsel, High Street

VISUAL ART, DESIGN & ARCHITECTURE

I SMELLED A RAW RECRUIT:
The World War Films of Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley
11-19 August, 10am-5.30pm
Butler Gallery
Opening: 11 August, 3pm

OBJ: DIGITAL HANDMADE
Curated by Nora O Murchú
Exhibitors: Faig Ahmed, Common Works, Digital Nature Group, FIELD, Ying Gao, Sebastian Kite, David O’Reilly, Daniel Rozin, threadstories, Owen Quinlan, Marius Watz, Zeitguised, Zimoun
11, 13-18 August, 10am-5.30pm
12 August, 11am-5.30pm
National Craft Gallery, Castle Yard
Opening: 11 August, 2pm

KILKENNY ARTS FESTIVAL & UCD SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE
KILKENNY VISIONS
11-19 August, 10.30am-5pm
Rothe House
Opening: 11 August, 12pm