A wealth of Theatre / Dance / Circus and Opera await at Galway International Arts Festival 2025!
From jaw-dropping circus and acrobatics to a tender portrait of humanity...
From an underwater performance to an opera on MARS...
From a meeting of crime-drama and dance to a new ROOM to explore...
There's a world of art, adventure, adrenaline and activities at Galway International Arts Festival 2025!
From 14th – 27th July, Galway International Arts Festival offers an exciting programme of theatre, circus, dance and opera as part of their most ambitious programme to date.
Below is more detail on some of the productions, links to fuller info, clips to watch and photos to download.
The NoFit State Big Top will be pitched by the banks of the River Corrib and Galway Bay at Nimmo’s Pier for Sabotage, a breath-taking, spectacular. This unmissable performance from NoFit State is a roller-coaster ride of jaw-dropping circus skills, featuring outrageously talented performers, eye-popping entertainment, live music and stunning imagery. 11–27 July evenings and matinees. See giaf.ie for schedule.
From the creator of the multi-award-winning Volcano [GIAF 2020 & 2022], crime-drama meets dance theatre in a gripping exploration of ambition, land and legacy in Luke Murphy’s Scorched Earth, blurring the lines of dance and theatre. Produced by Luke Murphy’s Attic Projects with Dublin Dance Festival and Galway International Arts Festival, Scorched Earth runs from 15-19 July Black Box Theatre.
Purchase your tickets for Scorched Earth Today!
Druid marks its 50th anniversary season with a double bill of J. M. Synge’s Riders to the Sea and William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, directed by Garry Hynes. In a cast led by Marty Rea as Macbeth and Marie Mullen as Lady Macbeth, this new production of Macbeth follows Druid’s internationally acclaimed DruidShakespeare [2015] and Richard III [2018], continuing the company’s exploration of the Bard’s canon. In Riders to the Sea, Synge’s miniature masterpiece is a swirling tour de force of Celtic paganism, the earthly struggles of life, and the desperate stretch of humanity towards the heavens. 10-26 July. Mick Lally Theatre.
The Cave is an unforgettable black comedy from the pen of one of Ireland’s most beloved writers, Kevin Barry. This Abbey Theatre world premiere production, featuring a stellar Irish cast of Aaron Monaghan, Judith Roddy and Tommy Tiernan, is directed by the Abbey Theatre’s Artistic Director, Caitríona McLaughlin. 22-26 July. Town Hall Theatre.
Between dreamlike fiction and stark reality, Focus and Chaliwaté’s visually stunning Dimanche paints a quietly witty and tender portrait of humanity surprised by the uncontrollable forces of nature. 15-19 July. Town Hall Theatre.
Copenhagen Collective, a new company of 17 acrobats from 14 countries including Ireland, brings breathtaking and jaw-dropping aerial acrobatics celebrating the strength of the collective in The Genesis. A vibrant experience in which the virtuosity of the artists reveals an essential truth: together, we go further. 22-26 July, Black Box Theatre.
Performed entirely underwater in the main tank of Galway Atlantaquaria, long-time Festival collaborator Mikel Murfi performs his new solo show Oh …, a co-production between Loco and Reckless, glór and Galway International Arts Festival. Using the underwater environment as a poetic space, Oh … reflects on new journeys, partings and the possibility of moving on, inviting you to dive deeper into the human experience, where that which is extraordinary in all of us is quietly imaginable. Previews 8, 10, 12. Runs 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 26 July.
Four astronauts and an AI software interface are cooped up in the cabin of a spacecraft for nine months on a mission to MARS, a new opera from Jennifer Walshe and Irish National Opera. Featuring the Irish National Opera Orchestra, and sung in English, MARS is an opera about space colonisation, isolation, sinister ideologies, the prospect of alien life, and a vibe-shift toward corporate authoritarianism 25-27 July Leisureland, Salthill.
The Baby’s Room is the 12th immersive theatre installation, part of an ongoing extraordinary series Rooms created by Enda Walsh and Paul Fahy, featuring the voice of Kate Gilmore. Absorbing and vivid text by Enda Walsh reveals the highly intimate lives of each Room’s character, which takes on a quiet poetic force through remarkable storytelling with design by Paul Fahy. 14-27 July. Bailey Allen Hall, University of Galway.
Approx 15 mins duration.
Devised with an all-Traveller ensemble from Oein DeBhairduin’s best-selling book, Why the Moon Travels interweaves stories of kind animals, otherworldly beings and hapless humans with memories and experiences from the performers’ own lives, mixing the wisdom of folklore with their own words. From Moonfish Theatre, Oein DeBhairduin and Galway International Arts Festival
14-19 July - Bank of Ireland Theatre, University of Galway
Beckett sa Chreig: Guth na mBan. The Irish language seeps into the searing beauty of the Beckettian imagery. Company SJ use the tools of film, site, language, the body and visual art on Beckett’s exploration of human relationships which is reflected in the voices of the women in Beckett sa Chreig Guth na mBan – Footfalls, Rockaby and Not I directed by Sarah Jane Scaife.
11-19 July - An Taibhdhearc.
From Decadent Theatre and Galway Arts Centre comes a double-bill of plays by Simon Stephens directed by Andrew Flynn. T5 portrays a road trip below the heart of London and follows a darkly magical flight out of the edges of the 21st century; while Sea Wall is an unforgettable story about family, fear and the things that can’t be undone.
12-26 July, Galway Arts Centre - Nun’s Island Theatre
From Branar and Galway Music Residency, Story of a Day – Scéal Lae is a music-filled story of one child’s day that turns the ordinary into extraordinary with live music (by ConTempo Quartet), vibrant storytelling and vivid animation. 14-20 July. The Cube, University of Galway.
Adapted by Tanya Ronder from the Booker Prize-winning novel by DBC Pierre, Vernon God Little is a wild, hilarious and energetic ride through absurd American life. 14-27 July. Galway Arts Centre - Nun’s Island Theatre.
A chance to get a peek at two works in development – both at O’Donoghue Theatre, University of Galway.
From Landmark Productions and Galway International Arts Festival in association with Irish Arts Center, New York, a work in progress sharing of Dating Amber, based on the film by David Freyne directed by Des Kennedy, with music and lyrics by Katie Richardson. With an original score packed with punk, pop and 90s’ grunge, this is a sneak peek at a joyful new musical about coming of age and coming out.
19-20 July, 2025
From Rosa Productions, The House Must Win is a new musical in development based on the album Evening Train, written by Mick Flannery, directed by Julie Kelleher. A peek at the development of the stage adaptation of Mick Flannery’s extraordinary and acclaimed concept album Evening Train.
26-27 July, 2025
X @GalwayIntArts
Facebook @GalwayInternationalArtsFest
Instagram @GalwayIntArts
