BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: Kilkenny Arts Festival announces three world premieres for August 2025

Three world premieres are set to take place in Kilkenny this August when the Kilkenny Arts Festival gets under way.

While the full programme for the 2025 festival will be made in the coming months, Director Olga Barry today made an early announcement of three world premieres set to go ahead:

Rough Magic and Director Lynne Parker will return once again to Kilkenny Arts Festival presenting a much anticipated new theatrical co-production which sees Peter Hanly returning to the stage.

A haunting and intimate new opera will unfold in St Canice’s Cathedral by Kamala Sankaram - described by the Washington Post as “one of the most exciting opera composers in the country” - with libretto by Paul Muldoon.

In addition, the festival will return to Castle Yard with a new and unmissable acrobatic spectacle. 

“It’s a privilege to welcome audiences to Kilkenny in the late summer for an explosion of artistic adventures, and a particular thrill to announce three world premiere productions with key collaborators this year," said Director of Kilkenny Arts Festival Olga Barry.

“KAF’s partnership with Rough Magic has led to numerous award-winning productions, notably Shakepeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Michael West’s adaptation of Mike McCormick’s Solar Bones starring Stanley Townsend. For our seventh collaboration it’s a thrill to see the return of the much-missed Peter Hanly on stage directed by the incomparable Lynne Parker for the premiere of What Are You Afraid Of?

"We’re excited to return to the iconic Castle Yard for a special international premiere of an acrobatic feast for the senses, in the creative hands of Jonah McGreevy - whose work has been seen in four previous Loosysmokes productions for KAF. We’re delighted to present the world premiere of Custom of the Coast from composer Kamala Sankaram and poet Paul Muldoon for the opening night of the Festival in August."

Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival come together once again to present What Are You Afraid Of? written by Peter Hanly. 
You may remember the actor Peter Hanly from such projects as Braveheart or Ballykissangel as well as his many performances on stage. So, where did he disappear to? During a dress rehearsal at the Gate Theatre in 2011, Peter suddenly experienced extreme stage fright. Within a year, Peter would give up acting... Until now.

Peter Hanly. Picture: Dylan Vaughan
In this world premiere from Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival, Peter ends up on stage one last time searching everywhere to find out what happened. And to ask the broader question of himself, and of you… what are you afraid of? Further cast to be announced. Directed by Lynne Parker. Dates: August 5 – 9 and 11 – 12 August. Watergate Theatre. Tickets: €30 / €33.

Kilkenny Arts Festival returns to the Castle Yard with Neon Dusk a surrealist, intricate and explosive acrobatic spectacle created through close collaboration between leading artists from Ireland - Jonah McGreevy (of Loosysmokes) and Portugal - Daniel Seabra and Mafalda Conclaves. Blending and bending techniques and approaches from a myriad of disciplines including circus acrobatics, doubles dance and performance art, the work presents a powerful and highly original take on human bodies together.  Dates: August 7 – 10 and 13 – 17, 9pm Tickets €15 / four for €50.