With just seven days to go till the start of the 2024 Newry Arts Festival, it’s time to check out the events on offer and get your favourite ones booked before they sell out.
Almost forty exciting events are taking place throughout Newry City from 1-7 April including drama, poetry, music, children’s events, workshops, calligraphy, art, comedy and even a twilight market.
Just a few of the highlights of the festival are a 3D street artist, Panic Station Comedy Town Hall Takeover, The Trial of John Mitchel, David Quigley and Anthony Kearns, The Daughters of Róisín and Whitewash at Newry Variety Market. For the children there’s Geppetto, Draiocht an Dulra, Out of the Deep Blue and the wacky ‘Indoor Drive in Movie’
3D Street Art: Tuesday 2 April Marcus Square and Hill Street. Free
Initial installation of art work, artist will be in residence on Saturday 6th to put finishing touches to art work.
Mark Cronin, an Irish 3D street artist for over a decade, brings captivating illusions to life across the streets of Ireland. Despite the impermanence of his art, Mark’s vibrant creations engage and delight viewers, turning ordinary surfaces into portals of imagination. This art work will create a perfect photo opportunity.
Mark Cronin will produce a piece for the festival that will celebrate the recent designation of Geopark Status and its link with the arts.
Panic Station Comedy Town Hall Takeover 2: Newry Town Hall Saturday 6 April, 7.45pm. £17.50
Following the February show’s record breaking, 90 minute-sell-out, this is a second opportunity to Take over the Town Hall and roll in the aisles with legendary performers, Colin Murphy, Johnny Bow, Damo Clark and Darren Matthews. The Show will be MC’d by Lianne McCooey.
Enjoy comedy to suit all tastes varying from edgy topical satire to dark, sharp one-liners with the odd dad joke thrown in for good measure. Grab at the chance to catch this raw, electric comedy, tickets will fly out!
The Trial of John Mitchel: Newry Courthouse Saturday 6 April, 7.30pm. £15
In Anthony Russell’s historical fantasy, John Mitchel, an unrepentant physical force Irish Republican who, more than any other writer or politician, shaped the nationalist perception of the Great Famine, is called from the grave to answer the charge that he was a racist; one who incited hatred against African Americans.
In Courtroom Number 3 of Newry Courthouse the spirits of the dead will occupy the flesh of the renowned Newpoint Players; directed by Donal O’Hanlon.
The prosecutor is Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, founder of the Nation,and lifelong enemy of John Mitchel. Once friends, death has not diluted their bile. Mitchel is defended by P. H. Pearse who, like deValera, in rebelling in 1916, was inspired by the writing and sacrifice of John Mitchel.
Daniel O’Connell, the Liberator, who believed only in moral force, is the chief witness for the prosecution. O’Connell was friend and mentor to Frederick Douglas, escaped slave and the ‘Black O’Connell’.
Mitchel’s loyal and adventurous wife, Jenny Verner, is called as a witness for the defence. She sacrificed two sons on the altar of slavery, but would not own a slave.
All the shades are aware of what has happened in Ireland since they died and comment accordingly. The judge, Dionysus Cronos. was present at the Trial of Socrates. The audience is the jury and will decide if John Mitchel’s legacy, as represented by his statue, should continue to be honoured on the streets of Newry.
David Quigley and Anthony Kearns: St Mary’s Church Sunday 7 April 6pm. £10/ Conc £8
Concert pianist David Quigley was born in Camlough, Co, Armagh. He is no stranger to Newry audiences as co-founder of Newry Chamber Music and pianist of the Fews Ensemble. David has performed as soloist at major concert halls throughout the world including Carnegie Hall and The Wigmore Hall.
Renowned tenor Anthony Kearns took the American television audience by storm in 1999 as a member of the wildly popular group, The Irish Tenors. His international solo career includes high-profile celebrity engagements, television appearances, concert tours, and collaborations with some of the world’s finest orchestras. David and Anthony present a beautiful concert of Irish and light classical music. Perfect for a Sunday afternoon in Spring.
The Daughters of Róisín: Newry Town Hall, Wednesday 3 April 8pm. £12/ Conc £10
The Daughters of Róisín by Aoibh Johnson is a poignant ode to Ireland’s hidden past that explores sanctioned abuse against women over the last 100 years. The play uses song, poetry and ghostly silence to explore the experience of unmarried mothers and their babies who were forced to suffer at the hands of those who should have cared for them.
The play has sold out performances and had rapturous standing ovations in Derry, Belfast, London and Dublin.
“Aoibh Johnson has a captivating presence.” – The Adelaide Show *****
“Excellent. Seeing it once might just not be enough.” – Everything Theatre
“Powerfully and brilliantly executed. Genius.” – Bernadette Devlin McAliskey
Whitewash: Newry Variety Market Friday 5 April 7pm. Free
Whitewash is a live urban draw with invited street artists. Whitewash is curated by OMIN internationally famous muralist and graffiti artist. It will take place in the Variety Market in Newry.
Fuel your senses with beats from our DJ and sip a drink from the bar as you explore the bustling artisan market, alive with the city’s energy.
Whitewash will blur the lines between observer and creator. Engage with the artists, feel the pulse of the streets, and witness first-hand the evolution of daring new techniques and skills.
Join us for an evening that goes beyond the ordinary – an authentic, urban experience that celebrates creativity in its rawest, most unapologetic form.
Whitewash: where the streets come alive, and art knows no bounds
Geppetto: Newry Town Hall, Thursday 4 April 2pm. £5
Join Geppetto on a journey of fun and laughter as he learns to love again.
Geppetto is a lonely old man, who spends his days pottering in his repair shop, half-heartedly fixing broken things, and unable to move on from his sadness. One night a mysterious and magical visitor comes to Geppetto’s shop and begins to play with the broken things leading to all manner of mix ups and mishaps. Geppetto’s new friend leads him into a world full of hope and laughter before giving him one last gift.
This story’s end is just another story’s beginning.
Draiocht an Dulra: Newry Town Hall Saturday 6 April 12noon. £4/ Family £15
Tá roth na bliana ag tiontú i gcónaí agus tá Gráinne Holland agus a cairde ceolmhara ag iarraidh sibh a thabhairt ar thuras fríd na séasúir le go dtig libh
Draíocht an Dúlra a fheiceáil, a chluinstin agus a mhothú. Seó 50 bomaite do theaghlaigh le
scéalaíocht, amhránaíocht, ceol agus damhsa.
The wheel of the year is always turning and Gráinne Holland and her musical friends would like to take you on a journey through the seasons so that you may experience, feel and hear the magic of nature.
A 50-minute show combining storytelling, songs, music and dance.
Out of the Deep Blue: Marcus Square Saturday 6 April 12pm and 2pm and Monaghan St/ McClelland Park Sunday 7 April 12pm and 2pm. Free
The whirr of the wind cutting across a rocky beach, the whoosh of the waves lapping the shore… The illusion of calm is broken when Eko, a sentient Sea Giant, pads onto dry land. There he encounters a young girl called Violet.
And that’s where the story begins.
Autin Dance Theatre’s highly acclaimed outdoor show, Out of the Deep Blue, is a tale told in 2 parts – an interactive promenade and a physical theatre duet – transporting its audiences into another world to tell a story about our own.
Through dance, movement, and masterful puppeteering,
Out of the Deep Blue dives into the themes of the climate emergency and the biodiversity crisis in an outdoor spectacle featuring a 13-foot-tall Puppet operated by 5 world-class puppeteers and contemporary dancers.
The show, designed with children and family audiences in mind, explores the magical story about the power of empathy and collaboration between these two beings – an ancient creature, a dispirited teen – that speaks to the world at large.
Indoor Drive in Movie with Cardboard Car building workshop: Sticky Fingers Imaginarium Tuesday 2 April 1pm. £4
Newry Arts Festival in association with Sticky Fingers Arts and Filmhub N.I present a unique Drive in Movie screening of Pixar’s Cars…
Join us for a pre screening workshop where children can design and build their very own cardboard car; paint, colour in and customise their creation complete with personalised number plate. Once complete the kids can park up and enjoy a screening of Cars in an indoor Drive-In experience like no other.
Movie: Pixar’s Cars (PG) | 2.15pm (Runtime 1hr 57min).
For more information and tickets for Newry Arts Festival please go to www.visitmournemountains.co.uk