Fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe comes the Irish premiere of
‘Afronauts’, presented by Wake the Beast and Circus Zambia
Busy season ahead as Civic announces packed line up
“AS WE head towards the end of the year, the Civic are delighted to present one of their busiest and most ambitious seasons yet,” beams Civic Theatre artistic director Donal Shiels.
The 2026 autumn and winter season for the theatre will feature six world and Irish premieres alongside theatre, dance, circus, music, education and family entertainment.
Local comic favourite Al Porter opened his first play, ‘The Kavanaghs: Married with Parents’. In partnership with Dublin Fringe, the theatre has welcomed the much-anticipated world premiere of ‘A Recurrence’ by D’Girlos Theatre Company, one of the most exciting new companies to emerge in Dublin.
Fresh from the Edinburgh Fringe comes the Irish premiere of ‘Afronauts’, presented by Wake the Beast and Circus Zambia, an all-ages, high-flying collision of circus, theatre and space adventure.
Another world premiere, ‘Trolley Boy’, choreographed by Diarmuid Armstrong, takes theatregoers into a dark, endless shop existing somewhere beyond reality.
The Civic’s associate company Bitter Like a Lemon is co-producing the Irish premiere of James Fritz’s ‘Ross & Rachel’.
Starring Amilia Keating and directed by Lee Coffey, it is a funny, tender and unflinchingly honest story about love and relationships.
The Dublin Theatre Festival brings the Irish premiere of ‘Lourdes! The Musical’, presented by Xnthony Ltd and co-produced by the Dublin Theatre Festival and The Civic, is a much-needed musical about miracles and the people who stage them.
The Civic’s own Halloween production, ‘Pocus Hocus!’, arrives at the end of October (“Don’t forget to dress up!”).
The Civic’s education programme continues with Real Learning’s ‘Behind the Curtain’, a student-led and socially interactive theatre in an education workshop for fifth-year students.
Mobile Music will visit primary schools, allowing children to see and hear musical instruments in their own classrooms, while High Rock Productions will present ‘Stair’, a new Irish-language production for younger audiences.
Black History Month will be back for a run at the studio space. Music lovers can enjoy Mary Byrne and Niamh Kavanagh on the Main Stage, while The Singalong Songbook team will sprinkle some of their unique Christmas magic.
Finally, it “simply would not be December” without the annual pantomime.
‘Tickles & Dottie are Freezin’ promises another laugh-out-loud adventure, but book soon, as this year is already “busier than ever”.
Stay tuned on the Civic’s socials and the website for more info to come in the following weeks.
