The Incubate Festival, Tinderbox’s showcase of new works-in-progress, is to return after a hiatus in 2024 as the first expression of the Belfast-based outfit’s partnership with the city’s The Mac as its new Associate Theatre Company.
Work by seven young theatre-makers will feature in the day-long event, which also includes an hour-long symposium featuring the artists involved, and an open movement class with dancer-choreographer Michael McEvoy.
McEvoy will also give a first outing for his The Fallen, a “dance monologue embodying the loss of Irish culture and longing for the forgotten, steeped in metaphor and folklore”.
Others whose work will receive a first public exposure include Stephen Millar’s The Dance Hall, which explores “dementia, memory and connection, set against the backdrop of a 1950s dance hall”, and multi-disciplinary artist Soso Ní Cheallaigh’s “sensuous toast to hyper-capitalism in the world of sugar dating”, SIÚCRA.
Charlotte McCurry’s Man above the Line is described as “an exploration of alcoholism and its impact on family dynamics as Joseph lies in a coma, leaving his loved ones to pick up the pieces”, while Catherine Rees’s Michelle and Me profiles a woman obsessed with Michelle Obama “and self-help-chasing personal greatness whilst expertly dodging her own emotional baggage”.
Some Man, One Man by Simon Sweeney finds fruit-and-veg specialist Stan preparing for a talent contest and hoping for love, and writer-director Seón Simpson ventures into stand-up territory with the “comedy-poetry mashup revisiting a teenage poetry blog to explore cringe, heartache, and how embarrassment can save a life” in Seón Simpson is on a Tangent.
Tinderbox describes the event as “a conversation between the artist and audience by offering the opportunity for feedback, questions and contribution to their work and practice”.
It adds: “These artists are the cutting edge of new theatre-making in Belfast and are presenting ideas which respond to our modern world; exploring contemporary and unique social issues with curiosity, comedy and creativity”.
The Incubate Festival is at The Mac, Belfast on April 5, with tickets available for individual events and at an all-day rate.