We were delighted that the Minister for Tourism Culture and Sport, Mary Hanafin, choose to start her Culture Night at The Ark in Dublin last Friday. We captured her on camera checking out the work of two young artists in our free Ping Pong Paddle workshops.

Coming soon to a theatre near you is... The Ark on Tour with Theatre Lovett.


We are leaving Temple Bar this October and November for a trip around the country with Theatre Lovett and The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly. Not only is it part of Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival ReViewed at The Ark, Draíocht Arts Centre in Blanchardstown and The Civic Theatre in Tallaght, but it's going to tour to Kildare and Clare, Wicklow and Carlow, Longford and Laois.

Peggy O'Hegarty, packer extraordinaire, will be doing what she does best. She'll be packing into a little box our crew, Louis Lovett, a goat, a piano in a glass jar and whatever else that catches her eye.

Peggy starts out at The Riverbank in Newbridge and will finish up at the Backstage Theatre in Longford town, with Dunamaise Arts Centre in Portlaoise, Mermaid Arts Centre in Bray, George Bernard Shaw Theatre in Carlow, and Glór Irish Music Centre in Ennis in between. How will she pack it all in?

This year, we have had lots of theatrical firsts at The Ark.

This year’s Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival Family Season will be the first time you can watch a show from a bed (Lying Down); the first time a show has been lost and found (Goodbye Mr. Muffin); and the first time a show will excavate under Dublin Castle (Lava).

In January we presented, in association with Theatre Lovett, the world premiere of The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly, featuring our first ever Theatre-Maker in Residence – Louis Lovett. So many people liked him as much as we did, that he has been invited back: The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly returns as the first children’s show ever to be part of Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival ReViewed which is no mean feat.

And then… we’re going on tour! More information to follow shortly…

Some of this season’s shows are almost sold out so ring our box office to book your tickets.

Our visual arts season has come to a close with an end of season closing party and two days of collections - a chance many people took to take their artworks home.

All summer the Exhibition has been evolving with the addition of a new works every week. This transformation was captured by our Production Assistant in an animated video spanning the 6 week programme. Click here to see how it grew and developed, incorporating the work from over 1000 participants!

Here's a few of our very proud artists with their work at the end of season party: